Times of the Islands Summer 2016

astrolabe newsletter of the Turks & Caicos National Museum
This 1905 “Real Picture Postcard” shows the American Consulate on Grand Turk, later converted into the famous Turks Head Inn. Sender Jones
marked the location of his office with an “X” on the lower window.
I’ll Send You a Postcard
This “deltiologist” discusses the TCI’s earliest known picture postcards.
By Jeffrey C. Dodge
Editor’s Note: In this day of instantaneous digital communication where every cell phone is also a camera
and a photo taken by a tourist on Grand Turk can be viewed by someone in China only seconds later,
the traditional utility of the humble postcard may be diminishing. At the same time, the collectability of
old picture postcards (“PPCs”) is burgeoning and the activity of collecting and studying them has its own
name, “Deltiology.” Postcards differ from other collectibles such as stamps and baseball cards in that they
often contain important, even unique, historical information.
In the following article, deltiologist Jeffrey C. Dodge shares his knowledge of not only some of the
earliest images of Grand Turk, but also how and by whom they were manufactured, who sent them, and
who received them 111 years ago!
54 www.timespub.tc