I threw the book out!!!
Horror of horrors!! A curator's nightmare!! I know this now, although I didn't then. My Mom was so upset when she found out. I thought I was doing her a favour, keeping the postcards compact, since they were falling out and everything. But I threw out what could have been an incredible clue, a part of history. Gone!
Although this appears nothing more than dramatic, it really is extremely dramatic and serious!! I threw out something very valuable to a historian. But that was before I was one. I recently studied Museum Provenance Research and learned the importance of the least important details. I can tell you, that the book I threw out was far from a "least important detail."
Anyway, this course and my budding passion for becoming a curator led me to pull out the little tin of postcards. A little tin, yes. A silver chocolate tin, to be exact. And it is jam packed with postcards! Over 100 lie hidden in its depths, all from the above-mentioned dates (1907-1910, for those who have already forgotten).
Each card has a story. The entire collection has a story. Each piece has a name and a date and a message and an address. A mine of information just waiting to be discovered!!! (And, yes, I think that sentence deserved numerous exclamation points because I am so very excited to be the one to look through them and at least attempt to unlock some of the secrets.)
So, to provide a snapshot of the wonders inside this chocolate tin, here are a few details and examples.
Every card is addressed to a "Mr W G Jeffrey", who happens to be my maternal great-grandfather. Every date is between 1907-1910 (with the exception of a single hand-full of cards). There are different addresses on the backs of the cards, suggesting that this Mr W G Jeffrey moved around over these four years. The cards are penned by different people (almost all women), many as love letters by or in reference to his girlfriend/fiancée of the time (my maternal great-grandmother).
With that snapshot in mind, I have so many questions. Why did my great-grandfather keep these postcards and stop after 1910? Is it possible there is another collection somewhere, or did these years have a certain significance in his life? The cards are not all unique - there are some duplicates. The backs are not all covered in messages, either. Some are blank - simply for collection purposes. A couple of the cards have a stamp on them, but no address or message. Could these have been cards he intended on sending, but decided to keep them in his collection?
An interesting thing to note - one of the cards is very unique to this collection. It is dated 1955. Although it is addressed to Mr. William G Jeffrey, the message is addressed to a "Mama and Dad". It is signed by my grandfather, Joe. And it was one of the few sent from outside Ontario.
Why was this card kept in this collection? Perhaps it is a clue regarding my question about other collections. And why this card from my grandfather? I'm sure he sent many postcards, since I know he travelled quite a bit before getting married in the 1960s.
In the meantime, I will begin deciphering the writing at the back and put them in order. I will try to recreate the stories during this time and learn about the man "Mr W G Jeffrey". Perhaps this will be a link to my great-grandfather, whom I never knew. He died when my Mom was less than five years old. She barely knew him either. This might connect a string to the past - an era that still breathed of peace and the Old World, all of which would change a mere five years later. And it is mine to discover!
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