Vintage Postcards from the African World
In the Dignity of Their Work and the Joy of Their Play
- 152 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
Vintage Postcards from the African World
In the Dignity of Their Work and the Joy of Their Play
About This Book
For over forty years, professor and culinary historian Jessica B. Harris has collected postcards depicting Africans and their descendants in the American diaspora. They are presented for the first time in this exquisite volume. Vintage Postcards from the African World: In the Dignity of Their Work and the Joy of Their Play brings together more than 150 images, providing a visual document of more than a century of work in agricultural and culinary pursuits and joy in entertainments, parades, and celebrations. Organized by geographyâAfrica, the Caribbean, and the United Statesâas well as by the types of scenes depictedâthe farm, the garden, and the sea; the marketplace; the vendors and the cooks; leisure, entertainments, and festivitiesâthe images capture the dignity of the labors of everyday life and the pride of festive occasions. Superb and rare images demonstrate everything from how Africans and their descendants dressed to what tools they used to how their entertainments provided relief from toil. Three essays accompany the postcards, one of which details Harris's collection and the collecting process. A second presents suggestions on how to interpret the cards. A final essay gives brief information on the history of postcards and postcard dating and its increasing use and value to scholars.
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Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Becoming a Collector
- Interrogating the Images: A Dialogue with the Cards
- Postcard History
- Dating Postcards
- Postcards
- Bibliography
- About the Author