There are so many items in our society that were once popular but are no longer considered useful due to modern-day technology replacements.
Items that are obsolete now, include DVDs, DVD players, CDs, CD players, VHS, landline telephones, record players, watches, clocks, telephone booths, pagers, and now photo albums. Since the cell phone became a dual computer phone, camera, and video recorder, it has eliminated many popular technological items and some non-tech items. When I visit the thrift, I always see a vast selection of photo albums. Some are new but some are preowned. It is just me, but I feel a sense of great loss of something that has been around for generations. I like to feel the physical photo album book and fill it with photos. Once created, I would like to view photos and show them to friends and family. I miss the physical touch of the photos and placing them in the albums. Everyone saves these photos on their cell phones or on the cloud. On occasion, photos are printed for dedicated events or for personalized gifts created online, but that is it. That is why you see so many photo albums at the thrift. Call me old fashioned but I like going through old photo albums and hearing the stories behind the photos.
The history of the photo album
The oldest albums are in the Library of Congress in Washington DC dating to the 1850s. Some albums can be traced back to the 1840s when daguerreotypes were invented. The first albums were small leather-bound books over wood and the first page was for identifying the image. Each page could hold 2 images back-to-back in a paper sleeve. The first commercial photo albums were created in the 1860s and they were designed to hold tin types. In 1869, the print and photograph division for the U.S. government agency received its first photo album documenting the construction of the US Treasury Building. Although there were photos as old as from the 1850s this is the official first album according to US government records.
Photos have come a long way from daguerreotypes to tin types to color photos and now to digital photos. Converting the simple cell phone into a minicomputer that holds and stores not only photos but documents as well. Digital photography has helped anyone become a photographer with great ease. Just point, shoot, and capture modern events on camera.
Why are photo albums relevant?
Family photo albums capture the treasured moments of unique events relevant to family and friends. Albums provide a relic of a special memory in physical form to be shared with everyone. It is a history of record for the family organization creating the album. Photo albums save memories of our loved ones who have passed away or of those no longer nearby.
During Victorian times albums became elaborate with designs to highlight the photographs on the pages. Photos were not only for personal portraitures but for capturing amazing events of the day. Historical events were captured by photos and were often placed into scrapbooks a sort of album that included other embellishments such as photos, letters, and memorabilia cards around the 1860s through the 1880s early ones were recorded from these dates.
The invention of the photo album brought about the invention of the modern scrapbook, henceforth the name of scrap memorabilia which included photos, postcards, calling cards, news articles, greeting cards, and other images.
Photo albums preserve memories for future generations for years. Digital photos can be accidentally deleted or lost on the device if you do not back them up. Many may not agree with my opinion on the obsolete album.
Do you agree or disagree? Please Leave a comment at the end of the blog post.
Have my observations of seeing so many photo albums at the thrift led me to a false conclusion. Or are many opting to get physical photos again as they have become nostalgic for things before technology changed our everyday lives. Many would argue that it has made our lives much easier and more accessible to photos because it is saved on cloud storage or on the device itself.
Are albums important to our families?
Since albums became family heirlooms passed down from generation to generation. The family comes together bonding as they go through photo albums full of precious memories. Another reason photo albums will be considered relevant is that it is a way to freeze time by preserving that memory. It gives the nostalgic feeling of being remembered and never forgotten. We all seek in our own way to be remembered. Using photos to educate younger family members about the history and story of former ancestors is another reason to preserve the album. These are exceptionally good reasons to preserve the photo album. We must ask ourselves are we losing too many things in our society that have been replaced by technology? And should we allow it or try to preserve our former traditions and items instead of discarding them and replacing them with digital photos.
Why do we have to change one for another?
We can keep both, that is an opinion and belief this author holds. Technology is good but it is not full proof. Society should have a plan B if a glitch occurs. Photo albums work as a plan B for the potential loss of photos on the device not backed up. It is my hope that readers of this article think about not only the photo album being obsolete but so many other devices, services, and jobs that modern technology is replacing. Society needs a Plan B for so many different avenues in everyday life.
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