Prater Collectibles

02/09/2025

Fantasy postcards are some of my favorites. From Mermaids to Monsters. This New Years card features a dwarf /gnome with a cool walking stick, pulling a wagon with a giant mushroom. This is a German postcard circa 1910.

01/30/2025

A very popular theme for postcard collectors are the Alligator Border view cards. These were heavy embossed with beautiful lithograph printing. To hold one of these fabulous cards is to understand why they are so loved. This particular card shows Beach Street at Daytona - Indian River Florida.

01/27/2025

Psychedelic art from the 1970's ???

Nope. This is a circa 1910 art nouveau postcard by the artist Gisbert Combaz. This is one of four element cards, this one representing air. Love the bright colors. Just sold this on eBay.

01/25/2025

This is Happy Jack, he was a side show performer billed as the "World's Prize Fat Man" at age 34 he weighed 739 pounds. He was a member of several fraternal organizations including Eld, Moose, and woodman. He was a member of the Elk Lodge 752 in Americus Georgia.

01/23/2025

Just sold this card on eBay. I think it's a great photograph and the history is interesting. At the turn of last century, cross country walking was very popular. This is Jack Williams and he was hiking from Philadelphia to Seattle. His hiking gear is minimal. His caption for this pic is funny, " Oh, how I wish I could ride". Lots of folks collect postcards of "walkers" and other cross country travelers. This is one of my favorites.

01/21/2025

Interesting postcard from early 1900's. Julian Eltinge was a famous female inpersonator on stage. He appeared across the US and Europe. He even designed his own brand of products including Cold Creme. I enjoyed reading about his life. Here's a wiki link but there are lots of other sites with even more information. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Eltinge

01/21/2025

Vickie here, I'm back! Most of you know that I have not been listing cards on ebay for about three years now (George has but not me). Between closing the retail shop and battling cancer, I pretty much took time off to get well and to travel for fun. Alas, the time has come to get back to work. As you know, I list mostly the rarer and more specialized cards while George mostly lists view cards. I am also listing quite a few LOTS. Look for me to be more active on FB too. Don't forget, my ebay user and store name is shilohpostcards (George uses pratercollectibles).

We sell Antique Postcards and related items. We offer quality view cards, expos, topicals, holidays, real photograph and artist signed cards.

10/31/2023

07/26/2023

Thought I would share this interesting story about Neta. I first learned about her when researching the pioneer aviator autograph collection I got from my dad. There is something special about holding a piece of paper signed by historical heroes. It makes the stories tangible. I especially like it when it's a woman changing the world doing what she loves. - Vickie

Introducing Iowa’s first female aviator, Amelia Earhart's flight instructor, and the first woman to run a commercial airfield, Mary Anita "Neta" Snook Southern.

Neta, known as “Snooky” to her friends, was born on February 14th, 1896, in Mount Carroll, Illinois. From an early age, Neta was interested in machinery, built from her interest with her father’s automobiles. After graduating high school, Neta attended Iowa State College, taking classes in mechanical drawing, machines, and farm machinery repair. Later she became fascinated with literature related to aviation and soon wanted to take over the sky.

In 1917, Neta entered Curtiss-Wright Aviation School and dedicated herself to flying. For the next few years, Neta continued her work as an aviator, traveling and working on different jobs and projects. In 1918, she worked for the British Air Ministry, where she inspected and tested aircraft parts and engines. In 1920, Neta received her pilot’s license and, shortly after, began as a pilot instructor in the newly constructed airport, Kinner Field, in Los Angeles.

During her career as an aviator, Neta held many accomplishments. She was the teacher, mentor, and friend of the famous aviator Amelia Earhart. Even lectured and spoke about Amelia’s career following her disappearance, later writing the autobiography, “I Taught Amelia to Fly” in 1977. Neta was the first woman to enter a men’s air race at the Los Angeles Speedway in 1921. After finishing fifth place, Neta told the media, “I'm going to fly as cleverly, audaciously, and thrillingly as any man aviator in the world.

Neta passed away in 1991 at age 95 but lived a long life alongside her husband and son. She raised horses, among other activities, at her ranch in California and has since been inducted into the Iowa Aviation Hall of Fame.

The WASP Legacy Campaign is our most ambitious fundraising campaign to date. With a goal of $100k by the end of July 2023, we will be able to work with our writer, advisors, and editor to finish a rough cut of the film. Be a part of preserving this important and often forgotten history of our early female aviators. bit.ly/WASPLegacyCampaign

Women in Aviation International

06/14/2023

Sidney Lanier Prater 2005-2023 - Ambassador for Prater Books and Prater Collectibles for 18 years. Sidney passed away last night at home in George's arms. He was the best cat in the world. He used to greet all customers at the front door and those who proclaimed "I don't like cats" he made it his mission to follow them until they relented and petted him. Duty done he would go to a favorite chair to nap. The past few years as he got older he stayed behind the counter but would go to the gate for people to love on. His picture was shared around the world as selfies were took with him. Most know the story about how as a kitten Sidney walked in the open door of the book stop and decided it was home.

03/17/2023

Down into another rabbit hole I went. Was going to post a St. Patrick Day postcard to celebrate the day; when I came across the postcard celebrating the Boyne War in the 1600's. What caught my eye was the caption "The Protestant Boys shall carry the Drum". In this war the Irish protestants fought with British to make William the Orange, King of Ireland, Scotland, and England. But in further reading the underlying reason for the war was King James 1's "Plantation of Ulster. Catholic lands were taken and given to Protestant farmers and Catholic political power was undermined. Britain won the war.

Then I came across the James Connolly postcard from the Irish Rebellion (Easter Rising) in 1916. Though the Catholics lost the battle in Dublin, the British executed the rebellion leaders in such as manner as to turn them into martyrs from which the Irish Republican Army grew. Unfortunately, the IRA split into factions, one that wanted change by peaceful means, the other used terrorism. Deemed "The Troubles", conflict and death continued for 30 years. Public outrage over senseless bombings of innocent people finally led in 1998 to "The Good Friday Agreement" and Ireland was effectively divided in two and has remained largely peaceful.

My ancestry includes Irish, Scottish, English. My family is both Catholic and Protestant. As I read history, I find myself constantly flipping back and forth on support at any given point in time. So what conclusion did I come to in my journey down the rabbit hole? Jesus said "Love they neighbors as thyself" and so I think he would fully agree with today's universal sentiment "Kiss me - I'm Irish". (Vickie)

03/03/2023

This is a stunning hand tinted real photograph postcard of Carole Lombard and her dog. Lombard was one of the top leading ladies in Hollywood in the 1920's and 1930's. She starred with Clark Gable in "No Man of Her Own" in 1932 and went on to marry him in 1939. Carole was very patriotic and used her celebrity status to sell war bonds. In just one day she raised 2 million dollars. As she was leaving a war bond fundraising trip to her home state of Indiana, her last words were "Before I say goodbye to you all - come on - join me in a big cheer- V for victory!" The plane she was on crashed on the way back to California - all 22 aboard, including Lombard, her mother, and 15 U.S. Army soldiers, were killed instantly.

In December 1943, the United States Maritime Commission announced that a Liberty ship named in her honor would be launched. The launch of the SS Carole Lombard took place on January 15, 1944, the two-year anniversary of Lombard's war bond drive. The ship was involved in rescuing hundreds of survivors from sunken ships in the Pacific and returning them to safety. - Vickie