A club born of the river.

A club born of the river.

The Washington Crossing Card Collectors Club — known to friends as WC4 — was formed in 1972 by local postcard collectors in the Delaware Valley.

Our name and heritage have always revolved around George Washington's historic 1776 crossing of the Delaware River. Many of our founding members live in that area, and our meetings are still held there today. Some of us are history buffs, too.

The primary interest of our club is deltiology — the study and collection of postcards. Beyond the cards themselves, the club is a place: a room where you can talk for an hour about a single Titusville bridge view or a Lambertville trolley card, and find someone who wants to listen, swap, and probably out-bid you.

How we're organized.

Our officers, Board of Trustees, and committees lead and manage the club's activities. Public club meetings are held on the second Monday evening of each month; board meetings are typically on the fourth Monday evening. Club members are welcome to join any board meeting — look for time and location in our calendar of events and in our newsletter The Dispatch.

If you have a special area of interest or a skill that could help the club, please make your interest known to our club president. New committee members are always welcome.

Club traditions & trivia.

A few things that have made WC4 itself over the years:

The bourse

Our newsletter announces a bourse beginning at 6:30 PM on meeting nights. A bourse is a place where dealers, collectors and the general public get together to buy, sell and trade items with each other. It can also mean a stock-market exchange — Philadelphia has its own historic Bourse Building on Independence Mall, completed in 1895. The next time you're at Independence Hall, stop by for lunch. (See the full bourse on our meetings page.)

Stan's Contest

Created by former member Stan Sredinsky. Stan wanted a club activity that would let more members participate at meetings. The idea: a contest in which everyone could enter their one best postcard on a chosen theme, with the room voting and prize money provided by Stan himself. Originally cards were laid out on a table and people voted with slips of paper — but the table was often overlooked. Once the entries began being projected onto the screen during the meeting, participation jumped. When Stan could no longer attend, the contest was officially dubbed "Stan's Contest" in his honor, and it has run every month since.

Our sister club in Queensland

Through our founder Ted Bozarth, who corresponded with collectors worldwide, WC4 became sister clubs with the Queensland Card Collectors' Society in Brisbane, Australia. We didn't know about it for years — we discovered it on the internet. We trade newsletters regularly and hope to host a visit one day.

Rick Geary anniversary cards

The American cartoonist Rick Geary has a whimsical illustration style we love, so we commissioned him to draw a series of anniversary postcards for the club. The cards are $1 each at our meetings. Visit rickgeary.com for more of his work — and tell him we sent you.

The Delaware River bridges

Some of the reproduction postcards we sell at meetings depict our local Delaware River bridges. The Washington Crossing Bridge — built 1904, two lanes, fifteen feet wide — is a favorite. It's a nail-biting ride in either direction, but more comfortable than crossing the river in a Durham Boat (Washington's preferred option). If you're collecting Delaware River bridge postcards, you'll find plenty at the bourse.

Board of Trustees.

The current officers and trustees and their term lengths:

Committee chairs.

Committee chairs serve alongside the Board of Trustees:

For more contact options — including appraisals, newsletter, and the show — see the Contact page.