IMAGES OF NANCY CARROLL (book)

David Strebe is a full-time dealer in old postcards. He graduated from high school in Suitland, MD in 1965 and earned a BA degree in Psychology from the University of Maryland in 1969. After a year of graduate school, he entered the workforce in 1970.

About this time, he became interested in numismatics, and sold coins on a part-time basis for a number of years. This interest in numismatics naturally led to his involvement in other collectibles. First came tokens and medals, then political-campaign items, advertising buttons and pocket mirrors, World s Fair souvenirs and almost all small Americana items. Always looking for new collectibles to buy and sell, he has dealt at one time or another in railroad items, cigar-box labels, obsolete currency, even vintage Santa Claus items.

A major change came about in 1980, when a friend and colleague, George LaBarre, introduced him to the world of antique stocks and bonds. After ten-and-a-half years spent working as a computer operator processing weather-satellite date for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), David became a full-time dealer in stocks, bonds and other financial documents. Although the field provided a good living through the 1990s, for a number of reasons they went into a major decline, and around 2000, David finally settled on postcards as the collectible of choice. He now attends postcard conventions large and small across the U.S., and in the fall of 2003 began travelling to Europe, especially France, to buy postcards. In December of 2007, he published a book, French Real Photo Fantasy Postcards. In addition to the French fantasy cards, he also specializes in vintage (pre-1950) movie-star postcards. He sells these, along with 8 x10 stills and 11 x14 lobby cards, at nostalgia conventions and film festivals. This gives him a chance to combine his love of selling collectibles with the fun of talking old movies with the many film enthusiasts he encounters at these gatherings.