This is the cover of a photo album containing 244 photographs taken by Berti Hoppe of herself and her partner Herman Besselaar between 1936 and 1939. The photographs document their travels in Rome, as well as their life in Rotterdam. The album provides a glimpse into the lives of a couple in Europe during the prelude to World War II. What did it mean to travel as a tourist while your country was on the verge of war? What was life like for these upper-middle class citizens of the Netherlands? The photos it contains would have reflected their social class through leisure, fashion, and the ownership of a camera. As a historian, I know that understanding this photo album means placing it within its historical context. Family albums offer unique primary-source material for the study of everyday life. They also provide valuable insights into the values, beliefs, and social structures of the past.