Postcards With Messages

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The americans on vacation exhibit features a collection of postcards with messages. The show was inspired by the idea that many people don't know what's written on the back of those postcards. "We realized that everybody's familiar with the pictures on the front, but not a lot of people are familiar with what people say on the back," says co-curator Michael Schulder.

Why were postcards invented and why do they still exist? Why do we lie to people and say our lives are better than they are? Alie stopped into the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan and talked to curator of 40 years, Donna Braden, about her work with the postcard collections -- as well as her musings about how emotions impact memory, why Americans love to hit the open road and what the biggest postcard you're allowed to mail is. Listen while riding off into the sunset or sipping tea on a porch and then send someone you love a giant postcard because you can.

The Henry Ford Museum Postcard Archive

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Sound editing by Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media & Steven Ray Morris

Theme song by Nick Thorburn