When I was a schoolgirl in Berlin, Germany, it was popular to own a poesie album. In a way, that little book was a forerunner of today’s Facebook account. Both connect family and friends. While poesie album holders got in touch with only one person at a time, Facebook users can connect with many in just one click. Yesteryear’s poesie album connections were slow and deliberate; today’s Facebook users can continuously stay in touch as long as they have access to the Internet.
History of the Poesie Album
Towards the end of the 16th century it became customary to write a motto into the family register of friends. By the 18th century these aphorisms often also included drawings. Eventually, poesie albums (also known as keepsake books, poetry books or friendship books) replaced family registers and became the depositories of verses and artistic contributions in which members of literary circles “immortalized” each other. Originally, only adults kept a poesie album. In the 20th century, the custom became popular with children – mostly girls – and rare with adults. For a brief period in the early 1980s, it was even fashionable among boys to keep a poesie album.
History of Facebook
Facebook is an online social networking website that was created by Mark Zuckerberg and his Harvard College roommates and fellow students. It made its debut in 2004. Once registered and at least 13 years of age, Facebook users can not only exchange information but also post photos and videos and share links, along with several other applications. Facebook users can even express their appreciation provided by clicking a “Like” button.
My Poesie Album
I was almost ten when my mother gave me a poesie album. It was deep red and measured approximately 6.5 by 5.5 inches. Every girl in my class owned one. It was an honor to be asked to write into someone else’s album. We used our finest handwriting and wrote classic, sentimental or whimsical rhymes and verses into each other’s books. While the right side of an open album bore the quotation, the left side remained reserved for illustrations or photographs.
My Poesie Album, Photo © J. Elke Ertle 2015
In 1955, my mother made the first entry in my poesie album. Not wanting to miss a teaching moment she wrote, “Honor a mother’s heart as long as it beats. When it is broken, it is too late.” My father passed along a less guilt-producing morsel of wisdom when he penned, “Talk is silver; silence is golden.” A couple of years later, my best friend, a boy by the name of Juergen Bertram, shared his twelve-year-old take on the world. Over a period of five years, most of my girlfriends, teachers, aunts and cousins contributed aphorisms to my album. The verses often mirrored their personalities.
Poesie Album entry,
Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015
In a way, I think it is sad that the poesie album has all but disappeared. Now it is a small window to the past. Can we call it a Facebook’s predecessor? The poesie-album-process was definitely slower, dreamier, quieter and more time-consuming than Facebook. Was it maybe also more selective and permanent? What are your thoughts?
For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic and current events, people, places and food.
Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.
