Deltiology

Deltiology (from Greek δελτίον, deltion, diminutive of δέλτος, deltos, "writing tablet, letter"; and -λογία, -logia) is the study and collection of postcards. The word originated in 1945 from the collaboration of Professor Rendell Rhoades (1914-1976) of Ohio and colleagues at Ohio State University.^[1] A biographical sketch of Dr. Rhoades's life by his wife Nancy was provided to the Canadian Friends (Quaker) Historical Association in 1994.^[2] Dr. Rhoades had responded to a contest by editor Bob Hendricks in Post Card Collectors Magazine to create a more scholarly name for the hobby of postcard collecting. 'Philocartist' was a term used in the early 1900s, possibly coined by the noted early philatelist Fred Melville in his 1903 publication The A.B.C. of Stamp Collecting.^[3]

In Vol. 3, No. 1, January 1945, the headline of Post Card Collectors Magazine read: "Official P.C. Name Disclosed thru Research" and continued "Thru the splendid efforts of careful research by Rendell Rhoades, (of Blanchester, Ohio) the authentic and official name of the Postcard Collectors has been discovered. Mr. Rhoades is a Research Associate for Ohio State University, and upon being challenged to find a name for the Postcard Collectors thru several contests held by this magazine as well as by William Morris of New York City, he contacted Dr. K.M. Abbott and Mrs. Ethel Miller, two well-known authorities on word formation." They identified a word from the Greek language: "deltion" meaning small illustrated tablet, or card."^[4]

However, it took about twenty years for deltiology/deltiologist to first appear in a dictionary.^[5][6] Compared to philately, the identification of a postcard's place and time of production can often be an impossible task because postcards, unlike stamps, are produced in a decentralised, unregulated manner. For this reason, some collectors choose to limit their acquisitions to cards by specific artists and publishers, or by time and location.