ABOUT THE COLLECTION: The Collection totals between 300 to 400 postcards dated from 1902 to about 1950, where her collection stops. "I really just collect every single one I can collect,'' she says. "I collect one of each and replace them as I can. The collection is divided into different categories, including changes in history, simple addresses, scenes of Hamilton and St.

George's, people, and others.

"Hugh Rowan, a Canadian who began to catalogue old Bermuda postcards estimated there were about 8,000 Bermuda postcards printed before 1920,'' she says. "He was probably the biggest collector of Bermuda postcards but he died recently and his collection was given to the Bermuda Government.'' The postcards document many changes in the Island's history and its people, she says. Most are hand-painted. Her collection includes scenes of the Causeway, the Cathedral in Hamilton before building was completed, visitors touring Flatts by horse and carriage the view from Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, the oldest house in Bermuda, the Front Street docks, the railway, St. George's in 1910, and Bermudian people, including a native fiddler, onion pickers, washer women, and fruit sellers in Hamilton. She has one addressed to a Robert Ayer, Hartsdale, New York, USA, in the category of simple addresses.

One of her favourites is a 1920s postcard showing an onion with a woman and donkey superimposed over the top of the onion. the message on the postcard says `Greetings from Bermuda', and below says: `Blessed is the man who comes to Bermuda (The Modern Paradise) And is tempted to eat a sweet onion instead of a forbidden (sic) apple.' She also has bout 45 different postcards painted by the Tucker sisters from the 1920's, including two which were written by the same person and form part one and part three of a three-page letter. "Now I've just got to find the second page,'' she says.

Her oldest postcard is dated March 30, 1902 and shows a field of Easter lilies, with four girls sitting in a hammock. The message written by the sender appears on the front and says `A joyous Easter Day for you. Hamilton Bermuda'. "I love the idea of the messages on the back. It's almost like you're prying into people's lives. I have to say that I'm very conscious of what I write on postcards now, because I think people might be reading them 100 years from now. I may as well make it look nice and sound meaningful. I also collect them for the stamps, for the colours, many of them are hand painted, and because they're small.'' HOW IT STARTED: Raine started collecting postcards about 10 years ago. She and her husband , David, opened the Bridge House At Gallery in St. George's 18 years ago and shortly after began selling postcards, which is how she initially became interested in postcards. She buys them whenever she's travelling outside of Bermuda, in antique shops or markets. While they occasionally come up at local auctions, Raine says they go for high prices.

"A group of people whom I met through the Gallery also send me postcards,'' she says. "More recently, I also started collecting postcards from places that I visit, as well as any one that I find amusing or unusual. And I keep any postcards that other people send to me.'' VALUE: "The most expensive postcard I've ever purchased was $15, but I saw one for 15 pounds in London,'' says Raine. "I don't really collect for the value. the postcards have more of a sentimental value for me.'' Left, Postcard showing a horse and buggy tour to Devil's Hole, about 1920.

Right, Postcards with Greeting from Bermuda, 1920s.

Postcard showing the Causeway, about 1920.

Top, Postcard showing a Buried House at Sandy Banks, no date known. Right, Postcard with a field of Easter lillies, March, 30, 1902.

RG MAGAZINE JUNE 1993