ABSTRACT
The writers to the future were asked to describe their day as a means of obtaining source material for future researchers. These descriptions made it possible to analyse popular gifts and important occasions and networks of exchange in Dutch society at the end of the twentieth century. However, one of the purposes of studying this material was to have an opportunity to analyse discourses on exchange in contemporary society. Interestingly, the writers – like David Beck in the seventeenth century – seldom reflect on their gift-exchange practices. They generally stuck to the assignment of describing their day and therewith their gift exchange practices, but without being aware that these gift-exchange practices as such were also of importance to (future) researchers. Although there are a few exceptions, the writers in general do not seem to realise that the way in which they behave socially is also significant to historians and ethnologists. Most of the letters are very descriptive and matter of fact.
