A while ago I found this beautiful little record of days gone by documented in an 1896 Excelsior Diary. Today I finally sat down with it and really absorbed the way of life and the people. It truly is a mini time travel as I clearly see the notes and details hand written and the world of information before technology, television, and Amazon. A simpler life, a genuine beauty and artfulness of an era is what I see in this little book. No doubt there was ugliness and complexities too, every era has it’s share.
Lets just take acasual stroll through the beginning pages and move on.
It has details of populations of the major cities and/or counties in the states, travel routes, postage rates, interest rate table, a wages table- “based on the usual calculation of a 10 hour day”. Also the phases of the moon, planetary details, tide tables and more.
The nostalgia for such beautiful handwriting
Just for perspective the time period, this year of 1896 was 31 years after the Civil War in the United States. This particular Excelsior Diary was published for the West Coast of the United States - California Oregon and Washington. I found it at an Oregon estate sale.
The scythe and hour glass symbols for the passage of time I suppose, and the map or global sphere drawing is an interesting contrast to today's maps.
Routes of Travel pages with Modes of Conveyance, Distances and Rates of Fare from San Francisco were all essential pocket information .
These pages bring to life a history of places and people in an authenticity that seems so beneficial to understanding of life 125 years ago.
A family had this this first hand record of an ancestor tucked away for 100 years, several generations, and then...and then the family faded while the ink on the pages remains.
What records and diaries will future generations have to look at 130 years from now?
I put together some downloadable PDFs that share more of the history and insights from the diary. Get the digital downloads and keep on travelling
TIME TRAVELLING JOURNEY - The Western U.S. In 1896
PACKET 1 -PDF 30325a 10 pages
PACKET 2-PDF 30325b 9 pages
PACKET 3-PDF 30325c 10 pages
