“None but the Brave Deserve the Fair?” An Analysis of Lovers Postcards From the First World War

Over ten percent of postcards in the Lovers Portraits Vol. 1 binder feature couples where the man is wearing a military uniform, with twenty-two of these cards depicting men in World War I era, United States military garb. The images and captions featured on these cards evoke familiar ideas of romance, courtship, and marital fidelity. Therefore, I have chosen to write a short synopsis that groups all of the World War One themed cards in this binder in one of three categories: courtship and pursuit, domesticity and marriage, and marital commitment and fidelity. I have positioned the images and captions featured on these cards in a historical context concerning America during the war. Specifically, I deal with the putative “Crisis in Masculinity” that many hoped would be cured by a regenerative, cleansing war, and the brave new post-war world envisioned by Woodrow Wilson. The David P. Campbell Postcard Collection, searchable at postcard.uakron.edu, is a key collection of the CCHP’s Institute for Human Science and Culture