Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Thanks to All of You

I learn a lot from this blog, mostly by researching the posts and reading your comments. You often see or know things that I don't. I also learn a fair amount from Statcounter, which tallies the number of visitors per day, where they came from, and what search words may have led them here. From these numbers, I can see that there were just under 40,000 unique visitors last year and over 76,000 page views, and that nearly 60% came from the United States, but the rest came from over 40 other countries, including Bulgaria and Libya (Hi Muamar!)

Top Three Blog Posts
But those are just numbers. I'm always interested (and often baffled) to see which pages are the most popular. Alas, they are never my favorites. In fact, it's safe to say that my favorites are generally the least popular. Here are the top three most visited pages:
1. Princess Grace and Prince Rainier
2. Sepia Saturday - Vintage Bicycle Racing
3. Victor Bicycles - Overman Wheel Co.

I think it's fair to say that the Princess Grace card got thousands of views only because it was featured in the online version of Vanity Fair with a link back to this blog. I'm not surprised by the popularity of the bicycle pictures. They will always be popular.
But, if I had to choose my three five favorites,  it would have been these:
1. Tracy Has A Headache
2. Whatever Happened to Hazel Vera Holbrook?
3. Don't Tell the Beauty Parlor
4. Streetcar Sunday - Robbery in Troy, New York
5. From Paris to Miss Annette Markoe

Unusual Searches
I am surprised by some of the more unusual searches that lead to this blog, including:
How to draw the Golden Gate Bridge
Maternity corsets
and most recently, Slovak Christmas greetings.

A few other notable blog happenings of 2010:
  1. Tracking the postcard story of Tracy Graham from Delhi, New York eventually led me to his daughter Bernice, who is alive and well and knew nothing of these postcards.  I was as thrilled to return the cards to her as she was to receive them. Since then, she also sent me a very beautiful serving tray with the image of a vintage postcard on it. 
  2. A video production company from the U.K. contacted me and requested a higher resolution scan of the Portstewart tram to use in one of their productions.  I haven't seen it, but the film is entitled Lisbon Trams - A Driver's Eye View. Portstewart is in Ireland, not Portugal, so I guess I won't know what the connection is unless I watch the video.
  3. I also received a request from a soon-to-be-opening waterworks museum in Boston for copies of whatever Boston cards I have. I'm not sure I have anything that will be useful to them, but I sent them what I had.
I hope this blog has kept you entertained in 2010, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your visits and comments throughout the year.  If there is something you would like to see here in 2011, please let me know.
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15 comments:

  1. Christine WallaceJanuary 4, 2011 at 7:25 AM

    COOL!!! Christine, what an awesome reward for your hard work. It takes perseverance and passion to make a blog post every day, and your dedication to your blog shows through with each post. Thank you for your dedication to history!

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  2. Alan BurnettJanuary 4, 2011 at 8:12 AM

    Congratulations Christine, 2010 was a great year for The Daily Postcard and it has been a joy - and so often an education - to follow it.

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  3. Lisa BJanuary 4, 2011 at 9:21 AM

    Great post. Speaking as newcomer to your blog, thanks for sharing your favourites. I love the Princess Grace card, I can see why it is so popular! I look forward to seeing more of your collection this year :)

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  4. Bob ScotneyJanuary 4, 2011 at 10:48 AM

    Although I am a fairly recent newcomer to your blog I look forward to it every day. I wouldn't like to pick a favourite.

    I hadn't seen the Princess Grace post before. I visited Monaco to lead a training course in the 1990s and was fascinated by the place.

    Keep up the good work!

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  5. JinksyJanuary 4, 2011 at 1:45 PM

    I loved the Miss Markoe too - fabulous picture!

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  6. NancyJanuary 4, 2011 at 2:01 PM

    Christine, I really enjoy posts like this where we get background information about visitors, public favorites, search terms, and especially the blogger's favorite posts. Congratulations on your well-deserved recognition from the organizations that asked for copies of your cards AND for keeping up daily posts. Great job!

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  7. JanineJanuary 4, 2011 at 3:19 PM

    Ich finde deinen Blog klasse und ich bin offensichtlich in erlauchter Gesellschaft.
    Meine Lieblingskarte war ein altes Bild einer Farmerfamilie, die ziemlich nach Inzucht aussah.
    (Ja, ich weis, ich hab einen seltsamen Humor).
    Mach weiter so, es ist immer wieder schön, bei dir vorbei zu schauen
    Alles Liebe
    Janine

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  8. Christine H.January 4, 2011 at 5:08 PM

    Thanks everyone for all of your kind comments.

    Ja, Janine, Ich hatte die komische Famile auch sehr gern, war aber dankbar dass es nicht meine Verwandten war.

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  9. Brian PaperSpongeJanuary 5, 2011 at 5:27 AM

    Fantastic post and a reflection of your hard work and quality postcard posts. I hope 2011 brings you double the stats. Keep up the great work!

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  10. HowardJanuary 5, 2011 at 5:17 PM

    Hi Christine,
    your blog is an embarrassment of riches - I follow a link and get waylaid by something I didn't know existed, there is always something around the corner, suddenly hours have gone by...

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  11. LynetteJanuary 5, 2011 at 9:00 PM

    I only discovered your blog recently, but believe me, it has kept me entertained and interested. Thanks for taking all of the time that you do so that these beauties can be seen by so many.

    Please stop by on Thursday, after midnight on Wednesday even, at Portland Oregon Daily Photo to see my first ever embedded video. It shows my younger son Leland bouldering at The Circuit in Portland, Oregon, as filmed by his older brother Lamont, who also boulders.

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  12. PostcardyJanuary 8, 2011 at 7:31 AM

    When I read this post a couple of days ago, I was inspired to add Statcounter to my blog.

    Did you get all your information from the free version, or did you have to upgrade?

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  13. PostcardyJanuary 8, 2011 at 7:40 AM

    I like postcards picturing stamps.

    Did you know that Viridian's Postcard Blog is going to have a new meme: Sunday Stamps?

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  14. Christine H.January 10, 2011 at 8:15 AM

    Hi Postcardy,

    I just use the free version of statcounter, since it really isn't all that important to have those number. Also, you really don't need it now, because Blogger started adding stats last May. If you look at your Blog overview you'll see it.
    I'll have to take a look at Viridian's meme. Since I always do a streetcar postcard on Sundays , it might be a little tough.

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  15. TrishiaJanuary 20, 2011 at 12:28 PM

    Christine, I'm reminded of a phrase I can't quote accurately from the latest Alice in Wonderland about 'muchness.' Your blog has so much muchness, with the information rivaled by your wit and humor....I'm enjoying myself so much as I catch up on what I've been missing. KUDOs on all the attention your blog has been garnered. Well deserved!

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