Why the product works
Here's more information about the box and cards
Why the product works
Having a cup of tea and a chat... The Many Happy Returns 1940s box of 26 cards is designed to be used by younger people (anyone under 65 years old) with those over 70 years old. The card subjects – researched among more than 120 people between the ages of 70 and 99 years old – are those that can lead to insight and fascinating conversations about people’s life experiences during the 1940s (for example 'getting to school', ‘washday’, ‘rationing’ and ‘romance’). The decade means a great deal to this group because for most, for however young they were, it is the one that will carry some of their most vibrant and enduring memories.
The box is slightly larger than A5 size and the backs of the cards carry brief descriptions of the subjects to provide background information and context for younger people, together with 5 – 6 reminiscence questions on each to help start and encourage conversation.
What are grannies and granddads for? We now live in a society in which many of us appear to have forgotten the answer. As the remarkable Victor E Frankl observes, we younger people should perhaps envy elderly people. For while they may have few opportunities or possibilities in the future, they have far more than that, "their realities and memories from the past - the potentialities they have made real, the meanings they have fulfilled, and the values they have realised." Only dementia can remove these assets from them. Many Happy Returns 1940s cards create opportunities for people to enjoy each other’s company across the generations, by encourage interaction, communication and conversation across different age groups. We have so much to learn from each other that is lost by lack of knowledge about how life was for people in the past. Many Happy Returns 1940s cards encourage greater tolerance, understanding, enjoyment, affection and respect between old and young, by helping people to learn about and enjoy each other's company more – and to such an extent that for those who use them, such a question is unlikely to be asked.
