A Night At The Opera House

Invitation to the Semi-Centennial of Knights Templar Number 3 - Utica Commandery, Tuesday, June 24th, 1873:

Parade at 2 o'clock

Historical address at the Opera House at half past 8 o'clock

Ball and banquet following the address

Found in "Children of the Abbey" by Regina Maria Roche. Published by Porter and Coates, no date listed, circa 1874.

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Still Greater

Advertisement for Greater New York Flour Mills. There's a postmark at the bottom, the date looks like March 17, 1883 from Marlboro NY.

Found in "The Further Adventures of Quincy Adams Sawyer" by Charles Felton Pidgin. Published by Grosset and Dunlap, 1909.

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Root Down

Card signed by Charlie Root, a pretty good pitcher for the Chicago Cubs from 1926 to 1941. I'm not sure if it's the real thing, but it looks pretty close.

"Chicago Cubs" is written on the reverse of the card, it's also dated 5/4/36.

Found in "Kipling Stories" published by Platt and Munk, 1960.

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Giveaway winner

Before I get to the winner, I wanted to take a moment and answer some of the comments I usually get whenever I have one of these giveaways.

People always want to know why I'm giving away books. I am a bookseller, after all. Well, I suppose it's partially because contests send a lot of traffic to the site, or because I have a book coming out in a few months, or any number of practical reasons.

Truth is, these giveaways are a ton of fun. I love checking on all the comments and messages, seeing who is out there reading the blog, where they're from. I love the excitement you all have for these old books, it really makes love my job as a bookseller. Basically, I offer these giveaways to you all because I love doing it.

Anyway, enough of that - there is a winner out there.

Lots (and lots) of entries to sort through. Entries from Forgottenbookmarks.com, Twitter, Facebook, even a few from my friends at r/bookcollecting on Reddit.

After sorting them out and feeding the list into random.org, I was left with one entry. I'm happy to announce that @JenandthePen is our shelf and books winner. She entered over on Twitter.

Many many thanks to everyone for participating, you make these giveaways the highlight of my week.

Giveaway: 45 Books and a Shelf - Contest Closed

One of the things I always hear when I give away a large amount of books is that "I'll have to clear some shelf space!" I hope this solves that problem, as I am giving away the shelf as well.

45 books, mostly smaller sets and collections, some handsome Everyman's Library volumes, some Shakespeare, some Dickens - something for everyone. I picked up the shelf at a garage sale over the weekend, solid wood, sturdy, and best of all, made in Poland.

10:00 AM has arrived. Off to pick a winner, I hope to be back shortly with the winner.
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Baby Sox

Black and white photo, no writing or other markings.

Found in "The Parent's Success Guide to Baby Names" edited by P. Mourouzis. Published by Wiley, 2004.

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The Winners

As I mentioned in the giveaway post, I decided to add two more book lots to the prize pool.

First off, winner of the three books below was Tara Rose Stromberg, who entered right here.

Next up, winner of the books below was @photogjenn, who entered over on Twitter.

Finally, the winner of the big prize, the 37 books, was Andrea Sakellaropoulos, who entered on Facebook.

Winners, I will try and get in touch with you through your various accounts, but please email me at fb@forgottenbookmarks.com if you see this.

Big thanks to everyone who entered. I love your enthusiasm, makes me want to do this every day!

Giveaway: 37 Vintage Books - contest closed

Contest closed, back with a winner in a moment.

Fridays are always great for giveaways. These 37 books are up for grabs today, everything from Booth Tarkington to Willa Cather to Black Beauty.

EDIT:

Lots of entries, so I'll put giving away these books as second and third prizes:

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Life In These United States

School assignment, dated 9/29/58. I cleaned up the text a bit, but left the run-on sentences as they are:

Grade 5

Composition

I have to get up and get dressed and then eat breakfast. Then make my bed and Joey's. And if the bathroom is dirty then I should clean it. I should help Mom clean up the house. Some of the time I have to help Dad, too.

At night I should set the table without being asked to do it. Then I should help Mom clear off the table and put on what should go on, like dessert or coffee. After we get done eating I should clean off the table for Mom so she can go and rest in the living room.

When Mom or Dad say it is time for bed I should (go) right to my room and get Undressed and put on my pajamas and wash my face and brush my teeth and go to the bathroom and take care of my clothes and get in bed and say my prayers and say good night to Mom and Dad and Joey and everyone is someone is here. And kiss them and give them a good night hug. And have my door shut and go to sleep. And have a good (?) so I can get up early in the morning to go to church.,

Sunday morning I must get up get dressed and go set the table and eat a fast breakfast and get in to the car and go to church we have to get to church very early so Mom can fix the altar and the chalice the place and the candle.

Found in "The Little Swiss Wood-Carver" by Madeline Brandeis. Published by Grosset and Dunlap, 1929.


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Git Well

Get-well card, no date.

Found in "The Moonstone" by Wilkie Collins. Published by Doubleday, 1946.

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