Amongst the piles of photographs, papers and random trinkets that belonged to my great-grandmother I found a booklet that had "Album" on the front cover. Inside there were poems. The earliest dated 1909. Almost all of these poems had the word "Remember" in them. Many were in pencil and a few in ink. Most were from her friends, male and female. Ones dated later were from each of her children.
After some searching for a history behind this I found that this was an Autograph book. These originated in Germanic and Dutch regions. Their purpose changed over time a bit but ultimately, by the time the trend reached the United States, they were largely for signatures during graduation time. Though they were often much more than a person's name. They included poems and sometimes sketches. The use grew to include other occasions or simply for an acquaintance, friend of other loved-one to sign. The history is very interesting and there are examples of these historic autograph books online.
I think it would be so lovely to have a little album at a wedding or birthday or baby shower where the guests could write little poems. Or even for no occasion but to have the thoughts, poem, joke or sketch from a friend. I'm not sure if we could do that these days. Most of us are adept at communicating in snippets what with Tweets and texts flying about, but could we create prose? Even a cute, simple rhyme would likely present a challenge to most of us.
I think this could be a good brain exercise so I'll give it a try here and there, even if I just keep my own little album with my own little poems.
