John Grainger moved to Alaska in 1940 in order to work at the new Metlakatla airfield with the Civilian Conservation Corps. During his employment, Mr. Grainger developed an interest in Alaskan postmarks and began collecting them on a regular basis. As postmarks became harder to acquire, Mr. Grainger changed his collecting hobby to Alaskan postcards. This hobby eventually led to a full-time pursuit. His postcards document over 90 years of Alaskan history and include subjects such as the Gold Rush, totem poles, geographic locations, towns and ships. In addition to the postcards, Mr. Grainger collected information about postcard publishers, photographers, manufacturers, dates of issue and number of cards in each set. This information has been documented in his book, Collecting Alaska Postcards (Historical Collections, NC1875.G7)

Mr. Grainger has resided in Ketchikan and southeast Alaska for over 50 years, with his wife, Frances. He served as Grand Historian for the Grand Lodge of Masonics for Alaska (Free and Accepted Masons), and contributes historical articles to various publications. As of 1997, Grainger had collected over 10,000 postcards and “know[s] them all individually.” [From: PCA 255 and The Southeastern Log, Mar. 1976, v. 6, no. 3.]