Peter Kim 

My name is Peter Kim and I was born in Oakville, Ontario and was raised in Guelph, Ontario. I am a first-year at the University of Guelph studying in the Biomedical Toxicology program. As an active and social individual, I am interested in staying fit through sport and exercise and have played soccer and volleyball for the majority of my life. I also enjoy reading and currently work at the Guelph Public Library. In my spare time, I love to cook and try new cuisines from different cultures. I chose my particular postcard because it was displayed a menu on the front and I am interested in the culinary arts. It was also a chance for me to gain insight into the type of food people made and ate in the past. Additionally, this postcard’s distinct cover that lacks a photograph of a landscape or a castle greatly contributes to its individuality and is one of the reasons why I chose this postcard.

From this, I have learned that many items and objects that were first thought to be replaceable or invaluable may uncover ways of life, the past economy, and humour from that time period. Due to ephemera being made not to last, they lack a formality and as a result, they allow for a higher degree of creativity to be expressed. This higher degree of creativity allowed for publishers and creators to break social norms and defer from political correctness and truthfully express views from the general public. Consequently, ephemera holds valuable and cherished information that is of immeasurable worth and as a result, I have become more aware and appreciative of objects that seem worthless that I come across in day to day life. Additionally, I have been taught that monetary value may not correlate to an item’s worth and that “garbage” may have extreme historical value and may give insight to past times.