Anyone here?

It has been two and a half years since I posted anything here, and one or two people have commented, but not recently, so I think it is time this blog was closed.  

Australian Coles cards. 1956 Olympic Games

Here is the first lot of my Coles collection - the cards brought out to commemorate the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne. Sorry the images are crammed so close together. It took me ages to photograph the pages, then when I got them onto the hard drive I discovered I had the camera on the wrong setting and the pictures were too big. So I had to reduce each one manually, and then when I posted them here I selected another wrong format so all the photos ran in together - grrrr! If you click on them it will bring the picture closer/make it larger for you to see. I'll see if I can improve on this with the next lot. I've photographed everything in the album but there is too much to post all in one hit, so I'll put some more up in a day or so.

A note to my blog visitors!

Hi Julie and the other visitors to this blog - and thank you for your comments. Sorry I've been so tardy about continuing to post here, but having just read your comments from earlier this month, I've taken out my albums again and will get busy scanning in the next day or so. I have recently put all my Coles cards in one album, so I may do some cutting and pasting with the blog, and make new posts with the Coles cards so they are all together. Wish I could get hold of that Coles card catalogue! I used to be in the Card collectors society but dropped out a few years ago because I couldn't justify buying any more cards after my collection got into the thousands :-o Thanks again - I'll be back soon! Gina

Coles Cards - Melbourne 1956 Olympics

I've had some readers express interest in Coles cards, particularly the ones commemorating the Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956.  So my next post will consist of photos of these cards.

Is anyone still out there??

I think I've done my dash this time....left it far too long for any of the original readers to stay with me.  I've made a final ditch effort, and have been photographing the rest of my cards, ready to post here on a regular basis, but if nobody is left to read it, I won't bother!  Most people seem to have gone on from blogging to Facebook these days, but I won't be going there.

What category would you like to see?

So.....below I've just posted an update on my cats cards, and all the horse cards I've got.
I've just flipped through my albums and am wondering if I will ever get all my cards on here?  Perhaps a blog wasn't such a good idea - they do have limits, and I'm a bit surprised that I haven't well and truly exceeded them over the 10 years I've been blogging!  But this blog might be the proverbial straw....

I have many more vintage (well, all my cards are vintage!) cards that come under the category of 'People',  including royalty, artists/paintings, dancers, Asian, and so on.  If I still do have anyone reading this, you might like to leave a comment saying which categories you would like to see.  I've just about 'done' the animals, but there is also ships and boats, flowers, places, objects....take your pick!  It would make it a lot easier for me to focus if I knew what readers wanted to see.

Horses swap cards.

I was never a big collector of cards with horses on them, preferring cats and dogs, but they still manage to creep into the collection over time!

New Cat cards.

Since I last posted photos of my cards, I have accumulated quite a few more cards in various categories, but I've also re-organised them somewhat, so future photos may have cards in them that were in earlier posts on this blog.  I'll try not to duplicate, but it can't be helped.

OK - the blog stays!

I just looked at this blog for the first time in ages, and feel very guilty about all those broken promises about posting more photos of my cards.   I am surprised and flattered to see so many people want me to leave the blog online, so I will do so.  I truly meant to take more photos of my cards and post them here, but life just gets in the way.  My husband says I have too many hobbies and that I'll never be able to finish anything or keep up with them all.  Maybe not, but I'll die happy from trying!
Right, you have motivated me.  I just retrieved my albums from the box in the cupboard, and this weekend, I start snapping!  Hubby won't be home all day on Sunday, so I will have an uninterrupted time to get things done that I don't seem to get around to during the week, even though he is at work.  Week days are busy whether you work or not; there is shopping to be done, bills to pay, tradesmen to speak to - all the things that can't be done on a weekend.  So this weekend will be MINE! 

More cards coming soon!

If anyone is still looking at this blog, I do apologise for letting it slip so long. I have another thousand cards to post here, it is just a matter of time! I hadn't bought any cards for a few years, but I now have two new sources, and have added a few to my collection. I've also re-arranged the collection, with my Coles cards in a separate album from everything else, so I may just delete everything on here, and re-photograph them all in their new categories. But don't hold your breath..it will be a big job.
If you are reading this blog, and wish me to continue posting photos of my collection, I would appreciate it if you would leave a comment to let me know. If I don't get any feedback, I will assume nobody reads it, and will delete the blog.

Old Fashioned Ladies cards, second round.

Vintage ladies cards.

Now that the dogs and cats are 'done', I thought I should start on the Old Fashioned/Vintage/Crinoline Ladies cards, whichever you want to call them. Strictly speaking, they are not all Crinoline ladies, so I prefer to just call them Old Fashioned Ladies. Some of the ladies on these cards have male partners...maybe I should call them Old Fashioned People? Ah, what the heck...
Some of these images are not very clear. This is because the cards themselves are faded due to their age. Bear in mind that I have had these older cards since the 1950's, and they were faded when I got them, so goodness only knows how old they are - 70 or 80 years maybe?

Some improvements made to this blog.

I haven't done much to this blog since it was created, but I still get a number of visitors here, so I decided to upgrade it a little. When I first set it up, I didn't know how to change the layout, so I posted the introduction as an ordinary post, but dated it 2010, so it would stay at the top of the blog where readers could see it first up. Today, after all this time I discovered that I could add a piece of text to the permanent template, so I transferred my introduction post to the top section of the blog. In doing that, I lost 14 comments that were there, so I apologise to anyone who might be looking for them! Somehow I doubt it, as most of them had been there for over a year.

I have added two items to the sidebar. One is a fascinating website on the history of playing cards, and the other is a Flickr photo show which was created by my friend Marian. She invited me to post photos of my cards there, but after discussing the pros and cons, we decided that we would leave things as they are, i.e. I will continue to post photos of my collection here, and Marian will post hers on her Flickr account.

Another modification I have made is to put labels on all my posts, so if someone is looking for cards with dogs on, they should be able to find them without having to scroll through the whole blog. Just click on the label at the foot of any post, and it will take you to all the posts in that category.

All this has motivated me to extract the digit and start scanning more of my cards, so expect some more photos here soon!

Reply to Ann, who asked about types of cards.

Ann wants to know more about the kinds of cards that are collected. My introduction at the beginning of this blog explains a bit, but perhaps not enough. Swap cards can be single cards from a deck of 54 (or is it 56?), which have any of the four suites on the back (clubs, spades, diamonds or hearts), jokers and sometimes blank backs. Other swap cards have been produced by various companies such as Coles and Woolworths in earlier years, and these usually have blank backs or a brand name printed on them. Decks of playing cards are often produced by companies as advertising material, particularly airlines such as Qantas, who hand them out to passengers on long flights for something to do! Some collectors specialise in collecting advertising cards alone.

Cat Swap Cards - just for Meow!

Next lot of cards will be the Cats.

I have now completed posting my Doggie swap cards - hope you have enjoyed looking at them. Next, I will start scanning the Cat cards, and as before, will post a few whenever I can. I'll try to post on a more regular basis...there are several thousand cards to be scanned and downloaded, so it will take quite a while! I wonder if there is any limit to what one can post on blogs. I've seen some incredibly long blogs with little movies on, and 'everything that opens and shuts', so it seems there is no limit. Guess I'll find out one day if Blogger/Yahoo suddenly decide I'm over my limit!

Dogs (4)

Dog swap cards (3)

The two cards in the middle of the first two rows are Woolworths cards. Note the border of blue motifs around the picture. All their cards have this border in varying colours around the pictures.

Apologies for lack of posting!

As usual with me, I start things off in an explosion of enthusiasm, then I get sidetracked by other things happening in my life! I have had my card album sitting under the computer desk for months, meaning to do some more scanning, but time gets away. Maybe this coming weekend which is a long weekend here in Victoria, I will get the time to sit down and scan a whole lot of pages, and have them on my PC ready to post on this blog on a regular basis.

Fay asked how to tell the difference between Coles and Woolworths swap cards. Both brands had plain white backs, although some of the Coles cards had the Embassy brand printed on the back. Coles cards had many designs over the years, but Woolworths didn't have so many. The Woolworths cards also had a particular border around the picture on all their cards. The next lot of cards I scan will feature two of these cards, and I will point them out so you can see what this border is.

Dog Swap cards (1) 1st March.