Beauty and the Beast: Human-Animal Relations as Revealed in Real Photo Postcards, 1905–1935

Preface

xiii e started this book as an experiment. The question that drove us was what would happen if we took a large number of old photographs from a particular historical period that contained information about a specific topic and treated them as data? Our idea was to apply some of the same logic and techniques we had used as qualitative sociologists to analyze interview transcripts and field notes (Glaser and Strauss 1967). Given Arluke’s background in the study of human-animal relations (Arluke and Sanders 1996, 2008), that subject became our topic. Bogdan’s knowledge of the history of photography led us to choose real photo postcards as our database (Bogdan and Weseloh 2006). We set out to study as many examples of real photo postcards whose content related to human-animal relations as we could find. We used contacts from past projects and referrals to get started. This took us to many private collections as well as to a few institutional archives. People also sent us copies of images through the mail and over the Internet. In addition, we collected and bought images ourselves by going to postcard shows where postcards are sold, and we regularly visited eBay. We studied thousands of images and obtained copies of many. In thinking about the book we would write, we wanted to have high-quality illustrations that were rich in documentary detail, revealing, interesting, and technically well executed. When we found such images, we did high-quality scans or asked our collaborators to scan them for us. We collected and copied many more images than we could possibly use because we wanted a wide range of choices to compose the book. In discussing the book with our publisher, we agreed that approximately 350 illustrations should be the limit. Although some would have been redundant, we could have easily included twice as many without compromising quality or documentary relevance. We also learned from images that were not of the highest quality, and we sometimes refer to them in the text. Our way of studying these images was unconventional . Most researchers begin with a broad idea that narrows and becomes more focused. As we studied the postcards and discerned patterns and themes, our subject expanded. The organization of the book as well as the individual chapters evolved, resulting in eleven chapters examining a wide range of roles animals play in human lives. For whom did we write the book? The answer to that question also evolved. At first we targeted scholars and the educated public interested in human-animal relations and the history of photography or both. As we embraced the idea of producing a broad visual survey of human-animal relations during the early twentieth century, a time when these relationships were undergoing significant change, we realized that our book would have wide appeal. It could also be used as a text for courses that were geared toward exploring the history, anthropology, or sociology of human-animal relations and related topics. Postcard collectors and dealers will also find it useful as they study their own collections. Although we devote some sections of the book to specific topics, given the breadth of what we cover, nothing is explored in great depth. When we committed ourselves to doing a survey, we hoped that our work would still appeal to graduate students and advanced scholars. As you will see, we introduce many topics that have never been addressed in the literature. We provide many beginnings for research projects that could easily lead to articles, papers, dissertations, and other monographs. Preface xiv   |   Preface The number and scope of the illustrations we use are unusual, as are our detailed examination of each photograph and our national survey of the topic. To the extent that our methods are successful, as well as stimulating, the book should be of value to social scientists and other scholars who are interested in using visual data and other alternative ways of approaching research. Finally, the book should appeal to certain members of the general public, people who love animals and are concerned about their welfare as well as those individuals who embrace postcards as a hobby. This book has been a huge endeavor. It would not have been possible without the enthusiastic and generous contributions of many people. Thank you to those who bigheartedly allowed us to examine their collections and use their images as illustrations. They include all the people in the list of abbreviations that immediately follows this preface. Some...