For over a century, postcards have documented virtually every aspect of American culture. Distributed along roadside stands, tourist attractions, gift shops and hotel lobbies, postcards have recorded everything from the sinking of the Titanic to two World Wars, from Womens’ Rights to the advent of the automobile, the telephone, the airplane, the interstate highway system, and an endless stream of modern inventions and their inevitable changes in the fabric of American life.

Among collectible items, vintage postcard collecting currently ranks number three, with literally millions of unique views categorized in a wide variety of topics of interest. The U.S. Postal Service recently acknowledged this fact by releasing a new series of “Greetings From” stamps from each of the fifty states designed as old postcards typical of the 1940’s.

Vintage postcards can often be found for a few dollars each through online auction sites, flea markets, and antique dealers. Atlanta, GA native Tony Nobles is a collector of vintage artwork from America’s great old beach towns. “I collect postcards of course”, says Tony, “but also matchbook covers, old travel brochures, personal photographs, anything I can get my hands on. I really enjoy collecting old beachy artwork”.

Maybe Tony’s appreciation of the art comes from the fact that he is a graphic artist himself. “I got in the graphics business at an early age, so I was fortunate enough to work alongside some of the old-timers who were on the way out, guys whose skills were being replaced with newer technology”, says Tony. You have to remember, when you’re looking at a lot of these old postcards that what you’re seeing took hours and hours to design and to produce, combining a wide variety of skills that were all done by hand; there was dot etching, line art, airbrushing, and lots of other tricks that are now nothing more that a few mouse clicks away with the graphics software I use today. The level of talent and skill a lot of these guys had was just amazing”.

Like in so many other trades, technology has made their craft obsolete, but Tony has found a way to bring it back to life. He operates an internet-based company called “GreetingsFromTheCoast.com”, where he makes available his collection of almost a thousand vintage images documenting American beach life from the early 1900’s through the early 1950’s. The images have been restored to their original condition, removing postal markings, stains, hand-written notes, etc., but being careful not to alter the artwork in any way. The images are categorized by state, and if you see an image you like, you can purchase art prints, nightlights, paperweights, pillows, or refrigerator magnets of the artwork.

“We’ve stumbled into a great little niche market”, says Tony, as he trims out a huge art print that will soon be overlooking the Pacific Ocean from a beachfront condo. “We designed this website to be more than a store; it’s more like an online museum; a photo archive of a half-century of American beach life. I wanted to share my collection with others”. Tony has taken his hobby and turned it into a great business. “We just made a couple of art prints for ourselves and the thing really just kind of took off”, says Tony. “This old artwork looks fantastic when it’s blown up. It’s unique and it’s attractive-plus it makes for great conversation”.

GreetingsFromTheCoast.com caters to interior designers, restauranteurs, innkeepers, hotel managers, historical societies, and of course, individuals who like to decorate at home with a nautical decor. “We are strictly a dot-dom company right now”, says Tony, but with only around 39% of Americans currently online, we try to get out there and meet as many people as we can face to face, and one way we do that is by attending as many art shows and festivals as we can. Our booth is always busy, because everyone’s got a story to share. Some will recall a summer spent at the shore as a child, while others will recall a summer job working at a long-ago demolished roller rink or pier arcade as a teenager. I remember one older lady from Tybee Island (GA) who must’ve been in her late 70’s. She came up and was standing in front of an art print, and she looked at me with this girlish grin, then giggled and said, “I had my first kiss on that old ferris wheel”.

Good or bad, much of America’s history is vanishing in the name of progress; but as you’re browsing through this catalog of vintage images, you’re sure to see a familiar smile on all the happy faces of the beachgoers of yesteryear, while noting the irony that as you’re traveling back through time, you’re doing so by navigating through the bits and bytes of this sidestreet along America’s information superhighway.