WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:05.599 Oh, hello, old uncle Wally Ward. Here back with another 2 00:00:05.679 --> 00:00:10.039 episode of ologies. Now this one, well it's something to 3 00:00:10.039 --> 00:00:14.359 write home about. We're talking deltiology, which is the study 4 00:00:14.599 --> 00:00:19.960 or just the collection of postcards. Yes, kiddos, there is 5 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:22.079 an ology for that. I wanted to know what in 6 00:00:22.120 --> 00:00:24.960 the fricking frick that was about. So I was outside 7 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:28.160 of Detroit shooting the CBS show Innovation Nation at the 8 00:00:28.199 --> 00:00:31.480 Henry Ford Museum. I was like, hey, hey, you guys 9 00:00:31.480 --> 00:00:34.759 got any ins with the delteologist And they were like, 10 00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:36.759 what is that? Is that a word? And I had 11 00:00:36.759 --> 00:00:40.119 to be like, well, according to some dude named Randall 12 00:00:40.200 --> 00:00:44.439 Rhodes of Ohio who coined this term in nineteen forty 13 00:00:44.439 --> 00:00:51.679 five based on the Greek for deltion meaning little tablets, yes, yeah, 14 00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:53.759 it's a word. And they were like, oh, okay, cool, 15 00:00:53.799 --> 00:00:57.840 because yeah, we have a museum curator who studies and collects, 16 00:00:58.240 --> 00:01:04.319 who cherishes and archives and displays postcards. And I was like, 17 00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:08.920 let's get it on, let's do this. Also, sorry the 18 00:01:08.959 --> 00:01:12.200 Henry Ford. Sometimes there's swear words in my podcasts. I 19 00:01:12.239 --> 00:01:14.359 think I kept them to them and amum, I'm just 20 00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:17.200 me being me, but I'm pretty sure it's pretty clean. 21 00:01:17.560 --> 00:01:21.519 But before we get into what is, according to Wikipedia, 22 00:01:21.599 --> 00:01:25.319 the third most popular hobby worldwide, I guess people like 23 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:28.319 stamp and coin collecting more and I'm not sure if 24 00:01:28.319 --> 00:01:31.400 by coin they just mean money like amassing wealth, but whatever. 25 00:01:31.640 --> 00:01:34.239 Before we get into it, let's say thank you to 26 00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:37.319 the patrons for their coin that they toss at the 27 00:01:37.359 --> 00:01:40.799 podcast in exchange forgetting to ask the ologists questions. Twenty 28 00:01:40.799 --> 00:01:43.239 five cents an episode gets you in. You can also 29 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:46.799 support for no Money just by telling a friend or 30 00:01:46.840 --> 00:01:50.159 your secret lover or someone handing out pizza role samples 31 00:01:50.200 --> 00:01:53.719 at Costco or your accountant about the podcast. Spread the word. 32 00:01:53.920 --> 00:01:56.719 You can rate and review on iTunes. That also helps 33 00:01:56.799 --> 00:02:01.000 keep us in still the top twenty or so signed podcasts. 34 00:02:01.400 --> 00:02:04.400 It's so exciting and also I'm really creepy and I 35 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:07.040 read all your reviews that you leave because I want 36 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:10.800 you to feel seen, and I'm kind of thirsty. So 37 00:02:10.879 --> 00:02:16.599 this week, Mallard the Duck says no Divorce Required. Amazing 38 00:02:16.680 --> 00:02:19.960 podcast can take any topic and make it interesting through 39 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:24.159 Ali's personality and the guestologists. Oh thank you. This podcast 40 00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:26.400 kept my wife and I entertained and happy on a 41 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:31.919 two thousand mile road trip to Canada. So can't wait 42 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:33.800 for the return trip home to listen to new things 43 00:02:33.800 --> 00:02:36.520 and I won't need to find a divorce attorney after 44 00:02:36.680 --> 00:02:38.080 four thousand miles of driving. 45 00:02:38.280 --> 00:02:39.400 Thanks Alli, So. 46 00:02:39.599 --> 00:02:42.280 Mallard the Duck twenty three. I hope you and your 47 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:47.639 continued wife are enjoying this episode about postcards. You better 48 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:51.639 send me one. Okay, you're a delltyologist. She got her 49 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:57.039 bachelor's degree in anthropology, a masters in Early American culture, 50 00:02:57.080 --> 00:03:00.400 and is now the curator of Public Life, which is 51 00:03:00.439 --> 00:03:03.680 a thing at the Henry Vard Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. 52 00:03:03.879 --> 00:03:05.719 So she's been there. Are you even ready for this 53 00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:11.919 forty one years forty one? I checked her LinkedIn profile 54 00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:13.960 and I also just looked up to see what the 55 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:17.039 traditional forty one year anniversary gift would be, and it 56 00:03:17.080 --> 00:03:20.120 looks like it's land. Like when you commit to something 57 00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:23.560 that long, you just deserve chunks of the earth. So 58 00:03:23.639 --> 00:03:27.680 she curates artifacts relevant to, according to the museum website, 59 00:03:27.800 --> 00:03:32.879 vacations and worldfairs, to civil rights and social activism, to 60 00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:37.039 advertising and retail, and has referred to the museum's vast 61 00:03:37.080 --> 00:03:43.439 collections as quote, a bottomless pit of wonderfulness, she loves 62 00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:45.879 her job, so I nabbed her for a chat in 63 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:48.560 the museum. We ducked into a little classroom off the 64 00:03:48.599 --> 00:03:52.719 main hall to talk shop about postcards. So yes, we'll 65 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:57.240 cover some history and their uses, but this talk turned 66 00:03:57.280 --> 00:04:01.439 into a really fascinating look at how we tell our 67 00:04:01.479 --> 00:04:05.240 own narratives and how we want others to see our lives, 68 00:04:05.360 --> 00:04:10.120 and the luxury of travel and how etching out a 69 00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:13.759 message changes the way that we remember things. So it's 70 00:04:13.800 --> 00:04:16.920 a loving gaze at postcards, of course, but it's also 71 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:19.800 a look at how we live and how a curator 72 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:24.079 is tasked with collecting and presenting back our own story 73 00:04:24.120 --> 00:04:24.560 for us. 74 00:04:25.160 --> 00:04:26.360 So it's really cool. 75 00:04:26.439 --> 00:04:28.680 You can hear in my voice that I'm and I'm 76 00:04:28.720 --> 00:04:32.920 almost apologetic, but not really to you guys, how excited 77 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:36.879 I was to be having this conversation because she's just 78 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:37.959 so down to earth. 79 00:04:38.279 --> 00:04:41.160 She's like this bespectacled. 80 00:04:40.360 --> 00:04:44.560 Hero because she's an artifact badass, and I just kind 81 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:48.079 of was fangirling for a lot of it. So collect 82 00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:54.959 these museum musings and postcard wisdoms from deltyologist Donna Brayden. 83 00:05:13.480 --> 00:05:15.519 Can you test and see if it's okay? 84 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:18.360 So it looks like your level is look at it 85 00:05:18.399 --> 00:05:21.800 and I feel like I'm about to inform you that 86 00:05:21.879 --> 00:05:24.160 you are a deltologist. 87 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:26.199 That was a new word to me. 88 00:05:26.319 --> 00:05:28.279 But I love the fact that there is a word 89 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:30.240 about the love of postcards. 90 00:05:30.759 --> 00:05:34.000 I mean, you don't just love them. You also are 91 00:05:34.040 --> 00:05:36.240 a curator here at the Henry Ford, so you also 92 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:39.720 deal with the collection of them, the inspection of them, 93 00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:40.720 the cataloging. 94 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:45.759 Yes, I have looked through huge swaths of our postcard 95 00:05:45.800 --> 00:05:48.480 collection and we have many How many postcards. 96 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:49.879 Do you think you have in the collections here A few. 97 00:05:49.720 --> 00:05:52.839 Thousand, We have a lot. How do they get stored? 98 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:55.360 Are they in like U haul boxes or are they 99 00:05:55.439 --> 00:05:56.639 like all an acid fair laver? 100 00:05:56.879 --> 00:06:00.600 Yeah, imagine shoe boxes, okay that are like acid free. 101 00:06:00.839 --> 00:06:05.079 Oh so they're like protective certain kind of cardboard that 102 00:06:05.879 --> 00:06:11.160 is okay for that quality of postcard paper. And they're 103 00:06:11.199 --> 00:06:15.759 all nicely organized by topic usually state. 104 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:19.079 Oh so you can then by topic. 105 00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:22.399 So like Wisconsin fishing, spon and. 106 00:06:22.399 --> 00:06:27.439 Bears right, who right? And we have two different collections. 107 00:06:27.879 --> 00:06:31.000 The main one is all indexed in our computer, so 108 00:06:31.040 --> 00:06:33.120 we can look up any topic or any state or 109 00:06:33.160 --> 00:06:36.920 any year and find those postcards and then just kind 110 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:39.240 of dig them out and look at them. I think 111 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:40.920 there are pictures of most. 112 00:06:40.680 --> 00:06:42.920 Of them as well. And then there's a whole. 113 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:47.480 Other collection that I found more recently that you have 114 00:06:47.560 --> 00:06:48.480 to know we have. 115 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:54.800 What So the museum recently discovered a pristine postcard collection 116 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:57.600 by this publishing company which was kind of like this 117 00:06:57.879 --> 00:07:02.480 papery time capsule into postcards past. And I don't know 118 00:07:02.600 --> 00:07:04.480 if they had to wear gloves to touch them, but 119 00:07:04.519 --> 00:07:06.720 I'm going to picture them wearing gloves to touch them. 120 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:13.319 They're not indexed. They were not written by people and mailed. 121 00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:16.600 So they don't have messages like Betty, I wish you 122 00:07:16.680 --> 00:07:18.000 are on the boat with us. 123 00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:21.160 Right, and then a licked stamp. They don't separate. 124 00:07:21.240 --> 00:07:23.279 I mean, those are great because you get postmarks on 125 00:07:23.279 --> 00:07:25.040 them and you can date them that way. But the 126 00:07:25.079 --> 00:07:28.600 ones that have no messages, in this one company's collection, 127 00:07:29.040 --> 00:07:33.040 you get a very more complete run of every postcard 128 00:07:33.079 --> 00:07:35.879 they ever made. So a couple of years ago, I 129 00:07:35.959 --> 00:07:38.759 was delving deep into the history of Yellowstone National Park 130 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:42.279 and I found that those postcards sem to be earlier 131 00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:46.279 as well, kind of these really early teens and twenties 132 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:51.639 era postcards of every attraction at Yellowstone. I was like, 133 00:07:51.959 --> 00:07:55.120 oh my gosh, you don't or not finding these on 134 00:07:55.160 --> 00:07:55.560 the computer. 135 00:07:55.639 --> 00:07:57.759 But I'm going to get them digitized so people can 136 00:07:57.800 --> 00:07:58.439 see them now. 137 00:07:58.879 --> 00:08:02.120 So what is the history of postcards? Did they just 138 00:08:02.279 --> 00:08:05.839 always exist like forever? Like did the dinosaurs pop them 139 00:08:05.839 --> 00:08:08.360 in the mail? And they're like eh, down in Mexico 140 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:11.120 for VAK there's so huge common or some shit I 141 00:08:11.160 --> 00:08:14.079 don't know, man made for some red sunsets though, talk 142 00:08:14.120 --> 00:08:17.639 to you later. No, not so much. Postcards were invented 143 00:08:18.040 --> 00:08:21.959 for a reason, relatively recently, because they were cheap to mail. 144 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:25.839 They're like a penny. Everyone's like, dude, these rule technology. 145 00:08:25.959 --> 00:08:29.199 It's so crazy. And then from there they evolved. So 146 00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:32.759 let's get all up to speed on the history of postcards. 147 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:35.720 I swear this is fascinating. You'll never look at them 148 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:38.200 the same way. You'll be like, OMG, look at the 149 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:43.080 border on that ooh a linen finish, and maybe maybe 150 00:08:43.080 --> 00:08:45.360 you'll join a deltyology club and meet the love of 151 00:08:45.399 --> 00:08:48.039 your life. I don't know, the world's crazy, but let's 152 00:08:48.039 --> 00:08:48.639 get into it. 153 00:08:49.080 --> 00:08:53.279 The first postcards were put up by the government, the 154 00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:56.559 post office, and you had no choice over what you 155 00:08:56.679 --> 00:09:01.720 got and then oh oh, they act passed where private 156 00:09:02.759 --> 00:09:06.759 companies could produce postcards, and then it became a bigger deal. 157 00:09:06.919 --> 00:09:10.360 And that's when you got kind of that golden age 158 00:09:10.360 --> 00:09:13.480 of early the early twentieth century postcards put out by 159 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:17.000 these companies. Oh okay, and then if you're familiar with postcards, 160 00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:22.200 there's that early look on kind of a rag paper 161 00:09:22.799 --> 00:09:26.200 that looks almost like a painting something. Yeah, that's those 162 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:28.399 early twentieth century postcards. 163 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:32.000 Okay, more little tidbits. So the first first, first postcard 164 00:09:32.039 --> 00:09:35.759 ever was invented by this British author, prankster and play boy, 165 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:39.000 this guy named Theodor Hook. And he sent this hand 166 00:09:39.000 --> 00:09:42.600 painted postcard to himself in eighteen forty and on it 167 00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:46.279 unflattering drawings of a bunch of postal workers. He's like, 168 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:50.519 you've been served. Boom. Now that postcards sold at auction 169 00:09:50.679 --> 00:09:54.720 in two thousand and two for twenty seven thousand British pounds. 170 00:09:54.919 --> 00:09:57.919 So some Lotvian guy, his name is Eugene Gomberg. I 171 00:09:57.919 --> 00:09:59.960 looked him up on Facebook. I spent some time looking 172 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:02.519 towards vacation photos last night. I'm not gonna lie, none 173 00:10:02.639 --> 00:10:05.679 are photos involving this postcard. I met he legit forgot 174 00:10:05.679 --> 00:10:07.840 that he bought it. Anyway, I'm going to give you 175 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:11.080 a quick rundown. In eighteen sixty one, the US allowed 176 00:10:11.080 --> 00:10:13.240 postcards to be sent through the mail, and then ten 177 00:10:13.320 --> 00:10:16.080 years later they were like, hey, let's make some and 178 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:19.000 sell our own pre stamped postcards. For God's sake, let's 179 00:10:19.000 --> 00:10:21.799 make a little money. And then from there, in late 180 00:10:21.879 --> 00:10:25.600 eighteen hundreds to early nineteen hundreds, this was officially the 181 00:10:25.639 --> 00:10:28.720 Golden Age of postcards. What a time to be alive. 182 00:10:28.919 --> 00:10:31.720 They really started taking off. People were like, they're so cheap, 183 00:10:31.879 --> 00:10:34.639 they're so easy, I won't get hand cramps writing these 184 00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:38.720 long ass inky letters, and wagons with photo equipment started 185 00:10:38.759 --> 00:10:41.919 traveling and printing pictures onto these mailable postcards. 186 00:10:42.200 --> 00:10:45.120 Now, there was also a white border period. 187 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:47.720 That was in the early nineteen hundreds that saved ink 188 00:10:47.799 --> 00:10:50.840 by printing on a smaller surface. Nineteen thirties, there was 189 00:10:50.879 --> 00:10:55.080 a shift to linen texture, nineteen fifties, some scalloped edges, 190 00:10:55.679 --> 00:10:58.759 and now what we know today they're printed to the 191 00:10:58.840 --> 00:11:02.639 edges with modern chrome, full color. So congratulations, you now 192 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:04.080 know the whole history of postcards. 193 00:11:04.120 --> 00:11:04.679 We did it. 194 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:07.440 Isn't it weird that postcards have an origin story, they're 195 00:11:07.480 --> 00:11:09.720 like a superhero or a rescue dog. It just makes 196 00:11:09.759 --> 00:11:12.159 you love them more. And Donna loves her work. 197 00:11:12.039 --> 00:11:16.440 So there's a big shift in how they look and 198 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:18.320 what tends to happen. The reason you can't date that 199 00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:20.440 that well unless they have postmarks is that those early 200 00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:24.799 postcards get continue to be offered for years and years 201 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:28.440 after they're not made anymore. Oh really, so they keep going. 202 00:11:28.279 --> 00:11:29.200 Yeah, they keep going. 203 00:11:29.240 --> 00:11:34.200 So you see these, you see people in like outdated clothing. 204 00:11:35.480 --> 00:11:37.399 I know this was not taken this year because it's 205 00:11:37.399 --> 00:11:40.039 so much cheaper just to keep producing those same postcards. 206 00:11:40.120 --> 00:11:42.679 Right Like when you see people with like feathered eighties 207 00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:45.000 hair and like Venice Beach postcards, you're. 208 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:47.879 Like, whoa, man, it's very nicely still around. It's definitely 209 00:11:47.879 --> 00:11:51.600 still around. Our ladies with big hats and you know, 210 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:54.720 Gibson girl looking outfits and it's like the nineteen thirties 211 00:11:54.759 --> 00:11:57.200 and it should be like or the nineteen forties. 212 00:11:57.320 --> 00:12:00.360 That's like nineteen ten. Yeah, okay, that it needs to 213 00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:01.000 be updated. 214 00:12:01.159 --> 00:12:03.440 And that was just I mean, the discoveries here are 215 00:12:03.480 --> 00:12:06.159 always every day. 216 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:08.200 Even for me and I've been here forty years. Every 217 00:12:08.279 --> 00:12:10.600 day new things. That's what's so great about it. 218 00:12:10.679 --> 00:12:12.440 So does that mean when you digitize them, do you 219 00:12:12.440 --> 00:12:14.320 have to scan them or photograph them? And then does 220 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:16.960 someone have to catalog like them? Okay, this one has 221 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:19.320 a barn in it and a bucket, so I have 222 00:12:19.320 --> 00:12:20.200 to put those keywords in. 223 00:12:20.279 --> 00:12:21.200 That's a great question. 224 00:12:21.399 --> 00:12:23.279 I think they do put the keywords in, but in 225 00:12:23.320 --> 00:12:25.960 the old days before computers, when I was here, we. 226 00:12:25.960 --> 00:12:28.559 Had to actually physically describe them. 227 00:12:28.600 --> 00:12:32.360 But we do have to do the company the date 228 00:12:32.919 --> 00:12:37.120 those keywords I think material sometimes and we put a 229 00:12:37.159 --> 00:12:40.320 title at the top so that it's descriptive. And then 230 00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:43.679 something that curators add is something called a narrative, which 231 00:12:43.720 --> 00:12:48.519 is a short write up explaining the context of each thing, 232 00:12:48.559 --> 00:12:51.039 which keeps us really busy, and we'll never we'll never 233 00:12:51.240 --> 00:12:54.639 catch up, but it's something that's ongoing that we try 234 00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:57.159 to do. So every time somebody looks something up on 235 00:12:57.200 --> 00:13:00.240 our website, they find a little right up about it. 236 00:13:00.360 --> 00:13:04.080 And so it might be like a woman picks apples 237 00:13:04.120 --> 00:13:07.240 in an orchard while a puppy looks on or something whatever. 238 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:09.360 We actually try to be more interpretive than that. We 239 00:13:09.399 --> 00:13:13.000 try to explain why the woman is there, what she's 240 00:13:13.080 --> 00:13:17.120 looking at why she looks the way she does, what 241 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:21.200 kind of you know, was the place of vacasion place 242 00:13:21.399 --> 00:13:24.080 or you know, sort of try to provide some context 243 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:24.840 and some background. 244 00:13:24.919 --> 00:13:26.799 That's what we curators try to do. 245 00:13:27.399 --> 00:13:29.919 So I went down a deep, deep, deep, deep rabbit 246 00:13:29.960 --> 00:13:33.759 burrow looking at the digital archives of postcards and the 247 00:13:33.799 --> 00:13:36.879 Henry Ford collection, and I was just tickled to see 248 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:40.919 this one was this black and white full length portrait. 249 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:45.679 It was titled Gentleman Posed with a Chair nineteen ten, 250 00:13:46.039 --> 00:13:49.440 and it features this small framed man in a dusty 251 00:13:49.519 --> 00:13:53.279 suit and a like a brimmed hat cocked far back 252 00:13:53.320 --> 00:13:57.360 on his head, and he's got this silvery mustache over 253 00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:01.799 an uncertain grin. Just a plucky looking guy. And the 254 00:14:01.879 --> 00:14:05.639 museum caption of it reads, this man likely decided at 255 00:14:05.639 --> 00:14:08.279 the spur of the moment to have his photograph taken. 256 00:14:08.679 --> 00:14:10.879 He has left his tie tucked in as he would 257 00:14:10.919 --> 00:14:14.120 while wearing a work apron. He probably saw the temporary 258 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:17.720 setup by a traveling photographer of a painted canvas in 259 00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:21.039 a store or a public building. Choosing postcard paper meant 260 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:24.200 that he could mail photos to friends and relatives. And 261 00:14:24.279 --> 00:14:28.120 not to get too sentimental, but museums are so powerful, 262 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:30.919 not only when they just display our past for us 263 00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:33.919 to see, but when they lay out moments and stories 264 00:14:33.960 --> 00:14:37.639 that we'd never even consider. And postcards kind of tell 265 00:14:37.720 --> 00:14:42.879 those tales of what aspiration meant. In past Eras and 266 00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:47.879 Donna curated promotional postcards for one exhibit about motels, and 267 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:51.120 they tell the story of hitting the open road in 268 00:14:51.159 --> 00:14:55.360 a car with your nuclear family for some time away, 269 00:14:55.600 --> 00:14:59.559 just kind of weaving sunburn and heartburn and discovery and 270 00:14:59.639 --> 00:15:00.759 tall the new memories. 271 00:15:01.159 --> 00:15:04.200 So the motel postcards, for example, I, you know, looked 272 00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:06.919 up each motel on the on the internet, is like, 273 00:15:06.960 --> 00:15:08.559 what can I find on them? What can I find 274 00:15:08.559 --> 00:15:12.039 on the owners? What is the back saying when it 275 00:15:12.080 --> 00:15:17.320 says air cooled rooms, new mattresses, all these crazy things 276 00:15:17.320 --> 00:15:21.279 that they say. Is the television exactly what does that 277 00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:24.399 mean for the era? And is it a tiny little motel? 278 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:26.799 Did it last? Is it still around? Is it a 279 00:15:26.840 --> 00:15:27.320 one off? 280 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:28.039 Did it go away? 281 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:30.600 Is it a popular tourist area? These are the things 282 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:31.480 we try to find out. 283 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:35.320 Why are there so many motel postcards? And in your 284 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:43.240 collection and your creation of postcards in Deltiology, do you 285 00:15:43.279 --> 00:15:46.159 find there are Okay, there are state postcards. 286 00:15:45.720 --> 00:15:46.960 There are motel postcards. 287 00:15:47.080 --> 00:15:50.000 There are get Well postcards, like what are the genres? 288 00:15:51.600 --> 00:15:51.840 Well? 289 00:15:51.919 --> 00:15:57.759 The the get Well postcards are very early form of postcards, 290 00:15:57.799 --> 00:16:01.159 which was more like greeting cards, and the companies that 291 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:04.639 made their early postcards actually started with kind of holiday greetings. 292 00:16:05.440 --> 00:16:07.639 People sent them to each other and it was a 293 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:10.799 very inexpensive way of sending. It was amazing to have 294 00:16:10.840 --> 00:16:15.200 something colorful and printed to send people and was very cheap. 295 00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:18.360 Postcards also ended up as a way to send like 296 00:16:18.559 --> 00:16:22.600 stupid messages, kind of like a jiff in today's world. Okay, 297 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:25.840 we were talking about lighthearted postcards. 298 00:16:26.200 --> 00:16:27.080 Turned it more into. 299 00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:30.240 Like jokey postcards than you know, greeting postcards, because of 300 00:16:30.279 --> 00:16:32.000 course you can find greeting cards everywhere now. 301 00:16:32.360 --> 00:16:33.600 It became a big industry. 302 00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:38.960 The tourism postcards is what's such a gigantic what became 303 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:42.480 such a gigantic industry, And of course you know everywhere 304 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:45.120 you go you can go to the souvenir shop and 305 00:16:45.159 --> 00:16:49.679 buy a memory of someplace that you've been. The motel 306 00:16:49.720 --> 00:16:53.519 postcards are an interesting case because sometimes you still find 307 00:16:53.559 --> 00:16:57.200 but not so often anymore, you would find a free 308 00:16:57.240 --> 00:16:59.559 postcard in the drawer of the motel you would stay in. 309 00:17:00.360 --> 00:17:02.159 And this is when I was growing up. This is 310 00:17:02.200 --> 00:17:05.680 what we all did, and that's what free you could 311 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:09.079 send your family or your friends, this is where I'm staying. 312 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:12.799 And they were ads for the motels. 313 00:17:12.839 --> 00:17:17.440 They were like the best, most inexpensive advertising for these motels, 314 00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:20.400 and they become such a document. But I still have 315 00:17:20.559 --> 00:17:23.240 because I saved postcards. 316 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:23.440 When I was a kid. 317 00:17:23.480 --> 00:17:26.279 It was a free way to build a collection and 318 00:17:26.359 --> 00:17:29.920 all these great messages I would say from my friends 319 00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:32.200 and family, and then people would start sending them to 320 00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:35.359 me because they knew I collected them. But my parents 321 00:17:35.400 --> 00:17:39.519 would occasionally escape from me and my four brothers and 322 00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:43.319 go somewhere, always not very expensive, but you know, they'd 323 00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:45.160 go somewhere and then we'd get a postcard from my 324 00:17:45.240 --> 00:17:48.160 mom that would circle the room ah and say this 325 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:51.559 is the room we're staying, and it would just paint 326 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:53.400 I mean, she was so proud to let us know 327 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:56.519 that they were staying, you know, you know, in a 328 00:17:56.599 --> 00:17:58.799 lodging that wasn't at home, and it just gave us 329 00:17:58.920 --> 00:18:00.759 sort of painted a picture where they were. 330 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:03.200 So that was really cool. Do you still have that collection? 331 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:03.680 Personally? 332 00:18:03.799 --> 00:18:07.759 Of course, really I have, Yes, I have savored the collection. 333 00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:11.559 I would it's very personal. But what's really funny is 334 00:18:11.599 --> 00:18:16.000 when I was I don't know, elementary school, I had 335 00:18:16.039 --> 00:18:19.240 a cork bulletin board in my bedroom and there was 336 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:22.720 a period of time where I thumbtacked all my postcards 337 00:18:22.759 --> 00:18:24.720 to the board. And so I look at these postcards 338 00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:27.759 now in the olive holes in the corners or varied 339 00:18:27.799 --> 00:18:31.319 places where I changed the holes, and it's like surrounded 340 00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:33.039 by these holes, and it's like why did I do that? 341 00:18:33.240 --> 00:18:36.440 But it brings such a funny memory back when I 342 00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:38.960 was just so proud to display these until it got 343 00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:40.200 to be too many. 344 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:44.960 So note to potential museum curators, don't poke holes in 345 00:18:45.079 --> 00:18:50.599 things days your future self will build a time machine 346 00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:53.720 out of lawnmower parts and come back and hurt you 347 00:18:53.799 --> 00:18:57.880 in the face. So Donna has her personal collection all 348 00:18:57.920 --> 00:18:59.960 stored in a box at home. How many are in there? 349 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:04.720 How many do I have? Probably a hundred? You know, 350 00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:05.680 that seemed like a lot. 351 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:09.319 And I look, you know, recently, every once in a 352 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:10.640 while I come across and I'm like, oh, I have 353 00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:12.720 to look at these. I was like, you know, sometimes 354 00:19:12.759 --> 00:19:15.279 like i'd go to the well. I grew up in 355 00:19:15.319 --> 00:19:17.880 Cleveland and the Art Museum was one of my favorite 356 00:19:17.880 --> 00:19:20.839 all time. I took art classes there and it was 357 00:19:20.920 --> 00:19:24.039 just this magical place, and I'd always buy a postcard. 358 00:19:24.519 --> 00:19:27.200 So I have all these wonderful postcards of paintings and 359 00:19:27.240 --> 00:19:31.559 things from when I was a kid. So it's and 360 00:19:31.720 --> 00:19:34.400 so many levels. It just kind of brings joy to 361 00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:37.200 have those that little pile of postcards. 362 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:40.119 Do you think that postcards back in the day were 363 00:19:40.160 --> 00:19:43.000 the equivalent of a text message, whereas a letter was 364 00:19:43.039 --> 00:19:43.559 an email. 365 00:19:45.799 --> 00:19:49.240 That's a great I think you could have something there 366 00:19:49.279 --> 00:19:54.319 because particularly because the back was divided in half and 367 00:19:55.160 --> 00:19:57.559 one side you had to put the address on, so 368 00:19:57.599 --> 00:20:00.279 you were left with one half of a postcard write 369 00:20:00.279 --> 00:20:04.079 the message. And I have messages on some of them 370 00:20:04.200 --> 00:20:07.079 where you know, people used up the space because they 371 00:20:07.160 --> 00:20:09.119 wrote too big, and then they're like writing all around 372 00:20:09.160 --> 00:20:09.960 the edges. 373 00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:10.279 On the top. 374 00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:13.720 But I don't think you were supposed to. The post 375 00:20:13.720 --> 00:20:16.160 office did not like it if you ran over into 376 00:20:16.200 --> 00:20:18.279 the side with the address right, because that was like 377 00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:21.799 the rule, the address the stamp, and only the side 378 00:20:21.880 --> 00:20:23.799 is for the right, So you were that's a great point. 379 00:20:23.799 --> 00:20:26.279 You were forced to write almost like a post It 380 00:20:26.359 --> 00:20:30.359 note size message on there. And that's why when we 381 00:20:30.400 --> 00:20:34.119 studied messages on the back of postcards for an exhibit 382 00:20:34.160 --> 00:20:38.039 we did called Americans on Vacation, it was fascinating not 383 00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:40.680 only to see what people wrote, but also there were 384 00:20:40.720 --> 00:20:44.200 certain formulaic ways that people. 385 00:20:43.960 --> 00:20:45.799 Wrote things I love this. 386 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:48.680 I love this because you. 387 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:52.000 Had to write in phrases, and there were certain things 388 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:55.359 people come in it on repeatedly, the weather, Yeah, car 389 00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:56.160 breaking down. 390 00:20:57.640 --> 00:21:00.160 They're like one of the kids poked the other's eye. 391 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:01.519 You're getting a divorce. 392 00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:02.440 See fun. 393 00:21:02.839 --> 00:21:06.039 But interestingly, we also found that there was a lot 394 00:21:06.119 --> 00:21:08.799 of we're not sure how far they stretched it, but 395 00:21:09.079 --> 00:21:11.960 people tended to want to make their vacations sound really good. 396 00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:14.480 Oh my god, that's what they do on Instagram. 397 00:21:14.279 --> 00:21:17.680 Exactly and Facebook. I mean it's a bragging thing, right, 398 00:21:17.799 --> 00:21:20.480 so like we are here and you are not. Yes, 399 00:21:20.759 --> 00:21:23.319 therefore we're going to make it sound as good as possible. 400 00:21:23.559 --> 00:21:26.759 And there's you know, the classic having a wonderful time, 401 00:21:26.759 --> 00:21:29.400