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Mostly Cloudy A history of the area in postcards
Valley Stream’s Barbara Gribbon has successfully captured the area’s history in a very unique way — through postcards.
Born in 1934, Gribbon grew up as a toddler on Locust Avenue in Cedarhurst and then at 6, moved to Allen Street in Lawrence where she lived through her high school years at Dominican Commercial High School in Jamaica, Queens, before moving to Manhattan.
One of Gribbon’s extraordinary talents, is her photographic memory. She remembers walking to the corner of her block every morning to recite the Pledge of Allegiance with the students of St. Joachim School before she was in kindergarten, or cutting through a creepy cemetery with her brother to get to school on time. She remembers it all. “I don’t know if I have a talent, perhaps just an interest and a fascination,” Gribbon said.
To preserve memories in a more unique manner, she started collecting postcards after her husband Tom died in 1981 at 49. Slowly she began attending postcard shows and exhibits around Long Island, on the lookout for a new addition to her rapidly growing collection.
When selecting a postcard for her collection, Gribbon looks at the quality of its condition, historical context and, of course, personal meaning, before purchasing a card. “I didn’t even want to do it. It was Mr. Richard Lehr at the Nassau County Fire Marshall’s office where I worked, who got me into it and I’ve been hooked ever since.”
Unlike other postcard collectors, Gribbon referred to herself as, “localized,” collecting cards only from the Five Towns, Lynbrook, East Rockaway, Rockville Centre, Valley Stream, and on occasion, even Atlantic Beach and Long Beach. “I only want to keep the things that mean something to me,” she said.
Ranging anywhere from 99 cents to $50 and dating back from 1907 to the present, Gibbon’s collection is organized into large binders overflowing with history and memories. Each postcard is recorded on a list before she slides it under the pristine sheet of plastic. “I do it for the fun of it and my love of history,” she said.
That love of history also helped the Historical Society of East Rockaway and Lynbrook expand its collection of historical artifacts. A decade ago, the historical society purchased an assortment of postcards from Gribbon, and then had a high school student catalogue them.
“It is great to have her as a source,” said Madeline Pearson, president of the historical society. “Her work is time consuming, but she finds pleasure in it and her pleasure is a benefit for us.”
During the summer Gribbon enjoys driving through the Five Towns on the way to the beach, seeing familiar streets and places, evoking certain memories and postcards of the area in her mind. Although she can’t name a favorite, Gribbon has a peculiar affinity for a mysterious postcard of a blue hot air balloon above Woodmere as well as one of a view from the top of the Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department, where her and her late husband shared so many good memories together.
A mother of three grown children and a grandmother to eight, Gribbon is a member of both the Long Island Postcards Club and the Historical Society of East Rockaway-Lynbrook.
Gribbon takes tremendous pride in her generous and active participation and fundraising for St. Raymond’s Roman Catholic Church in East Rockaway.
Now 77 years old, she still tries to add to her collection but said, “at this point it’s hard because if I find a postcard I like, I probably already have it.” Without a doubt, a picture, or in Gribbon’s case, a postcard, truly means 1,000 words.
