Of the 23 members to date, four are what he regards as advanced collectors. Another man, a senior citizen champion swimmer who used to collect stamps but got bored and sold them, has now transferred his affection to postcards. One member collects matchboxes. Even among postcard collectors, interests can be diverse. I collect Pierrot, Norman Rockwell, Marilyn Monroe, Alphonse Mucha, transportation, street scenes, anything interesting on Japan and black history.
Most serious collectors stick very firmly to one area of interest.
Smith knows a man who has 20,000 on Japan in general, and another on the lookout for anything picturing newspapers. So is social history. We can learn so much about the past, quite apart from any aesthetic merit. Although Japan is big on collecting stamps, and for some reason stamps and coins are lumped together for fairs, there are as yet no major events at which postcard collectors can come together to share their enthusiasm and knowledge and do business. It is Smith's ambition to stage Japan's first postcard fair, as well as seeing smaller events and clubs springing up all over the country.