Color halftone postcard (sent 1910) depicts children saying their bedtime prayers with a guardian angel hovering above--popular sentiments of the period. (Artwork copyright 1908 by Frank A. Cunningham.)

Biblical angels were often messengers (e.g. the Gospel of Matthew, 1:20), as well as avengers (2 Samuel 24:16), rescuers (Daniel 6:22), and protectors (Psalms 91:11). Modern interest in angels was sparked by the Reverend Billy Graham's 1975 book, Angels: God's Secret Agents. An industry of angel books flourished in the 1980s and 1990s. These were typically filled with inspirational stories about people's miraculous encounters with angels. These consisted of folktales, urban legends, dreams, apparitional experiences (in which mental images can well up and be superimposed on reality), and other examples of what skeptical term "anecdotal evidence." (See Joe Nickell, Entities: Angels, Spirits, Demons and other Alien Beings, Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1995)

More Angels exhibits:

Fijian Religion