Briefkaart aan Philip Zilcken before 1896

This card was sent to Philip Zilcken, likely in the early 20th century, by Maurits van der Valk. We can tell it is a pre-printed card by the typeface and the coat of arms. Then there are the postal stamps. All of this printing would have involved industrial processes with considerable division of labor. Yet the card also shows an individuality, with handwriting in pen and ink conveying a personal message. It speaks to the modern tension between mass production and individual expression. The paper itself would have been made using a mechanised process. Even the postal stamps are interesting as a form of proto-mass media. They give the card its legitimacy, the imprimatur of the Dutch state. So this small card is an index of the transition to full-blown modernity, a moment when the handmade and the machine-made were in close contact.