Ink on the Blink

In the early years writing to you about postcards was a simple exercise to explore the materials in our family’s collection and become comfortable writing in this form. Next I began to delve into our subject matter from a variety of views, with growing confidence that I was making culturally relevant connections. Along the way, I fell in love with research again. In fact, today I’ve found two recent scholarly books on postcards that are certainly going in my bibliography, and may turn up here in a book review.

Lately, our social mission to address loneliness has me looking in the mirror, and to the past, wondering about our habits and expectations for staying in touch. I am not always great at it, as family and friends might attest. But, in defense, the social rules around communication have changed profoundly.

The Victorians would say so. One unmistakable theme in postcard correspondence from the late 19th century is the postcard apology for not writing a letter. As I visually scan the reverse of each card, sometimes batches at a time, the same sentiments come up often. It’s been too long since I’ve written. I’ll tell you more in the next letter. When will we hear from you next?

In an essay from late 2024, I muse about how important it is to hear from each other In the Middle of Things. I notice again how much the familiar phrases create a call and response. Your news is my news.

These new books I found take their investigations seriously, and I have a lot of reading to do. In particular, I want to look closer at those communication dynamics around loneliness. What does that nudge back and forth really do? There is a whole social scientific literature on information behaviors related to health. I suspect my bibliography will get longer, though these weekly essays might get smarter and shorter.