On December 22, in a single day, two vintage Japanese postcards sold at over 250 dollars each. One card on eBay, the other on Yahoo! Japan’s auction site.

This might not have been so surprising if these were art postcards. Ever since Leonard A. Luder, chairman and C.E.O. of Estée Lauder Companies, presented 25,000 Japanese postcards to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in 2002, Japanese postcards have been viewed in a different light. They earned unprecedented prestige when the museum held an impressive exhibition in 2004. But almost all attention went to art cards.

Yesterday’s incredible prices were for photo cards of everyday life. A card showing Japanese fishermen with a whale they caught was sold for 30,500 yen (267.36 dollars) on Yahoo! Japan’s auction site. But the highest price went to an eBay card showing a scene of celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the opening of Yokohama Port in 1909. The card sold for a whopping 338.00 dollars. That is a respectable price for a piece of old paper measuring just 10 by 14 centimeters (3.9 X 5.5 inches).

Celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the opening of Yokohama Port in 1909: 338.00 dollars on Ebay

Japanese fishermen on the island of Hirado bag a whale, early 20th century: 30,500 yen (267.36 dollars) on Yahoo! Auction Japan