Over the years I’ve come across a number of postcards of a bunch of women in identical outfits arranged in classic group poses – lined up, fanned out, and stepped arrangements.

For us as postcard collectors the earthquake and fire that ravaged San Francisco in 1906 have special significance. Coming at the tail end of the undivided back era, the earthquake was the first major United States disaster to be extensively recorded on postcards.

Why were storks picked by artists to bring new babies to waiting parents? Knowing stork behavior and cultural history regarding storks, makes the answer clear.

Recognizing superheroes on postcards is easy. They sport bright tights and possess special powers. It’s much harder to put together a collection of real life heroes, mainly because everyone’s list of deserving people is different.

Author Harold Zosel, a 48-year resident of St. Cloud and an active member of the Stearns History Museum, shares his personal historic photograph and postcard collection in “St. Cloud,” a recent addition to the Postcard History Series from Arcadia Publishing, a leading publisher of local and regional history in the United States.

Old, odd and unique. That could be an antique shop, the collection of postcards with this article, or the owner of a business. Actually, it describes all three.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the percentage of people who own their own homes in this country has risen almost every year since 1960. Today, more than two-thirds of Americans are the king or queen of their castle.

How to preserve your postcard collection from storage safety hazard:  There are numerous albums and holders available for storing a postcard collection. Almost all will store and attractively display postcards, but the majority will not preserve a collection, and many have the potential to cause serious damage to the cards.

It had been more than five years since Janet and I were on the long distance postcard trail, and we were itching to see old friends and new-to-us cards. Wichita! Why not?