When I was a teenager, I collected phonecards. I mainly had phonecards from Ireland (called Callcards in Ireland), but a sizeable number from the UK, France, Germany, other European countries and some from far away places like Turkey, Japan, Hong Kong and Australia.
Where I got them all from, I really don't remember. It seems amazing that I was able to gather up ephemera from so far away.
Recently, I decided to part with my collection. They're not really collectors items any more, so I offered them to some science / technology museums but they were largely not interested.
Instead, I sent them on to museums and archives on the themes shown on the cards - so a few with hockey pictures went to the National Hockey Museum, some advertising cards went to the History of Advertising Trust and so on. I sent about 36 different donations in all.
Happily some of the museums are very glad for the donations!
- Surf Life Saving Australia archive
- New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame
- Cité des Télécoms
- History of Advertising Trust
- Kerry County Museum
- Irish National Folklore Collection
- Wexford Festival Opera Archive
- RTE Archive
- American Music Museum
- Guinness Storehouse
It struck me as I was sorting through them that lots of the cards showed far-away places, foreign cities and landscapes - just another influence on my love of travel and geography.