Call Number:

0146

Repository:

University of Delaware Library Special Collections

Extent:

5 linear foot (25 boxes)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

GRA 0146, Gordon A. Pfeiffer Delaware postcard and ephemera collection, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.

Date:

1895-2008 (inclusive)

Creator:

Pfeiffer, Gordon A.

Form:

Postcards, Photographic postcards, Picture postcards, Periodicals, Photocopies, and Collectors' guides

Abstract:

Gordon A. Pfeiffer is a Delaware book, postcard, book art, and ephemera collector and an original founder of the Delaware Bibliophiles. The Gordon A. Pfeiffer Delaware postcard and ephemera collection comprises over 1500 postcards depicting Delaware cities and towns, landmarks and events, and advertisements of goods and services in the First State between 1860 and 2008. The collection also contains over 250 QSL broadcasting cards used for promotional purposes by state radio stations.

Gordon A. Pfeiffer is a Delaware book, postcard, book art, and ephemera collector and an original founder of the Delaware Bibliophiles.

Pfeiffer received his bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Delaware in 1956 and served in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1957 to 1963. He retired in 1996 as senior vice president of Mellon Bank after 40 years of service. Pfeiffer has served on the board and was an officer of numerous organizations including the Historical Society of Delaware and the University of Delaware Library Associates. He is a 1977 founder of the Delaware Bibliophiles, a group of book hobbyists and collectors, and has served as president and treasurer of the organization as well as editor of their semi-annual newsletter,

"Wall of Fame." UDaily. http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2012/jun/alumni-wall-fame-060412.html (accessed June 18, 2014). "Dedicated to Excellence." UDaily. http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2012/may/alumni-wall-of-fame-052112.html (accessed June 18, 2014). Gordon A. Pfeiffer, Nathaniel H. Puffer, comps., The Delaware Bibliophiles: 1977-2002: a history and anthology (New Castle: The Delaware Bibliophiles, 2002), ix.

The Gordon A. Pfeiffer Delaware postcard and ephemera collection comprises over 1500 postcards depicting Delaware cities and towns, landmarks and events, and advertisements of goods and services in the First State between 1860 and 2008. The collection also contains over 250 QSL broadcasting cards used for promotional purposes by state radio stations.

Series I. contains postcards of Delaware cities and towns. Some of the towns represented in this series include Wilmington, New Castle, Newark, Middletown, Dover, Milton, Arden, Bethel, Bridgeville, Georgetown, Harrington, and Laurel, among many others. Other notable cards include images of the "Delaware State Girl," the "Fair Daughter of Delaware," and a small series of postcards commemorating the tri-centenary of the first Swedish colony in Delaware.

Series II. comprises postcards relating to Delaware landmarks and events, including military landmarks and sites; construction, transportation, and modernization; and state and local parks, amusements, and celebrations. Other notable postcards trace development of Wilmington's Brandywine River area including the construction of the Washington and Market Street Bridges and the use of the "mill-race," a canal built along the river to move supplies for local saw and powder mills. Other Brandywine area postcards feature the Brandywine Zoo, Rockford Tower, the DuPont Powder Mills, and Wilmington Country Club. In addition, postcards from this series represent the state's three counties with images of trains, trolleys, depots, post offices, and covered bridges.

Series III. includes Delaware advertisement postcards, QSL cards, Delaware postmarks, and other miscellaneous state-related postcards and ephemera. Advertisement cards include promotional postcards from parks, hotels, and restaurants, as well as publisher cards advertising the sale of postcards (postcards to sell postcards). This series also contains over 250 QSL cards from circa 1940 through the late 1970s, designed to endorse state radio stations while gathering reception reports. Also included are other miscellaneous, state-related Delaware postcards, as well as cards collected for their Delaware postmarks. The series also contains photocopied and original issues of postcard-related collector and hobbyist magazines.

The postcards in the collection reflect Gordon A. Pfeiffer's original arrangement.