Confession album facts for kids
The confession album was a special kind of autograph book that was very popular in Britain during the late 1800s. Instead of just having blank pages for people to write poems or messages, these books had a set of questions. Friends and family would answer these questions, giving a fun peek into their personalities!
Confession albums became less common by the end of the 1800s. However, similar ideas still exist today. For example, in the Netherlands and Germany, young children use "friends books" (vriendenboek or Freundschaftsbuch) which are very similar. Also, the questions from these old albums inspired the famous Proust Questionnaire, which is often used in interviews with celebrities.
Contents
Fun Questions People Answered
The questions in confession albums changed a bit from book to book. Here's an example of typical questions from the 1860s, along with some answers from someone who filled one out:
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Your favourite virtue. | Benevolence |
| Your favourite qualities in man. | Fearlessness & Uprightness |
| Your favourite qualities in woman. | Constancy & Affability |
| Your favourite occupation. | Riding |
| Your chief characteristic. | Reserve |
| Your idea of happiness. | Doing an act of kindness for anyone |
| Your idea of misery. | A fashionable dinner party in Town |
| Your favourite colour and flower. | Violet - The Moss-rose |
| If not yourself, who would you be? | A country squire with a comfortable income. |
| Where would you like to live? | Near Exeter. |
| Your favourite prose authors. | Lord Macaulay & Dickens. |
| Your favourite poets. | Byron & Longfellow. |
| Your favourite painters and composers. | Reubens & Handel |
| Your favourite heroes in real life. | Wellington & Havelock |
| Your favourite heroines in real life. | The Sisters of Mercy |
| Your favourite heroes in fiction. | Oliver Twist & Verdant Green |
| Your favourite heroines in fiction. | None known to me. |
| Your favourite food and drink. | Haunch of Venison & "Madeira" |
| Your favourite names | Arthur. Herbert. Catherine. Edith. Josephine. |
| Your pet aversion. | Having a stout and stupid person to dance with. |
| What characters in history do you most dislike? | Richard III & Oliver Cromwell. |
| What is your present state of mind? | In a state of delightful uncertainty. |
| For what fault have you most toleration? | Slowness. |
| Your favourite motto | "No rose without thorns." |
| J. P. Ilbert. |
Many famous people also filled out these albums. For example, Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who was Queen Victoria's second son, answered questions in 1873. The famous French writer Marcel Proust filled one out around 1885, and the composer Claude Debussy did so in 1889.
The Story of Confession Albums
No one is exactly sure how confession albums started. Some people think they might have come from "oracle games" that were popular earlier in the 1800s. These games were interactive books with questions like "Which is your favourite flower?" or "Which is your favourite historical character?"
By the 1860s, confession albums were definitely a thing. Karl Marx, a famous thinker, filled one out in 1865. His favourite colour was red! His daughter, Jenny, also had an album. She would send the questions to her friends to fill out and send back. In a letter from 1865, she wrote that these "Confession books" were much more interesting and fun than regular autograph books.
At first, many albums had blank pages where owners would paste in printed or handwritten questionnaires. But by the end of the 1860s, publishers started printing and binding entire confession books. One of the earliest known printed albums was Mental Photographs, published in New York in 1869. This book even had a spot for a photograph!
Confession albums were most popular in the 1870s and 1880s. They were so common that people often joked about them. However, by the early 1900s, they had gone out of style. The writer A. A. Milne, who created Winnie-the-Pooh, remembered them from his childhood. In 1921, he wrote about telling an album owner his favourite food (porridge!), his favourite hero, and other things.
During World War I, some publishers tried to bring back confession books. These new albums were often made for soldiers to fill out, like one called My Brave Friend's Confession Book from 1915.
Confession Albums in Europe
British confession albums also made their way to other countries in Europe. In Germany, a popular questionnaire book called Erkenne Dich Selbst! ("Know Yourself") first appeared in 1878. It was printed many times until around 1900. A German newspaper even used these questions to interview celebrities, just like the modern Proust Questionnaire!
In France, there were also similar books, often with "Confidences" in their titles. A French magazine used these questions to interview famous people like the writer Zola.
Modern Versions of Confession Albums
Friendship Books
In the Netherlands, "friends books" (vriendenboek or vriendjesboek) are now popular among young schoolchildren. These books are similar to confession albums because they come with pre-printed questions about hobbies, favourite things, and wishes. Some kids like these new books because they learn more about their friends. German children also use similar "friendship books" (Freundschaftsbuch).
Proust Questionnaire
In 1886, when he was just 14, Marcel Proust filled out an English confession album. His answers were later sold for a lot of money! Because of Proust's fame, these questions became popular again in the 1950s. They were used for celebrity interviews on TV and in magazines like Vanity Fair. This set of questions is now called "The Proust Questionnaire."
Slam Books
A slam book is a type of notebook, usually spiral-bound, that is passed around among children and teenagers. The person who starts the book writes a question on a page. Then, the book is passed to others, and each person writes their own answer to the question.
