Have Postcards Become a Thing of the Past in Las Vegas?

Have postcards become a thing of the past in Las Vegas? All the gift shops on Fremont Street sold them at one time.

What a great question.

The world’s oldest postcard dates back to 1840, according to "deltiologists," who study and collect postcards. They now cost 44 cents to mail (we remember when they were a nickel). The earliest known picture postcard was a hand-painted design on card stock.

Postcards used to be the way most travelers let their family and friends in on their whereabouts and peregrinations. They were fun to look through, buy, write (sort of the old version of a tweet), and send. They were, perhaps, even more fun to receive.

Sadly, we can say that yes, they do seem to be a thing of the past in Las Vegas -- and probably most other travel destinations.

You can still buy them online from websites such as Etsy, Zazzle, Temu, VistaPrint, and of course Amazon. But finding them in the tourist corridor is another thing entirely.

We visited big gift shops downtown and on the Strip, then went to the mother of them all, the Bonanza Gift Shop on W. Sahara at the corner of the Boulevard.

We found Las Vegas fridge magnets; Vegas bottle openers; Vegas lighters; Vegas snow globes; Vegas backpacks and shopping bags; Vegas bath and dish towels; Vegas keyrings and keychains; Vegas T-shirts, tank-tops, bathing suits, flip flops, sweatshirts, hooded jackets, caps, and belts; Vegas pillows; Vegas flasks, shot glasses, drink coasters, and bar signs; Vegas frisbees, toys, stuffed animals, and piggy banks; Vegas cups, mugs, wine stoppers; Vegas clocks; Vegas lunch pails, Vegas luggage, Vegas license plates and photo frames; Vegas banners, wall calendars, and greeting cards; Vegas pens and pencils; Vegas toy slot machines and roulette wheels — in short, every kind of souvenir, doodad, memento, keepsake, token, gewgaw, trinket, knickknack, bauble, trifle, and tchotchke you can imagine, Everything, in fact, except a single postcard.

That’s right. Not one.

Why? We can think of one main reason: The gift-shop market for postcards has almost certainly shrunk to next to nothing, given that the vast majority of people no longer send physical letters. Communication technology offers so many more convenient options, which we don't need to enumerate.

Still, postcards remain popular with a certain segment of society. For example, on the website PostCrossing.com, enthusiasts send and receive postcards -- real ones, through the mail -- to one another. What started as a small side project for a Portuguese software engineer quickly ballooned and to date, 70 million postcards have been exchanged via the platform.

Where do they get the postcards? Probably online. But one thing we can say for certain: not in Las Vegas.

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Comments

Bob Sep-01-2023

Feeling Old

it is kinda sad, but I guess a sign of the times. But hey, on the bright side... now I know what Peregrinations are.  there's some brain cells I'll never use again!

Parrothead Sep-01-2023

Hotels had them

I remember when most hotels in Vegas and AC provided logoed writing paper, envelopes and postcards. And I made sure to grab one set from each place. Ypu might still be able to find a postcard in the downtown souvenir stores. And some amusement parks and beach town gift shops have then. Loved reviewing them. Hated writing them😁

Kevin Rough Sep-01-2023

No More

I used to buy post cards when travelling, but I never sent them.  I kept them and put them in an album.  The few post cards that I have come across in the last few years are definitely ancient leftovers someone was trying to get rid of, with the exception of Death Valley NP which had a decent selection in the spring.  I guess now that you can send a picture of where you are in a text or post it on social media, mailing a post card which never got to the recipient until you were already home seems quaint.

Marilyn Rands Sep-01-2023

Found post cards

I spend our July trip searching for post cards and finally found a small collection at a gift shop in the airport.  $2 each.

Reno Faoro Sep-01-2023

card this

in memphis , ELVIS CARDS ARE PLENTIFUL, contact me only $12 each , great assortment !!!!!!!!!!!!! the KING lives !!!!!!!!!!!

IPA Noah Sep-01-2023

Dang

Love a good post card- bought a couple when I visited the Hoover Dam.

Robert Byrne Sep-01-2023

Still plentiful over here

There's still plenty of postcards in the UK, probably mainly for the souvenir market, rather than for posting and Deltiology is quite a big thing over here. Personally I haven't sent a postcard for fifteen to twenty years, I used to get fed up with arriving home from foreign parts before the cards I had posted!

CLIFFORD Sep-01-2023

Still Available

The USPS still has a postcard rate 51 cents.

O2bnVegas Sep-01-2023

the donkey one

The classic one had an old west-cartoon-sad looking  miner, overalls and hat, mustache, bandana, pick ax (think Yosemite Sam), holding the reins of what would have been his companion donkey or mule.  The caption would be, of course, "I LOST MY ASS in LAS VEGAS." You could count on getting one of those if a friend of yours did a Vegas vacation.

At one time there was the 'chain letter' version except it involved mailing five (or ten?) picture postcards, one to each of five friends, instructing them to do the same, including sending one to you.  Somehow it would result in you, the originator, receiving a zillion picture postcards from all over the world.  I got one of those, and while the idea of getting all those pretty and interesting pic post cards was intriguing, I didn't follow through. Probably couldn't think of five friends.  LOL.

Candy

[email protected] Sep-01-2023

Postcards

Great question and response!

Kurt Wiesenbach Sep-01-2023

Alive and well in Hawaii

Postcards are all over Hawaii, especially in the ABC stores. I especially like the retro looking ones, probably reissues from the early 20th century. I do remember seeing some not too long ago in a souvenir store somewhere in Vegas, maybe in the miracle mile shops.

Myron Liner Sep-01-2023

Myron

This question is one of the reasons I plan on continuing my subscription after this publication becomes for pay.   Where else can I find such interesting factual (and undoubtedly useless)   information for a year at a cost far less than one meal for myself and my wife?  I have no idea when or even if we will be in Vegas again due to age but my interest continues.

Hey_Moe Sep-01-2023

Unfortunate

I enjoy postcards, both sending, and receiving.  But alas,  the written word is becoming a thing of the past, and soon, all we will have are videos.  Even websites that report the news, are moving to videos.  

It's funny....people travel the world quite easily these days, and when they arrive at their destination, do they take pictures of the beauty on their dream vacation?  No, they take selfies to prove to their friends that they were there.  Look at me, I'm cool, because I travel the world.

Big E Sep-01-2023

ABC

We were there a few months ago and they still had them at the ABC store……

[email protected] Sep-01-2023

They are still around

Many gift shops in Las Vegas still have post cards. Not like in the past. They used to be 10 for $1. Now they are about $1 each.

Sally_Ann Sep-01-2023

Better than pictures

Postcards are from professional photographers. Many people prefer postcards because the image is much better than they could replicate with their own phone or camera. However, unless it's an old picture, postcards these days like all media we see online have added filters and other alterations. They rarely look like the real thing, but a pseudo-AI generated replica.

Sally_Ann Sep-01-2023

peregrinations

@Bob, seems to me either someone is trying to sound "smart" or has used ChatGPT to generate a post which includes a word which is uncommon.

Doozey Sep-05-2023

last postcard

last post card I bought was at the Cosmopolitan about 10 years ago in a gift shop

gpj Sep-11-2023

Postcards

I was in OYO hotel gift shop and to my surprise they had a rack of post cards for sale.

Question of the Day - 01 September 2023

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