Maidstone museum opens greeting card exhibit
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For one week only, Maidstone Bicentennial Museum will showcase hundreds of old postcards and greeting cards in its latest exhibit, Greetings from the Past.
Launched Sunday, the exhibit features cards written from 1907 to the 1980s for all occasions. Almost all of them have Canadian postage, while a few have American stamps.
People used to write cards for every occasion
Visitors to the museum will be able to see the changes in cards through the years in terms of texture, colour, and subject matter.
“It’s really interesting to see the social changes in history in these cards,” said museum president Victoria Beaulieu. The cards written by women before they had the right to vote were drastically different than those written by women a few decades later, she said.
“People used to write cards for every occasion,” Beaulieu said. “They would send a card for Thanksgiving, then Christmas, and then another for New Years. People really communicated detailed messages. It’s very different to the digital age now.”
The old postage stamps and pictures on the cards are also noteworthy, Beaulieu said. She found one card from the 1950s with images of snowmen dressed in military uniforms particularly interesting, since the written content has nothing to do with the armed services.
Created in 1984 with the founding of the Maidstone and Area Historical Society, the museum houses artefacts from the First World War, Rum Running, and the War of 1812, including The Aboriginal Contribution to the War of 1812.
The historical society has also developed children’s programming and events, both historical and conservational, including The War of 1812 Encampment, and days for bees, butterflies, blacksmithing, pioneer life, and old fashioned games.
The Greetings from the Past exhibit runs from February 17 to 23, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Maidstone Bicentennial Museum, 1093 Puce Rd, Essex.
Admission is free, but visitors are invited to make a donation to help with the museum’s operational costs.
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