The opening page of Sarah’s album is inscribed by her mother, Annie McLellan, and dated 18 January 1905. The first volume belonged to Sarah McLellan (1884-1956), who studied at the Glasgow Church of Scotland Training College, also known as Dundas Vale, from 1903-1905 (reference: CSTC/7/13). The owners of the three albums considered here were all female students taking the General Certificate course to qualify as primary school teachers. As their pastel-coloured pages began to fill up, however, each volume was transformed into a unique and enduring record of friendship. The blank albums, pictured below, were broadly similar in appearance, featuring faux leather covers with the words ‘Autographs’ or ‘Album’ in gold lettering. Blank albums were often presented as gifts, which the recipients would then ask their friends and classmates to inscribe with verses, sketches, and other tokens. These volumes are not autograph albums in the modern sense, as they do not contain the collected signatures of celebrities rather, they contain inscriptions by the trainees’ fellow students, and might more appropriately be described as friendship books.īy the early 1900s, the practice of compiling autograph albums was long established, and was especially popular with school children and college and university students. Accordingly, this post for Explore Your Archive week 2021 focuses on friendship, as expressed in three teacher training students’ autograph albums from the early twentieth century. Over the past two years, the Coronavirus pandemic and the consequent restrictions around socialising, travel and in-person meetings have caused many of us to think about, miss, and appreciate our friends more than ever. ArchI’ve Explored… Student Autograph Albums

Autograph magazine live