So we are in full vacation season now, in spite of heat and smoke and the decision whether to boycott states which are too blue or too red in their politics. People are flocking to places where they can kick back and forget about that alarm clock telling them to get dressed and go to work. (An alarm clock telling you to get up for your tee time or the best fishing spots are a whole nother matter.)
So perhaps it is time to consider once more how postcards, which were often designed just to be sent home from your vacation paradise, treated the whole subject with suspicion. Here, for example, is a vacationer setting off.
And here is that same vacationer on arrival.
Naturally, postcards reminded you, finding a place to stay during peak season could be a challenge.
But most people could find a way to adapt to this difficulty.
This made them free to enjoy the usual trials and tribulations of the vacation-minded. You will recall our discussion of mosquito postcards.
And, as ever, the dangers of sunburn.
The heat generally was a topic of concern.
But even the minor accidents of a vacation were fair game for the postcard cartoonists. Don’t you just hate it when someone peeks in on you at the beach just when you’re changing?
Still, negativity does not sell products. So the emphasis was more often on how this chance to get away let you forget some of the requirements of your daily job, say, as an officer in the cavalry.
It provided a chance to view the beauties of nature (whether you wanted to or not.)
And the constant daily routine of housework could always do with a carefree, lighthearted interruption as you pursued the simple life.
Yes, said the cartoonists, there were challenges in planning a restful vacation. But if you had the ingenuity, you would find a way.
Blogsy Babbles 