I think that there will always be some segment of the population that will value old things - and being able to handle a photo that was taken over 100 years earlier is a big thrill. I have been doing my family genealogy for about 23 years, and I’ve collected a LOT of photos over that time. To me, the most interesting ones are a circa 1878 photo (which is a copy made in 1951 by my great grandmother) with my GG GM as a teenager, plus one of her brothers, plus their parents (people born in the late 1830s or early 1840s). I have another from 1893 (2 of my great grandparents with the 3 kids they had at the time), one from 1913 (with my grandmother as an 18-month-old with her infant brother and parents) and one from late 1938 or early 1939 (a 4-generation shot). My kids know who they are because of what I do, and I am quite sure that they will pass on the interest to the next generation.
Old photos and a love of studying the past have to be nurtured and passed on...few do that, especially in this era of “new is great and old sucks,” without being gently pushed.
Can't get kids to embrace the glorious communist future if people cling to memories of the past.
It's only since the 60s that I've seen widespread cultural teaching to ‘reject your parents’ morals, politics, and beliefs." Destroy the art and music of old, reject conventional wisdom and lessons of history, smash the patriarchy, smash the state...
Mao taught the children of the world 'well'.