apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

There are loads of what's termed "postcard shows" all over the country, often with boxes and boxes of them, usually very, very cheap (Like 25c cheap). eBay is another good source. If you want ones that are unused, look for the term "mint" (as in mint condition). Another cool decoration is simply framed, slightly shadowboxed, pretty old letters.

A good place to start looking is here - http://www.postal-history.com/showpage.html

Heather, finding a dog-eared copy of that card of the Auditorium Building & the El once sent me on a quest in search of the original Albert Fleury painting. It took me two years to track it down, but I finally found it at a gallery in California, and thanks to the generosity of Seymour Persky, the painting now hangs in the building as part of Roosevelt University's art collection. Postcards are great for researching things that never made it into more permanent form.

They can also be really amusing. One of my favorite cards shows a 1950s photo of the Allerton Hotel's Tip Top Tap filled with informal groupings of Eames' classic LCW chairs, one of which has had its molded wood back attached upside down. Clearly, good help was no easier to find fifty years ago than it is today.