I have an album I've been keeping for the past couple of years. It's a collection of photographs I've picked up at antique stores.
The collection is partly a memorial, small, insignificant, and unseen, (but a memorial nonetheless!)to these people. I don't know why anyone would ever want to sell or toss aside these memories of their ancestors, but at some point they did. It probably has something to do with how people handle death when it occurs (or don't handle it). I've been careful to keep the collections together, so as to not mix families. When a new family collection starts, I have carefully labeled it (even though I don't know the families' names).
Part of the reason I keep the album is also to have an idea of life 50, 80, or 100 years ago.
Not an actual idea, but a nostalgic idea. I've been slowly covering my life with objects of the past. It provides me with a reality I'm unfamiliar with (isn't this ironic for a historian to say?)and thus, one that is obviously a romantic illusion. Almost everyone looks happy in these pictures and certainly no one is writing dissertations! Most importantly, people have homes, farms, families, and possessions that are valuable (aka not made in China and shipped to Wal-Mart at 5 for $5).
This has really become noticeable to me after living in Lansing where there's shadows of this past life in the form of paved, abandoned lots and shells of auto industry plants everywhere. These things just didn't exist in the past (or at least people neglected to capture them in photographs).
This is such a common site in our city. I hate driving past sites like this just because it's so damn ugly, but I can't imagine what former employees and people that have lived in Lansing for decades must feel. Below are two of my favorite images from the album
I like it Micalee. I have this very same thought about old photos for sale. Who would sell them? Or, lose them? Or, not want to keep them? I guess it is the historian in us who cares. The past is sometimes so much more important to me than the present or future. Oh, and I of course share your dissertation angst. I keep finding ways and things to avoid it. This bitch will be the death of me yet! But, I also really like the freedom I now have, and feel very lucky for how things have worked out. I try to avoid thinking about the future. It will all fall into place. I'll get a Ph.D. and sell jams on the farm for a living :) You?
ReplyDeletePS: Did Zach get a paying gig? That's awesome!
I love this post. I also share your thoughts about old photos. It seems so wierd to think taht someday my carefully collected and arranged photos will end up at a flea market somewhere. that is if we are lucky. It is more likely that they will get deleted and/or locked away in an electronic device that nobody remembers the password for.
ReplyDeleteAndrea - those are some wise words about the dissertation- I wish IUA had realized that before carter was born. It would have made this last year less stressful. Also, I want to place a large order for your homemade jams foruse on my craft cafe/bookstore I plan on running in 10 years. Not exactly local, but we willtake carter for a trip to see your farm so we can pick it up :)