Postcard Whispers: The Short Version...

Postcard whispering is what historians and cultural theorists might call a “contextualized reading of an image.” It is looking at images from another period, and asking questions: What did people think and feel when they saw these images? Why did they like and buy certain pictures on postcards, and not others? Who were these people, and what kinds of images made them feel happy and comfortable--and why? To find some of those answers for this project, a survey of holiday postcards was conducted. After looking at the recipients of 2,000 postcards, the survey concluded that holiday postcards primarily were mailed between 1907 and 1910 among white, rural and small town women and children, living in the Northern United States, who were Anglo-Saxon or German in their ethnic heritage.

Postcard Whispers: The Longer Version...

These three videos outline the Postcard Whisperer Project, providing an introduction to the project; a re-creation of the process used in the survey; and a summary of the findings. Note: double-click within the display box after it begins for a full screen display.

Introduction

Survey (Large file from screen capture; consider uploading then viewing.)

Findings

Double click within the display box after it begins for full display

Postcard Whispers: The Full Version...

This PDF provides a copy of the prospectus for the forthcoming dissertation To You and Your Kin: Holiday Images from America's Postcard Phenomenon, 1907-1910. Click the image to the left.

Useful Links

Postcard Collector.org A hugely valuable forum for anyone interested in postcards.

Postcardy An excellent blog about postcards of all kinds.

Postcardiva Another excellent blog with many parallels to this site.

Paper Sponge Your daily source of paper ephemera with a special affinity for postcards.