“Greetings from the trenches.” This German postcard (left) shows three soldiers writing letters to their loved ones at home; the card was probably produced on a small, frontline printing press, for quick use by soldiers in the field. The post was typically the only connection between soldiers and their relatives, and over 28 billion pieces of mail passed between home and front on all sides during the war. Patriotic, mass-produced postcards, such as the British example also pictured here (right), often played on the connections between absent loved ones and national duty.

British card: Imperial War Museum, London, UK/The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY; German card: