Blog concept and posting strategy
As the follower count grows, a few personal attacks started showing up, so here’s a little clarification post.
First of all, thanks to everyone who adds thoughtful, curious, and educational comments. I actually learn a lot from you. Respectful questions/comments make me dig deeper, learn more and enjoy this blog besides of pleasing my ADHD through bulk-posting.
I also cherish and endorse with a reblog when someone takes the time to find the locations on GoogleMaps street views or adds their own photos of the location how it looks like today!
Factual and typo corrections are likewise very much welcome and I'll adjust the post, just don't be arrogant.
What’s this blog about? It’s an undiscriminated stream of vintage postcards bought by different collectors. The only “curation” is removing bad scans or painfully dull views of small towns (looking at you, endless French and German postcards in the sales base). No political filter, no hidden message, no agenda.
Undiscriminated means undiscriminated. The past was both beautiful and disgusting. Racism, colonialism, orientalism, sexism, general horror - all there. I don’t censor. It’s integral part of what existed. Pretending otherwise is just decorating history.
I don't do commentary. I’m not a historian, nor an expert. Sometimes I add a note if I had to chase down a location or something caught my eye. That's all. I anyways don't have the time and energy while ca. 100 new post appears on my blog per day.
Good, critical, or educational comments from followers are always welcome (and usually endorsed with a reblog). People who go personal or just want to rant without adding anything are either ignored, or will probably meet the block button. Nazi, sexist, antisemite, islamophobe, Zionist and similar "contribution" means instant block if I happen to spot.
Short takeaway: If you have a problem with a postcard, cool — write something meaningful that actually adds context or teaches others. Not everyone reading the potential reblog lives in your country or shares your local political and social context, so keep that in mind. (I’m not from the US or “the West” either, before you start guessing.)
Geo postcards: I always use the current naming and mention which country the place belongs to today. People who can’t grasp “modern-day” are a special category of hopeless.
Typical ones: "Constantinople, modern-day Istanbul", anything in Ukraine that used to be part of the Russian Empire (or the Habsburg Empire) at the time of the postcard, Israel and Palestine (especially Jerusalem, where I meticulously check who controls the current location), etc.
This blog isn't for your nationalism, you political agenda and whatever historical grudge you're holding.
Note: might expand this post later
