Post cards and greeting cards in the collection of the Oysterponds Historical Society have rarely, if ever, been the subject of an exhibition. The intimate scale of these exhibition galleries is ideal to put a selection of these cards on view. The most interesting are the early scenic post cards of the places on the North Fork that are most familiar: the two hamlets that make up Oysterponds (East Marion and Orient) and the nearby village of Greenport. A display case
is devoted to each of these three places. Displayed are scenic post cards that depict many familiar sights, but also many places that are now gone. Nostalgia is certainly part of the charm of these post cards, but for OHS their importance as historical documents cannot be underestimated.

Above the three cases of scenic post cards, the walls of this gallery are lined with framed post cards depicting holidays, starting with New Year’s and continuing to Christmas. Sometimes amusing, always colorful, and filled with charming illustrations, these post cards are perfectly befitting to each season.

Most of the messages on the post cards are matter of fact and of little interest. Although we had planned to show the reverse side of at least a few post cards, we determined that the picture sides were, in every case, far more compelling. Many of the post cards in the collection are in fact without messages of any kind.

While the greeting cards are perhaps as a group less impressive than the post cards, an exception is the collection of nineteenth-century Valentine cards which merit a display of their own. It is extraordinary that so many of these delicate, lacy, paper creations have survived in such perfect condition. Seven valentines have been framed and hang on the fourth wall of this gallery.