Middle of the last century. A man declares his love to a friend on a postcard and asks her not to tell anyone. What he does not imagine is that at this time half the neighborhood has already found out about his secret. This anecdote is told by Àngels Casanovas, curator of 'Espero una postal', the new exhibition at the Museu d'Història de Catalunya that will remain until February 26. “Postcards are designed to be read, but not only by the recipient but by anyone. The messages are open, that is, anyone, starting with the postman himself, can see them. For this reason, she explains, “many of the love postcards were sent in an envelope, although there was more than one brave, or perhaps unconscious, person who proclaimed his love to the four winds. But then it was no longer the same. If there is something that makes them special, it is precisely their transparency”.
The postcards one day brought with them a change of mentality and put a new debate on the table: the right to privacy. A dilemma that continues to this day with social networks. Is it necessary to publish everything that happens to us? Where is the line between the personal and the public? That is precisely what more than one person wondered before putting the stamp and sending their card to a mailbox.
Casanovas is reluctant to think that this means of communication is extinct. “It is only necessary to see the amounts of postcards that are still being sold in tourist souvenir stalls or in markets such as Sant Antoni. Of course, it is true that they are used in a different way than in the past and are sent more punctually, on specific dates or during vacations”. However, he claims that “today writing a postcard is a true exercise in rebellion, in the good sense of the word. With so much technology out there and everyone being in such a rush for everything like today, for someone to spend their time choosing a postcard, writing it, buying a stamp and going to the post office is quite a milestone. The recipient has to be more aware than before that the sender has really remembered him.
Casanovas' passion for postcards goes back a long way. “As a historian, I have used them many times to illustrate articles, since you don't have to pay royalties for them or request them from any archive. And that, beyond the beautiful illustrations that accompany them, is also the reason why many collectors buy them. It is an article that has a wide audience, including myself, although what really catches my attention is its content, ”she admits. Precisely, the sample of which she is the curator focuses on what people tell each other. "I have had to delete the names of some of them, since it would be violent for someone to discover that the postcard that she sent with so much love has ended up in the hands of someone totally unrelated to her story." In this sense, she laments “how easy it is for some to throw memories away. Postcards are part of our memory. Everyone should give them the value they deserve, ”she reflects.
The vast documentation that the historian has been compiling over all these years has aroused her curiosity on more than one occasion. So much so, that there are several times that she has started the search for the protagonists of some of the postcards that she collects to know the end of it. Thus, she ended up reaching the descendants of the Escayol family, who appear in the photo above. “They came from Castellbell and emigrated to Argentina, where they currently remain. It's been exciting meeting them and putting a face to them, and while I'm still researching, I'm sure we'll be able to meet in person very soon. In the end, this impetus for postcards has ended up fulfilling its objective: to unite two people and for both to know their different realities ”, she concluded.
