Travel Postcards

Project description
Travel Postcards: Watch the Overview presentation on postcards and read the Smithsonian history of U.S. postcards. Look closely at the postcards in the final two sections of the Overview presentation (“Contemporary Postcards from Around the World” and “Iconic Images of U.S. Cities.”). Scholars have observed that postcards of tourist destinations tend to be idealized depictions of these locations–they constitute “dreamscapes” rather than representations of reality. These postcard images shape tourists’ expectations of what the destinations will be like, and visitors may be disappointed if these places don’t measure up to their postcard portrayals.

Focusing EITHER on the “Contemporary Postcards from Around the World” OR “Iconic Images of American Cities,” what characteristics do these postcard images emphasize? What aspects of the location do these images tend to ignore?

Souvenirs: Read “Souvenirs: What and Why We Buy” and “Tourists and Souvenirs: Changes through Time, Space and Meaning.”

Discuss your own travel souvenirs. What souvenirs have you bought on previous trips or vacations? (You can limit yourself to one trip/vacation, or you can generalize on your touris purchasing patterns as a whole.) What have these souvenirs meant to you? Has their meaning or importance changed over time? Refer explicitly to the two articles in your answer.
http://media.umb.edu/touristpostcards/

http://siarchives.si.edu/history/exhibits/postcard/postcard-history

http://www.academia.edu/1574596/Tourists_and_souvenirs_changes_through_time_space_and_meaning
http://jtr.sagepub.com/
Journal of Travel Research
http://jtr.sagepub.com/content/50/3/239
The online version of this article can be found at:
DOI: 10.1177/0047287510362782

Journal of Travel Research
Hugh Wilkins
Souvenirs: What and Why We Buy
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http://www.sagepublications.com
On behalf of:
Travel and Tourism Research Association
can be found at:
Journal of Travel Research
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