Gary Doster has more than 11,000 postcards in his possession. But not just any postcards.
“I have the largest collection of pre-1920 Georgia picture postcards ever,” he said. “There’s no way in the world anybody could duplicate or outdo this collection I’ve got here.”
Most of the collection is at Doster’s home in Athens. But the Oglethorpe County Library reached out and asked if it could showcase his Oglethorpe County postcards for the community to appreciate.
He dug through his collection and found 32 cards that feature historic Oglethorpe County landmarks, including the high school in Maxeys and the Bank and Business Block in Lexington. They are now in a display case in the library’s entryway.
Doster has been collecting cards for over 50 years. He started with Athens postcards, which make up the majority of his collection, then moved on to postcards from all over the state, from Augusta and Macon to Crawford and Lexington.
The 85-year-old historian finds most of his postcards through eBay, where collectors and dealers can list items for sale.
“I look at the new listings on this every day,” Doster said. “If I see something I can’t live without, I buy it.”
His most prized postcards are the ones that feature photographs never used for any other purpose but the card, including Oglethorpe County cards featuring the town pump and Wire Bridge from 1910. Postcards like these can go for upward of $200.
“I’ve had a professional dealer offer me $100,000 cash for my collection of Georgia postcards,” Doster said. “If I needed $100,000 I’d sell, but I don’t need it.”
The bulk of his postcards are used, meaning that they have stamps, addresses and signatures on them.
“Most collectors want them in mint condition,” he said. “I prefer mine to be used because I love who it's from, who it's to, and the postmarks and the stamps and the messages.”
Doster doesn’t only collect postcards, though.
He also has extensive collections of Native American artifacts, historical documents and obsolete currency.
Doster has been collecting things since he was 5 years old, but he can’t explain why.
“I was born with an affliction,” he said. “I used to walk the streets when I was 5 years old and pick up pieces of colored broken glass along the road.”
He said he has an interest in anything historical, especially from the time between the Revolutionary War and the Civil War.
Doster has done most of the collecting and organizing of his postcards himself over the course of his life. He said his family members — three sons, six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren — don’t have the same interest in historical artifacts.
But his wife, Faye Doster, has been around for the entire process.
Gary and Faye have been married for 66 years now and have known each other since they were 16 and 13.
“We’ve had lots of trips to historic places,” Faye said.
She said they even spent their honeymoon touring a historic site in Crawfordville.
Faye isn’t interested in history, but the “affliction” hasn’t bypassed her. She has a large number of rings and other trinkets.
“It’s been a good life,” Faye said. “I do love him.”
Gary has also published 10 books and worked at the University of Georgia for 46 years as a technician with the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study.
He’s also an active member of Historic Oglethorpe County. Doster’s ties to Oglethorpe County go as far back as his great, great grandfather, James Calvin Collin, whose name is on the confederate monument in front of the courthouse in Lexington.
Doster has started selling some of his historical artifacts, but he is keeping his postcard collection.
“I’ve only got 11,000,” he said, when asked if there are any other postcards he would like to have. "There's at least 10,000 more out there I need.”