Future Shock

Two black and white photos in original envelope.

Found in "The Boudoir Murder" by Milton M, Propper. Published by Harpers, 1931.

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It May Be Valuable To You

Diphtheria toxin-antitoxin certificate, dated March 1929.

Found in "Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography." Published by Scribners, 1920.

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Climb A Tree

Note:

Thanks so much - saw Alfie Campbell in Wooster + she said she actually knew of a guy in India who did what is described in book: climb a tree, create a hullabaloo, etc!! Maybe the author knew the same guy - or read of it!

Found in "Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard" by Kiran Desai. Published by Atlantic Monthly Press, 1998.

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Devilled Eggs

From yesterday's request thread, here's a letter:

8-6-00

Dear George,
Thank you very much for your abundant mail- two letters and one postcard!! Sorry I could not reply sooner, this is the first quiet day with time to write letters. Well, it seems that HENRY'S BIRTHDAY was the outstanding big event of the season. I never knew that preparing devilled eggs could hold so much drama! Anyway, although I do not have the pleasure of knowing Henry, as an expert in birthdays, 95 versus 70, I wish him a Very Happy Birthday, and many happy returns. You have been so involved in devilled eggs and other birthday-related events, did you even notice that there were other things going on in the world?: A republican convention, designed to make us appreciate and sadly miss eight years of Clinton soap operas. What do Americans expect of their president anyway? Statesmanship? What an old-fashioned idea. Only an 95 year old woman could have such notions. Which brings me to the fact that yours truly also celebrated a birthday in July, a 95th. My family pulled out all the stops to make it a real big occasion. They were all here, grandsons, grand-daughter, son, daughter, in-laws. It lasted five days and I survived it with flying colors without getting another heart-attack. Now Niall is back in Berkeley, Michael has just started a new job for one year: A leadership training course with an organization called The Green Corps. Julia will be here in Binghamton where she has been accepted in a community service job.

To-morrow Suzanne and I will go to Ithaca to visit a Friend's Retirement Home. Not for the duration as far as I am concerned, but for 2 months, November and February when Suzanne will be in Europe with Ross, who is taking a full year's sabbatical. There are retirement homes here in Binghamton, but I am sure to find more interesting people in a place that caters mostly to retired Cornell faculty and their friends. If plans work out it would mean that I will miss the second half of your Studs Turkel reading. We'll know more to-morrow after our visit. I certainly will keep you au courant. I see from the Lyceum program that "Great Decisions" are being discontinued. It is about time. Probably Haessler did not want to do it anymore. I am getting tired and have to close for to-day.

Regards to Kit, love, Greta

Found in "The Spider's House" by Paul Bowles. Published by Black Sparrow Press, 1993.

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Anything But 'Free Bird'

I decided to take some requests this morning. What are you all in the mood for? Photos? A letter? Old postcard? Baseball card?

Let me know in the comments, I will try and get to as many as I can.

Persons, Places and Creatures

Vinyl bookmark from "Petrified Creatures - Warren NY"

Here's Where I fell Asleep

Found in "Persons and Places" by George Santayana. Published by Scribners, 1944.

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Ballgame Over

I have been saving this one for a few months in case the old Yanks pulled it off, and they did.

Baseball ticket for Game 75, The New York Yankees vs. the Boston Red Sox, September 18, 1955, at Yankee Stadium.

Found in "Journeyman" by Erskine Caldwell. Published by Signet, 1953.

If you are interested (I was), the Yankees beat the Sox, 3-2.



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Superior Quality

Letter regarding the purchase of chairs from the Kalamazoo Sled Company, dated April 2, 1917.

Mrs. M. Beckwith,
Garrison NY

Dear Madam-
Replying to your letter of the 23rd ult., we quote you on six No. 730 chairs, a price of $7.50 each, freight prepaid to your address, and trust we may have your order.

Yours truly,
Kalamazoo Sled Co.

Found in "New Testament Theology: Volume One" by Dr. Willibald Beyschlag. Published by T & T Clark, Edinburgh, 1899.


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Double Feature

I love when readers contact me about some of the stuff they come across. Today's post features two of these finds.

First up is a submission from Peter:

Here's the best thing I ever found in a book: an ad, dated ca. 1893, for "Tundum - The Wonder of the Age," an anaesthetic for tooth extractions. I found it in a trove of old books that came to my father (later to me) after the death of a relative in central Georgia. Most of the books are glorifications of the Confederacy like Thomas Nelson Page, _Two Little Confederates_ (New York: Scribners: 1905)--pretty distasteful stuff. But I think I probably found it in a torn up and fragmentary copy of Andrews' Latin Dictionary. Since I was so amused by it my parents had it framed; and that explains the discoloration.

He adds:

I used to think that the substance was probably cocaine, but I understand that cocaine was injected when used in dentistry. Thomas D. Luke, Anaesthesia in Dental Surgery, 2nd ed. (1906) reports that certain volatile compounds were applied directly to the gums as a "refrigerating agent."

Thanks Peter.

Next up is Rose, who found this gem in a copy of "The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats"






If you closely, you can read the inscription:

31st Annual New York City High School Poetry Contest
May 1962
Fourth Prize - Peggy S???
Louis R ???? Chairman

Pasted in is a newspaper article about the contest.

Thanks Rose and Peter - and if any of you have something to share, drop me a line.

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Winner

First, I want to thank all who entered. All told, there were over 200 entries. Not too shabby.

I used my old technique of pasting all names from all websites (Facebook, Twitter, Blogger comments, reddit) into a text editor so they all had their own line number... went to random.org and it spit out number 44, who happens to be Jessica, who entered via Facebook.

Jessica, I have already sent you a message on Facebook, so check it out.

Thanks again everyone, and I think this is how I'll do the giveaways from now on - winners announced every Monday with escalating prizes. Seemed to work well.

See you all tomorrow with a new forgotten bookmark.