Using Postcards as Historical Evidence
Postcards as Evidence: Family History
Postcards are a valuable way of analyzing the history of a particular family or families in general. Postcards can provide insight into family vacations and leisure time activities. The subject matter of the postcards can reveal places, hotels, restaurants, etc. where families may have visited. Any inscription on the postcard itself can reveal personal feelings, why they visited a particular place, what they saw, and how they felt.
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Inscriptions also provide a chance to learn about American culture and the life of ordinary people. Family history can be examined through the places people went and the subject matter of the postcard. Family vacations and day trip locations provide a wealth of subjects for postcards. However, postcards have the most meaning for telling family history if they come from a family’s collection or have been received by a person(s), thus telling a story.
Discussion Questions
- Have you ever sent a postcard to a friend or family member? Where was the postcard from? What did you write?
- If you were writing this postcard in 1939 (or any era) what would you have written? Who would you have sent it to?
