best bets

Best Bet: Show Your Cards

Admittedly, we have a certain penchant for dated wares — well-preserved vintage clothes, used books, antique-inspired jewelry. John Derian’s assortment of postcards reproduces old drawings and images from the early1900s, but without the hefty price tag of true antique prints. Each of the 40-odd cards is suitable for mailing or framing: One depicts the illustrated title page from the book The Summer House, and Other Stories, from the late 1800s; some display drawings of ships, seashells, or chocolate; another reprints the skull-and-crossbones-stamped invitation from a “Physicians’ Ball” in 1900. But some of our favorites feature typewritten lines copied from early-twentieth-century correspondence, like this primly ominous choice: “Sorry to appear insistant [sic], but I must have my trinkets. This is the last chance.”

$1.50 (4x6) or $6 (6x9) at John Derian, 6 E. 2nd St., nr. Bowery; 212-677-3917.

Best Bet: Show Your Cards