Vintage Guides

Vintage Greeting Cards and Valentines guide header, Oddly Darling Vintage
Vintage Greeting Cards and Valentines: A Guide to Collecting and Dating Them
From lacy Victorian valentines and German mechanical pull-outs to mid-century Christmas and kids' valentine cards, learn how to identify, date and care for vintage greeting cards. Read more...
Victorian Trade Cards and Die-Cut Scraps guide header, Oddly Darling Vintage
Victorian Trade Cards and Die-Cut Scraps: A Collector's Guide
Victorian trade cards and die-cut scraps are colorful little pieces of 1800s advertising and decoration. Learn their history, popular types, how to spot reproductions and what collectors look for. Read more...
How to Date Vintage Postcards guide header, Oddly Darling Vintage
How to Date Vintage Postcards: Backs, Borders, Linen and Real Photo Postcards
Learn how to date a vintage postcard by its back, borders and printing style, from Private Mailing Cards and divided backs to linen and chrome postcards, plus how to spot... Read more...
What Is Ephemera? Vintage paper collecting guide header, Oddly Darling Vintage
What Is Ephemera? A Beginner's Guide to Collecting Vintage Paper
Ephemera is everyday paper that was never meant to last: postcards, trade cards, tickets, letters, labels and more. Learn what it is, what's collectible, how to judge condition and how... Read more...
Vintage Blackhawk Films Super 8 home movie boxes with Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy and Mack Sennett comedies
Collecting Vintage 8mm and Super 8 Home Movies: Blackhawk Films, Castle Films and Columbia
Before VCRs, you bought your favorite movie on a little reel of film. Here's how to tell regular 8mm from Super 8, read the box, check condition, and know the... Read more...
Vintage Museo del Prado souvenir slides and Kodachrome travel slides
How to Date Vintage 35mm Slides: Kodachrome Mounts, Date Stamps and Color Clues
That shoebox of old slides holds more clues than you'd think. Here's how to date vintage 35mm slides by the mount, the date stamp, the logo and even the way... Read more...
Antique Victorian cabinet card portrait photograph
How to Date Antique Photographs: Cabinet Cards, Mounts and Studio Clues
That old portrait in a box of photos can often be dated within a decade or two. Here's how to identify the photo type, read the mount and studio imprint,... Read more...