Social History is a massive interest of mine, and over the years I have accumulated my own collection of journals, diaries and scrapbooks from people who lived in the 19th and 20th centuries. My interest amped up when I begun researching my own family history, and spoke to extended family who shared some wonderful diaries with me.
You may have stumbled on this blog post from the recent Crafternoon Podcast episode where Meg and I chatted through some of the items in my collection, alongside some things I found when researching online. Meg also spoke to the lovely Mandy from @paperofthepast over on Instagram who shared more information on some of the incredible journals and scrapbooks in her personal collection.
I wanted to put this blog post together to share the images and journals we spoke about, in more detail.
I have multiple 'Autograph books' in my collection, and I find that there really isn't a specific age of people who used them. I have ones that clearly belonged to adults and also ones that were given to young children. An autograph book was primarily to be used to collect notes, poems and pictures that had been written or drawn by friends and family.
You never know what you are going to find inside them, often the images and poems will reflect the time period. They may contain simple doodles, but sometimes they have entire paintings inside like this above painting which was created in 1921 by 'EHB'.
Almost every image and piece of writing in these little books have been signed and dated by the creator. Which is another reason I love collecting them. Having a date and a name is great when I want to do more research on the people who took part in these little books.
Often I will see if I can find living relatives to reach out to. These books are usually given away or sold on by the family of the owner, in house clearances, at auctions or antique shops. However, so many different people took part in the pages of these books.
Even though the original owner's relatives may not want the books anymore, I feel as though others involved in contributing to the journals may see it differently.
If they haven't been passed down any heirlooms from their own family member, something like this could be very special to find.
The above is the inside cover of my own Grandmother's autograph book. Written in the top left is a note from my Great Grandmother, who gifted her this little book in 1942 when my Grandmother was about ten years old. Even though it's a little worse for wear now and the cover has fallen off. I'm so glad this little book has been kept through the generations.
My Great Grandmother, Elsie, who is photographed above. May be part of the reason I journal today. I'm a strong believer that traits are passed down through the generations. So to find out that she had journaled regularly throughout the second world war, created an instant connection to a family member I had never met.
I mentioned it in the podcast, but I'll say it again.. I will never look past how important it is to find and keep, these personal records of historic events. The history books can only tell us so much in a very factual way.
Reading through a journal like this gave an incredibly personal view of the events that were taking place each day. A mother trying to raise two young children, and keep track with her siblings who had been drafted off around the world to fight for their country.
Her brother becoming a prisoner of war, another passing in an aircraft crash.
Whilst still trying to see the good in each day, and spend time with the family that were still nearby.
The humanity in all the social history I have read and collected, truly shifted my perspective on how I live and see my own life. It's much more grounding in comparison to reading your bog standard history books on certain events.
Above advert is from 1875
We shared a few newspaper snippets in the podcast, which I will always find somewhat amusing to look through. From the graphic design choices to the catchy titles. They really show just how far we have come with advertising in general.
Above advert is from 1899
There is still part of me that likes the idea of having a more minimal choice of stationery items available to us. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful we have the variety of art supplies and stationery now.
But there's something peaceful about the thought of seeing an advertisement like this in a newspaper. Then taking yourself out to the store to purchase the fountain pen featured. No distractions, no debating, no unnecessary decision making.
The slower pace is something I definitely miss today in our fast paced society.
Above advert is from 1823
The way they romanticised the purchasing of stationery items in these advertisements is something I love to see. Finding a stationery supply and valuing it within your collection is one thing, but making use of it to its full potential because it's an item that is there to be used. Is something I feel was very much appreciated 100 years ago.
Hopefully you have enjoyed having a small dive into the history of journaling, scrapbooks and stationery. If you haven't yet watched the podcast episode, I encourage you to do so here.
The article on the travel journal from 1843 by Thomas Pickstock that is mentioned, can be found here. You will find multiple brilliant photos of this amazing journal there.
The victorian scrapbook we found on ebay can be viewed here (and is still available to purchase by the looks of it!)