From the readers: Sasquatches, Yetis, Star Trek and more

Happy New Year! Papergreat has made it to 2024! It's a good day for a roundup of reader comments from the fourth quarter of 2023. Thanks for all of your feedback!

Examining "The Abominable Snowman" from all sides in 1977: Tom from Garage Sale Finds writes: "As a kid, I devoured any books on Bigfoot/ASM. I'd check them out from our library and order them from Scholastic. I somehow missed this book. The book whose cover traumatized me was Strange Abominable Snowmen by Warren Smith (pictured at right)." 

I wasn't familiar with that Warren Smith book. In fact, I wasn't familiar with Warren Smith at all, which is kind of bonkers. His list of books is quite the amazing rabbit hole of cryptozoology and the paranormal titles from the heyday of the 1960s and 1970s. Just some of his titles: Strange Women of the Occult, Strange Powers of the Mind, Strange Hexes, Myth and Mystery of Atlantis, The Hidden Secrets of the Hollow Earth, Secrets of the Loch Ness Monster, UFO Trek and Let's Face Facts About Flying Saucers. I'll be keeping an eye out for some of these!

Lamenting what we'll never know about Phyllis J. Stalnaker Harris: Unfortunately, I had to shut down commenting on this post, because some commenters were getting nasty toward each other and some were being disrespectful of Phyllis' memory. That's not in the spirit of this blog at all. Most of the old comments are still up. One of the final (anonymous) comments was: "You have no right to surmise what her life was like. Unfortunately, the authorities gave her a label and they didn’t even really know anything about her. ... She may have been a nice person and was at the wrong place at the wrong time."

New edition of Ruth Manning-Sanders' "A Book of Witches":  Anonymous asks: "Does it have all of the great original illustrations? I've seen reviews of some of the other reprints of Ruth Manning-Sanders that have omitted the illustrations, and the illustrations are so amazing!"

Yes indeed! The 2020 reprint edition of A Book of Witches by MAB Media features the original Robin Jacques illustrations. Follow MAB Media on Facebook for more info on upcoming reprints.

Unfortunate apparel of 1980: The official Star Trek duty jacket: EJD1984 writes: "I had the T-shirt!! Have spent years trying to find a picture of it to prove I'm not going senile. I believe I picked it up at a 1980 Star Trek convention when I was 15 years old. Thank You SO MUCH for posting this!" 

The elementary school in the City Behind the Fence: Carolyn writes: "I went to Cedar Hill for a brief time in 1972 when we lived in Oak Ridge. We were only there for three months, but I have such great memories of that place!"

The Lost Corners of Paul Crockett: Those who have been following this post and the tale surrounding the Manson Family may be interested in a new video link that was shared in the comments. 

Someone asked "Any links to these comments that Paul Watkins allegedly made about Paul Crockett?" In response, Anonymous posted a link to a YouTube video titled "Paul Watkins Manson Family Self Recorded Conversation 1988 to a Fan."  

Update on an amazing house in Coudersport, Pennsylvania: Anonymous writes: "When I worked for Farm Credit, one of our branches was in Coudersport. I can't believe I didn't spot this."

Take a ride with Edwards Motor Transit Co.: Butch Joyner writes: "My dad drove for Edwards for over 40 years. It was a family business, we were all close. I remember vividly Bill, Bob and Wes. I have some lasting stories of this 4-year-old boy and my dealings with Wes. Hope this finds you well, Wesley! To the good times!" 

Postcard for Haag's Hotel in Shartlesville, Pennsylvania:  Anonymous writes: "In 2007 I took my daughter to Roadside America, which she totally enjoyed. We then had lunch at Haags Hotel, which was very historical and we both enjoyed. Sad to hear it closed."

Indeed, neither the hotel nor Roadside America is in business anymore. Very sad.

Receipt and more tucked away inside 1967 sci-fi paperback: Anonymous writes: "Ross Music was at Eastland and Northland malls and closed both stores in the mid-1980s, as the owner was retiring. I worked at the Eastland location and have very fond memories of the owner Irving, and Melissa Press Downey, the manager, and my co-worker Jimmy Grindstaff."

Coupons from the E.H. Koester Bakery Co.: This early Papergreat post drew a lot of great comments and memories a decade ago. A new one from Anonymous: "My father's first job was at E.H. Koester Bakery Co. I have his pay stubs from 1949."

Board for Parker Brothers' 1936 version of the game Finance: Anonymous asks: "What is the value of this game?" 

Looking through eBay, there are many listings for pieces and/or replacement boards for Finance. All of those are relatively inexpensive. As far as the complete (or near-complete) game, I see some listings for 1950s editions of the game that are as low $25 to $30 (price plus shipping). Some near-complete versions of the 1936 edition (including the box) are as low as $34. So it's definitely attainable for collectors.