As The Daily Herald prepares its largest historical project to date, we’ve gotten to know a few of the collectors of Tyrone-based postcards and have found out why they enjoy their hobby.
Several collectors have indicated that their historical interest in Tyrone, and family members, helped to get them started; and in some cases, their interest gained ground and moved to other towns and counties in Pennsylvania.
Sam Williams of Tyrone told The Daily Herald that his grandmother was big into history and got him started in collecting postcards when she gave him cards featuring Birmingham, Grier School and others. His 25-year hobby now includes 3,500 cards featuring Tyrone, Huntingdon, Centre and 13 other counties in Pennsylvania.
Some of his favorites include the cards featuring the old Stewart Ice Cream business in Tyrone and scenes from downtown Tyrone. One of his personal favorites is a postcard featuring a Stewart Ice Cream horse pulling ice into the old ice cream factory.
“I find my cards at postcard shows, mainly in eastern Pennsylvania, and at antique shops,” said Williams.
Tyrone’s Chip Dillon began collecting Tyrone cards in 1997 and has several hundred. His first card was given to him by his grandparents and featured the old Athletic Park and Tyrone’s fire departments. Dillon’s parents owned property right next to the park, and as a child he could see remains of the pond, fountain and stone work at the former recreational area, leading to his special historic interest in the Athletic Park postcards in his collection.
Dillon purchases a lot of his cards on the E-bay auction site and has seen rare Tyrone cards sell for as high as $80.
“I will keep on collecting cards. I see it as as a good hobby, instead of wasting money on something else, and it keeps me interested. I’ve made friends from all over the country because of collecting cards,” said Dillon.
On the internet there is a lot of interest in Tyrone postcards. Many local companies including Gardners Candy, Wilson Chemicals and others in the early 1990s, produced cards as a form of advertising, and to generate tourism interest in the community. Postcards were also easy to send, and inexpensive to produce.
Dillon adds, “Tyrone was a beautiful town and is inside a beautiful area. You can always find Tyrone cards on the internet, since so many were produced.”
Dillon also searches for cards at flea markets, local antique stores, and has gotten cards from as far away as Florida and California. Some of the rare cards he continues to search for include those featuring local train wrecks, fires, and the Big Spring, and one described as very rare, featuring a steamroller that had fallen into the creek during the 1936 flood.
There is also some talk in post card circles of doing re-prints off the old cards, or possibly producing a Tyrone past and present series of new post cards. Dillon knows of at least five people, including his father-in-law, that collects Tyrone postcards, and knows there is more than that.
The collections of Chip Dillon, Sam Williams and Bill Baker will highlight the color pages of the special “Postcards Of The Past” book arriving in The Daily Herald in April.
