A history of the area ... in postcards
Valley Stream resident’s collection helps preserve her memories
Although currently not a resident of the Five Towns, Valley Stream’s Barbara Gribbon has successfully captured that 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 six, 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 for 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 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.
