A bookmark to finally begin the year

I've been in a bad rut to start 2026, and the spiraling state of our nation (to put it mildly) in what should be its celebratory 250th anniversary year certainly is a big contributor to that daily depression.

We have to find ways to keep plowing forward and I'm starting Papergreat's 17th calendar year with some short posts about items I've come across during some recent sorting and decluttering of family ephemera. Every January brings a fresh urge to purge stuff for sanity's sake. I hope this year sees more meaningful progress by me in that regard.

This is a greeting card that was designed to be a bookmark, if you detach the front cover of the card. It's stained and there's a tear at the bottom, but I've fixed that with tape and I'm going to put this in my pile of bookmarks and toss the rest of the card, along with the generic cursive message.

The bookmark was produced by Yorkraft and the card is printed with the following explanatory message: "Hand colored Book-Marks (Lese Ziechen), similar to this, with designs derived from religious symbolism, were used to mark the place many old Pennsylvania Dutch Bibles and Hymnals."

For some information about Yorkraft we turn to the York Daily Record and a 2016 Universal York blog post by June Lloyd. The company dates to at least the mid 1940s and manufactured "decorative signs and novelties, including Pennsylvania Dutch trinkets." Lloyd's post cites a 1946 advertisement that states: 

"YORKRAFT Pennsylvania Dutch… Greeting Cards and Gift items, for inspiration, draw upon a rich store of folklore and folk-arts of the Pennsylvania Dutch who have probably contributed more than any other group, to the Early American Folk Arts. Yorkraft has caught the charm and spirit of their decoration and design, their quaint speech and humor and their picturesque dress and customs, which still persist in Pennsylvania and to some extent in other parts of the country settled by Pennsylvania Dutch folks."

There are hundreds of Yorkraft items currently for sale on eBay, some dating to the late 1970s. I'm actually a little surprised that this is the company's first-ever mention on Papergreat. Items range from a set of blank Amish-themed notecards for less than $10 to faux stained-glass display pieces to Pennsylvania Dutch recipe booklets to a 1969 "Make Love Not War" wooden sign that's pretty damn cool and is listed for $329.99.

From the readers: Cheerful cards, swinging bridge & a night marauder

As we barrel toward the end of August, here's another batch of your always-appreciated comments on Papergreat posts:

Old photo postcard of Brackenhurst Hall in Southwell: Linda writes: "I also lived at Brack (Brackenhurst) Farm Estate 1954 to 1973). Lots of great memories." I'm going to get in touch with Linda and see if she wants to share some of those memories and stories from this 19th century estate in Nottinghamshire, England. Stay tuned.

Postcard: Zeppelin moored atop the Empire State Building: Responding to this 2016 post, Unknown writes: "Bonjour, Je possède la même carte postale reçu par ma grand-tante en 1933 par une amie de Boston. La seule différence est qu'elle n'a pas de numéro. La vôtre porte le numéro 102. J'ai également celle du Barbizon Plaza et du Skysrapers from East River. Merci."

That's French, of course. And it translates roughly to: "Hello, I have the same postcard my great aunt received in 1933 from a friend in Boston. The only difference is that it doesn't have a number. Yours is number 102. I also have the one at Barbizon Plaza and Skysrapers from East River. Thank you."

Cheerful Card Company can help you earn extra money for the holidays: I continue to be astonished by all the happy memories this 2012 post brings out. Anonymous wrote: "I used to sell Cheerful House Cards and products in the 70s. My wife and I were cleaning out a box today and found an ad for their Bicentennial Flag special offer. It was in a box I had stored some of my father's stuff in. The box came from Cheerful House, Bevis [Industries], from Baltic, Connecticut. That box is 46 years old. Brought back many memories."

Vintage postcard: "The Night Marauder": I'm having some back-and-forth exchanges with Jim, who notes that the linen postcard was published by A. Wolfmueller, who is his wife's grandfather. "She would very much like to have that one and any others by him," Jim writes. And so I'm trying to find where this postcard presently resides. The move from Pennsylvania to Arizona at the beginning of the year jostled my sense of knowing where most things are. Is it in one of the shoeboxes, or is it in the closet? As soon as I (hopefully) find it, I'll be sending it Jim's way.

The pencils of Seminole Middle School: Matt, whose blogs include 4 Color Cowboy, writes: "I do remember those [NFL] pencils from school in the early '80s. Despite my strong aversion to pro football or organized sports of any kind, I liked them. Maybe it was the colors and the subtle design with the little helmet silhouettes."

1970s Woodsy Owl bookmark: "Give a Hoot! Don't Pollute.": Kim Gilbert Pintozzi writes: "I also entered the contest in 1970. My slogan was 'Give a hoot don’t pollute don’t be a dirty bird.' I won the contest and received a ribbon and there was an article in the Courier-Post. I was 12 and lived in Collingswood, N.J."

From the readers: Treasured copy of "Andersen's Fairy Tales": Unknown writes: "I also have a copy #0546 ... Charles E.Graham. It has an inscription, 'Merry Xmas to Fredrick. Love your Father and Mother 1918.' It could have been used when they gave it to him. I bought it online for $2. I love it."

Greta's visit to Tahiti Beach: Joan writes: "I was just bummed that they did not in fact go to Tahiti, which is still on my bucket list!"

Swinging Bridge in York, Pa. (And you thought your commute was bad): Beverly Griffith emailed to say, "Thank you for sharing the pictures and information on the swinging bridge over the Codorus Creek. My dad lived on 5th Avenue in North York growing up and told us about it."

A morning for marvels and magic: Commenting on Facebook, Nena Zachary Challenner writes: "I love these whimsical illustrations."

Trying to decipher a 1942 postcard: Commenting on Facebook, Wendyvee writes: "I was just looking at some old mail a few weeks ago that my sister has which belonged to my grandmother. At least twice on postcards (and once in a letter) blackouts were mentioned."

Book cover: "Strangely Enough!": Commenting on Facebook, Tom Beiter writes: "I have several different copies of that book. All the same content, although arranged slightly different. I loved those kind of books as a kid. Anything to do with ghosts and mysteries."

Same here, Tom. Same here.

A bookmark and a correction about an old bookstore

About 3,200 days ago, I wrote a "Tucked Away Inside" post about a "book fair" coupon found inside a paperback copy of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. That short post had a significant error. I assumed that the coupons and bookmark were promotions for an annual book sale.

In fact, Book Fair was the name of a bookstore in Baltimore, Maryland. Three demerits for Younger Chris, on account of sloppy detective work.

I learned this when I found another Book Fair bookmark, this one featuring a 1981 calendar and discovered inside a copy of a 1977 nonfiction book cheerily titled The Day Before Doomsday.¹

In a 2012 post, the Atomic Books Blog noted this: "Over the years, Baltimore has seen a lot of bookstores come and go. 40 years ago, the city region had over 25 booksellers. Here's how they were described in a city guide called Bawlamer: An Informal Guide To A Livelier Baltimore from 1974, published by the Citizens Planning and Housing Association." Book Fair, which was at 3121 St. Paul Street, was described this way in that city guide: "If you were worn out from rummaging through uncatalogued, dust-laden stacks, this neat, well-stocked, well-organized shop may have been just what you were after."

I'm not sure when Book Fair closed up shop. That address currently has available office space, where an entrepreneur could be a co-tenant with Bank of America and Sam's Bagels.

Footnote

1. Excerpt from Sidney Lens' book: "It is highly doubtful that a war which kills off as many as two billion people (of a world population of four billion) will end in anything but the cries of the sick and the lash of a dictator demanding more work to bury the dead and speed 'recovery.'"

Super Mega Summer 2020 Tucked Away Inside Post (old York Bible)

This post has been a very long time coming. My apologies for that.

Way back in December 2018, I received a mystery package in the mail that contained a small Bible. It was addressed to "Christopher A. Otto," and the return address label was St. Louis Catholic Youth Ministry in Clarksville, Maryland. An unsigned cursive note in the package stated: "Hoping you may be able to find some family member to give this to — or a good home for it. Showed up in a donation box."

So it's time to accomplish this mission of finding this Bible and its contents a proper home. Toward that goal, I'll document everything that is tucked away inside.

This Bible was published in 1899 by the American Bible Society. It is 4 inches wide, 5½ inches tall, and 1½ inches thick. We'll go through it from front to back and see what we can learn.

On the waterstained first page, there is name and a location written in neat cursive: Harry Morrow, Airville Penna.

Airville is an unincorporated community in rural southeastern York County. I've been there a few times, and you have to actively want to go there to find it; it's not a place you'd ever go through as part of everyday travels. According to 1886's History of York County, Pennsylvania, Airville was first called McSherrysville. Its residents included Aquila Montgomery, a Black man who built the town's second house. There is also this fascinating but not politically correct passage: "The mail for many years was carried on horse back by a dwarf called 'Little Philie Cole,' over a route extending from York to Bel Air, Md. It took him one week to make the trip. 'Little Philie' was a brave boy, and was afraid of nothing but thunder. If he saw an approaching storm, he would go into the nearest house and at once conceal himself in a feather bed, till it subsided."

So, Harry Morrow of Airville is one starting point...

In the pages of Genesis, there is an obituary clipped from a newspaper.

Thanks to Newspapers.com, we learn that this obituary is from the November 16, 1943, edition of The Gazette and Daily of York, Pennsylvania. I also determined that William Lee's date of death was November 12, 1943. He died at the hospital and was "aged 53 years, 6 months and 12 days." It's not immediately clear if there are any connections between Harry Morrow and anyone from the group of William Lee, Flora Lee, Russell Stewart, Robert Loomis, William Grandstaff, Frank G. Whitmore, Edgar Morgan and Clarence Lauer.

The plot thickens at 1 Kings. Tucked into the same page are two items: A remembrance card and a mystery snapshot.

It has long been common practice to tuck remembrance cards away inside Bibles after attending services. It's possible that T. Bernard Elsesser (1876-1944) was just an acquaintance of whoever owned this Bible in 1944. What's really interesting is that Elsesser was a major figure in York journalism. The front page of the June 2, 1944 edition of The Gazette and Daily notes:

"T. Bernard Elsesser, managing editor The Gazette and Daily and an employe of this newspaper for 54 years, died at 4:20 o'clock this morning at the York hospital. He was 67. Mr. Elsesser, a widely known newspaperman who rose from 'printer's devil' to the position of managing editor which he still held at the time of his death, had undergone a major operation May 24."

It's likely that, given his prominent position, Elsesser was known by many in the York community and that his funeral service has well-attended. So I'm guessing he was just an acquaintance and not a relative of the Bible owner.

And what's to make of this photograph? it's 2⅝ inches by 4⅝ inches. Frustratingly, nothing is written on the back. We just have a woman holding a small dog that doesn't look terribly pleased to be posing. Here's a closer look...

She looks about as grumpy as the dog about the whole situation. Who is she? Why is her picture in this Bible?

Moving along to Nehemiah, we find another mystery snapshot.

A blurry pier. Old people. Pelicans. No information written on the back. This does nothing to help us solve the mystery of this Bible.

Tucked between pages in Psalms, we find a trio of items. There are two newspaper clippings. One is another that's related to the death of William Lee. (Is it significant that he has two clippings in the same Bible?) It lists some of his relatives, including his daughter, Florence Lee.

And then there's a clipped obituary for Fern Eugina Husson, the infant daughter of Charles R. Husson (1891-1959) and Anna K. Worley Husson (1892-1961). Fern was 11 weeks old when she died in January 1923. She is buried with her mother and father in York's Prospect Hill Cemetery. (Minor spelling note: The clipped obituary states "Fern Eugina Husson" and Find A Grave states "Fern Eugenia Husson.")

The third item tucked away in this spot in another mystery photo from down the shore. Nothing is written on the back. Who is the well-dressed old woman posing with a pelican in the background?

A few pages later, still in Psalms, is perhaps the most intriguing item in the Bible — a very personal four-page note...

The full note states:

18 Sept.
Darling "Tiny"
I could not come and give you good-Bye in person as it would be too hard for me to do and also hard on you. Honey be good and I'll see in you in a year or two. As soon as I have an address I'll mail it to you. I leave today at 3:38 standard time from York and will be in Pittsburgh, California, Sat night the 21st at 8:00 PM. Don't know how far the Camp is from here.

When the Kiltie-band plays and if my Honey is down you may give him a kiss for me. He is a darling and how. Saw him Sat night. Don't tell anyone but I can trust you. He is Bill Paterson but he has asked me to call him "Pat," and is from Clearfield, Pa.

Well Honey you understand why I could not see you.

Love always
Fairy

I have a lot of questions about this note! What is the relationship/situation with Tiny, Fairy and Bill/Pat? "Pittsburgh" in California is most likely this Pittsburg in central California. The "Camp" referred to in the letter is probably Camp Stoneman, which was a major staging area for the Army in World War II and the Korean War. It was decommissioned in 1954, so that helps us tremendously in dating this note. (Also very helpful: September 21 was a Saturday in 1940 and 1946.)

Kiltie-band might refer to The Kiltie Band of York, which, according to its website, "was founded in 1928 and is still based in York, Pennsylvania with members from the surrounding region including York and Lancaster Counties and beyond."

The only full name we have is Bill Paterson of Clearfield, Pennsylvania. The name is very common, but Clearfield is relatively small. And so I found an obituary that's almost certainly his. William (Bill) Logie Paterson lived from 1921 to 2008. In World War II he co-piloted a B-17 Flying Fortress. But here's the part that caught my eye: "As a young boy, Bill learned to play the bagpipes and he took them every place he went, even into the service. He was certified to teach bagpipes by the College of Piping out of Glasgow, Scotland. He frequently taught at summer piping schools in California. Bill also made a trip to Japan to teach members of the Tokyo Pipe Band. He taught the original members of the Bellingham Pipe Band and for many years taught individual students in the fine art of piping."

I don't think it's a coincidence that the note mentions The Kiltie Band of York. This is definitely the Bill Paterson we're looking for. But who is Fairy?? And how does Fairy fit in with the people whose hands this Bible passed through?

Still in Psalms, there's a little bookmark that might or might not have been original to the 1899 Bible...

Finally, in Song of Solomon, we discover the fate of the man whose name is written on the first page of this Bible: Harry E. Morrow. It's a clipping from the January 4, 1941, edition of the York Daily Record, and it indicates that Morrow "was instantly killed ... when struck by a car as he was crossing the Belair road."

An article in the December 31, 1940, Gazette and Daily adds that Morrow was 46 when he died and gives a little more detail about his tragic death: "According to reports from Baltimore, Mr. Morrow had alighted from his auto to see how it had been damaged after it had struck a guard rail when he was hit by an oncoming car. ... Mr. Morrow, a son of Mrs. Martha Lee Morrow, 46 East Philadelphia street, and the late Russell Morrow, left York about two years ago for Baltimore where he was employed as a sheet metal worker. While in this city he worked as an automobile mechanic. ... Mr. Morrow was a veteran of the first World war, having seen service overseas. Surviving are his widow, Mr. Marian Thompson Morrow; two daughters, Dorothy and Evelyn..."

1940 was an incredibly sad year for Martha Lee Morrow. In late February, Russell Morrow (her husband) was arrested for drunkenness and disorderly conduct in York and placed in a cell. It allegedly wasn't until 15 hours after his arrest that police, unable to arouse Morrow, ordered his transfer to York hospital for medical attention. He died at the hospital several days later. Then, in December, Martha lost her son Harry in the aforementioned traffic accident.

An obvious thing to note is that Harry E. Morrow died in December 1940, yet some of the items we have encountered tucked away inside this Bible are clearly from after that date. So at least one person other than Morrow used it. My guess is that it was his mother, Martha Lee Morrow. It took some nosing around, but I was able to confirm that William Lee (whose 1943 obituary clippings are among the items tucked away inside) is Martha's brother (and thus Harry's uncle).

Is Martha the well-dressed woman at the shore and/or the woman holding the dog?

Martha J. Lee Morrow died on August 29, 1964, at age 90, nearly a quarter-century after the double tragedy of losing her husband and son in the same year. According to her obituary in The Gazette and Daily, she was survived by a daughter (Mrs. Earl T. Stein), five grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and a brother, John Y. Lee. Those might be the best jumping-off points to get this Bible back to someone who's related to Martha, so it will be interesting to see where things go from here.

Reach me with tips at chrisottopa (at) gmail.com.

From the readers: Geometry, Cheerful Cards, Mecki and more

To kick off the latest installment of reader comments in grand fashion, we have this wonderful email from Greg Frederickson, who refers to the 2012 post 1959 receipt from The Colonial Bookstore in York, Pa.

"Your [post] caught my eye, because I got a great start on a sub-obsession as a result of that bookstore. My mother Margaret had been searching there for a birthday present for me and found this obscure geometry book written by an Australian patent examiner. It was Geometric Dissections, by Harry Lindgren, published by D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc. in 1964. It sat more-or-less unexamined on my bookshelf at home until 1969, after I had graduated from college and had started a job teaching mathematics at a junior high school in Baltimore, Maryland.

"I wasn’t the most prepared math teacher that Baltimore had encountered, having had no instruction in education courses, aside from doing practice teaching in the summer school before the school year was to begin in the fall of 1969. But as an inner-city school district Baltimore was desperate for math teachers and was willing to take a chance on me. It was tough sledding that first year, and at times I was almost ready to give up and risk being drafted into the army and sent to Vietnam. But the supervisory personnel there were first-rate and gave me lots of good advice. One specialist from the downtown headquarters kindly observed that my classroom was a mess, with pencil scrawlings all over of the student desks and absolutely nothing on my pristine bulletin boards. Besides attacking the desks with soapy water, I ransacked the few math books that I had brought with me to Baltimore to see if I could find something to put on my bulletin boards. The cover decorations on Lindgren’s book were really eye-catching, so I took some colored construction paper and cut out large pieces, which I then stapled onto a bulletin board to illustrate how to cut one geometric figure into pieces that would rearrange to form another figure.

"My supervisor was sufficiently impressed. But more importantly, I ended up being intrigued by a number of geometric dissections in the book. Knowing almost no one in the city and having lots of time to play around with interesting things, I treated myself to a much more careful look at the book. The author had made a big deal about trying to find the fewest possible number of pieces for any given dissection problem. One morning on a weekend, I discovered a way to modify a dissection so that it used one fewer piece. Suddenly I was off and running: I had my first dissection record! Many more have come since then. Always they were unexpected — coming before work, late at night, during meals, or at other times when something else was planned.

"And after every couple of dissections I would hurry off to get them copied and then mail them halfway around the world to Harry Lindgren in Australia. When the original printing of his book sold out, the copyright was taken over by the paperback publisher Dover Publications. Since I was the one who had rendered parts of his book out of date, Harry assigned me the responsibility of revising his book. It was then retitled Recreational Problems in Geometric Dissections & How to Solve Them, and I was officially listed as the reviser.

"After my third year of teaching in Baltimore, I went on to take some courses in Computer Science at the University of Maryland and eventually graduated with a Ph.D. I landed a tenure-track position in the Computer Science Department at Penn State University in 1977 and then became a full professor at Purdue University in 1986. I transitioned to an emeritus professor there a couple of years ago. Besides my many publications in Computer Science, I have published four additional books in geometric dissections, listed on my webpage https://www.cs.purdue.edu/homes/gnf/

"So I enthusiastically acknowledge a big and grateful 'Thank You’ to the Colonial Bookstore of York!"

Much thanks to Greg for taking the time to share this story, the kind of behind-the-scenes history of a life that can so easily become lost. And it all began with that bookstore in York.

Examining the Tunguska Event via newspaper headlines: Tom from the ever-delightful Garage Sale Finds (highly recommended if you're seeking a nostalgic rabbit hole while spending more time at home) writes: "I remember reading The Fire Came By back in the 80s when I was fascinated will all things paranormal and space-related. It bothered me that Dan Aykroyd referred to it as the Tunguska blast of 1909 rather than 1908. Hey, I was (am) a nerd."

Smile-worthy old AP Laserphoto: I tracked down photographer Blake J. Discher on Twitter, and he responded: "Yep, that’s me. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Pretty funny photo. You can’t dream this stuff up... the guy fell asleep at work!"

Philadelphia Phillies spring training photos from March 1984: Wendyvee from the wonderful Wendyvee's roadsidewonders.net writes: "Which reminds me ... I think my mom has a picture with my Dad and Tug McGraw somewhere. I'll have to find it because it was an especially good picture of Dad. Also, I was 'Today Years Old' when I found out why he was nicknamed Tug ... and I maybe wish I wouldn't have, lol!"

1970s Woodsy Owl bookmark: "Give a Hoot! Don't Pollute." Two new responses on this one. Anonymous writes: "A relative by marriage (my great aunt's nephew Barry) was the voice of Woodsy."

And Carol Hunter writes: "I could have sworn the following lyrics were in the Give a Hoot jingle that I remember from my childhood: 'Give a hoot, don't pollute, let your outdoor manners show, help to stop pollution in the North South, East & West ... the Nooorth Sooouth East & Weeeest! Hoot Hoot!' Does anyone else remember it this way? Or did I make up lyrics as a kid because I couldn't remember the original ones?"

Anyone have any help for Carol? I can say that it's turned out that 50% or more of the lyrics I thought I knew as a kid were incorrect. Sometimes comically so.

"Only long enough to make a beginning": Joan writes: "I am pleased with your choice of photo-staging props." (She is referring to Titan and Foghorn, who were gratuitously posed with the book.)

Scholastic book cover: "Mystery of the Piper's Ghost": Checking in again, Tom notes: "I love those Scholastic mystery books. I have a number myself, but haven't seen this one. I love the idea of putting them in the Little Library to introduce to a new generation. I wonder if kids still like to read books like that. My own kids' Scholastic flyers are absent of anything like this. I never did get our Little Library built this year, shooting for this year. My intent was to populate it with Scholastic books from my collection as well."

A family history told through newspaper blurbs: Nathan Bland writes: "My Grandmother was Francis S. Staley from the old blue Concrete business card in the post for the IDEAL Concrete Stone Co. in Yellow Springs, Maryland. In case you want any more info on the family tree."

Stay tuned, folks, because I'm definitely going to follow up on this. It's nice to have a chance to circle back to a 2011 post!

Sci-fi book cover: "Star Ways" (aka Kilts in Space?): Tom writes: "If you hadn't given the publication date, I would have guessed this was a retitled novel with the intent to ride the Star Wars wave of the late 1970s, especially the way the title almost looks like a sticker placed over the original."

Cheerful Card Company can help you earn extra money for the holidays: Unknown writes: "I am a legend of Cheerful House. I used to sell door to door. My neighbors would look through the catalog and buy from me. Christmas cards, birthday cards, oh my God those were the days. Every one who saw them wanted to buy them. That was back in 1972. Cheerful House just brought tears to my eyes and a lot of wonderful memories. I was 12 years old back then. Today I'm 60, and it feels like it was just yesterday — 48 years have passed. I thought they were gone for ever, but when I saw this ... it's a great feeling." ... Responding to another comment that children should not be prevented from working, Unknown added: "I feel the same way. I sold cards for them when I was 12. My mom got jealous. I was earning more than her full-time job."

I continue to be amazed at how the Cheerful Cards comments (28 and counting) took on a life of their own after that 2012 post. Having the ability to remember and discuss that cherished part of their childhood has been so important for folks. Glad to provide the outlet for it!

The One Where I Get Sucked into the Mecki Universe: Anonymous writes: "My mother brought one of these from Germany — it was 1953. She used to chase us around the house with it. It's not scary at all, unless of course it's chasing you, LOL. Mom has passed away but we still have the Mecki. It is about 2 feet tall and in great shape for its age. Who would have thought that doll would be a family heirloom like it has become?"

Story time: The Tale of the Gothic Lullaby: A trio of comments on this story that Ashar and I wrote together:

• Joan writes: "This is definitely the highlight of my week (and month). Thank you!!!"
• Wendyvee writes: "Which is why I always sit way, way in the back of the theater."
• Darlene Swords writes: "I am standing up and applauding the gothic lullaby. I loved it! It was beautifully written ... like James Patterson ... with short chapters."

Dick Gendron's QSL card featuring the Cherry Street fire: John Whitehouse adds some sad history regarding this October 1963 blaze: "The fire was at 108-114 Cherry Street, which housed BF Goodrich, a paint store and a barber shop, as well as eight apartments. A Deputy Chief, George Carty, lost his life due to electrocution. The building was a total loss. Dick (Gendron) was an avid photographer, as well as a very friendly guy. His daughter told me that most of his photos were lost when, ironically, his residence and six other buildings were destroyed by fire. Some of his pictures survive and hang on the walls in Burlington, Vermont, fire stations."

Delving into Henry K. Wampole & Company: "Dirtdoctorjak" writes: "I’ve a bottle 7/8ths full with the box that I recovered out of a old home demo in California."

Stay-at-home shelfie #10: Inky from On Shoes and Ships and Sealing-Wax writes: "This shelfie makes me happy given that quite a few of these grace my own shelves and book piles (I admittedly have not read The Angry Planet yet, but I love the cover). As a huge fan of Mervyn Peake, I highly recommend reading him."

Does anyone still own a 1-square-inch Texas ranch? Anonymous writes: "I was one of those suckers. Not sure where my deed is now."

Lamenting what we'll never know about Phyllis J. Stalnaker Harris: Unknown writes: "I don't know how I came up on this thread. When I looked into it it just made me really sad. Thank you for sharing a little bit about her life. Unfortunately she probably died because of domestic abuse."

Stay-at-home shelfie #20: Inky writes: "Hooray for the Ruth Manning-Sanders shelves! I've never come across any of her non-fairy tale books, though I certainly love her 'A Book of...' books and consider the mermaid one to be one of my favorite fairy tale collections."

1941 advertisement for the Modern Talking Picture Service: Unknown writes: "My AV department at South Orange Maplewood, New Jersey, ordered many films from MTP Service back in 1972. Also ordered films from Films Incorporated. I've often wondered where all those reels went. Be nice if they were offered on eBay."

Night of Household Items #4: "Makes your toilet paper sing!" Unknown writes: "I bought several of these when I lived in New Jersey in 1988. I still have one, but it doesn't work anymore. I loved them! They were great fun!!!"

Book cover: "So you want to be a Ham": Dave Conley writes: "I also discovered this book at the library, and just about reduced it to shreds by checking it out repeatedly. Robert Hertzberg was very good at communicating his love of the hobby."

"Siss Noch Unvergleichlich": 1962 Pennsylvania Dutch Days brochure: Wendyvee writes: "How very Pennsylvania. Also, one of my grandmothers made funeral pies that were so sweet, I swear I can still taste them. Eeek!"

Would you like to play a game of Wizzardz & War Lordz? "arik24" writes: "It's been archived at archive.org: https://archive.org/details/wizzardz_war_lordz"

Happy gaming, everyone!

Found curbside: A postcard and a bookmark

"Joan's and Kaitlyn's Curbside Ephemera Haul," which sounds like a pitch for a Hulu series, also included these two items: an unused Curteichcolor postcard of the beautiful waters off the Florida coast and one of those plastic-clip bookmarks you can use to mark the pages of a Bible or other treasured book. I paired them to create a little bit of collage art for Easter. I guess we should also note that those two anglers are not six feet apart, but if they're from the same household I reckon it's probably okay.

Previous Papergreat Easter posts

• 5 awesome vintage Easter postcards
• Illustrations from a 1917 Easter card
• Last week I learned about Maslenitsa
• Trio of vintage Easter postcards

Halloween 2019 book cover: "Haunted England"

In counting down the final few days to All Hallows' Eve, I have some appropriately spooktastic books to share...

• Title: Haunted England
• Subtitle: A Survey of English Ghost-Lore
• Author: Christina Hole (1896-1985)
• Dust jacket designer: Lynton Lamb (1907-1977)
• Illustrator: John Farleigh (1900-1965)
• Publisher: B.T. Batsford Ltd.
• Original publication year: 1940
• Publication date of this edition: 1951 (Second Edition, Third Impression)
• Dust jacket price: 13 shillings, 6 pence
• Pages: 184
• Format: Hardcover
• Dust jacket blurb #1: "This is far and away the best ghost book I have ever met, as Miss Hole is thorough, careful and completely unbiased." ⁠— The Queen
• Wait. The Queen?? Well, this edition was published in 1951, so it cannot be Elizabeth II, because her reign did not begin until 1952. The most logical guess is that there was some sort of UK publication titled "The Queen."
• Dust jacket blurb #2: "With its infinite variety of ghostly manifestations it should appeal strongly to the ordinary reader." — The Scotsman
• First sentence: Belief in ghosts is almost as old as the human race.
• Last sentence: The study of ghost-lore suggests that some places area nearer the edge of the spiritual world than others; and here, perhaps, lies the only explanation as yet available of Borley's curious history.
• Random sentence from middle: She had a secret room prepared against emergencies which was reached by a concealed staircase in the kitchen chimney.
• Review excerpt #1: Dodwell wrote this on Amazon.co.uk in 2013: "I bought a copy of this work, in 1966 from a junk shop, for the princely sum of two shillings (20 pence) and I still have it now. It is full of tales, ghostly and ghastly, from all of the shires of England; ghosts of the great and unknown ghosts fill its pages. Written in an easy, lucid style by an author who obviously felt a great affection for the folklore of England, so much so, that this affection shines through in every chapter."
• Review excerpt #2: The Wolf wrote this on Amazon.co.uk in 2017: "Christina Hole's English spookfest, with terrific illustrations by John Farleigh, still has the power to make the hair stand up on the back of your neck."
• About the author: Christina Hole was a member of The Folklore Society and her other notable books include A Dictionary of British Folk Customs, English Folklore, English Home-Life 1500 to 1800, and Witchcraft in England. On the website England: The Other Within, Alison Petch noted that Hole "might have been considered by some rather eccentric — according to the obituary she refused to have a telephone installed in her home even though it would have made her honorary duties easier and was 'surrounded by well-behaved cats whose idiosyncracies gave [her] great pleasure.'"

But wait, there's more

Tucked away inside the book was a dandy 1955 National Tuberculosis Association Christmas Seals bookmark. It's shown below, along with a couple of John Farleigh's interior illustrations. In 2011, the blog Uncanny UK, edited by Richard Holland, had this to say about Farleigh's work: "The other attraction of ‘Haunted England’ are its numerous weird illustrations. The illustrator, John Farleigh, was well-known in his day both as a fine artists and as a commercial artists, for example for London Transport. He was best-known as a wood engraver. The images he created for ‘Haunted England’ are like no other gracing a work of this kind: often abstract, with distorted perspectives, they are nightmarish yet oddly child-like – and certainly memorable."

Self-help book cover: "The Crack in the Cosmic Egg"

As promised a couple of days ago...

• Title: The Crack in the Cosmic Egg
• Subtitle: "Challenging Constructs of Mind and Reality"
• Cover blurb: "A startling breakthrough book — Essential for those who are seeking expanded ways to achieve creative living and learning"
• Author: Joseph "Joe" Chilton Pearce (1926-2016)
• Cover artist: Unknown. There are some initials in the corner, but they are partially obscured from wear. First letter might be an A.
• Publisher: Pocket Books (fifth printing, October 1974)
• Cover price: $1.50
• Original publication year: 1971
• Pages: 219
• Format: Paperback
• Provenance: Once owned by Ms. Joan E. Book of Shrewsbury, Pennsylvania. Purchased this year at The York Emporium.
• Dedication: "To the memory of my wife Patricia Ann mother of our five"
• First sentence on introduction: Almost a decade has passed since I first experienced the crack in my own cosmic egg, and made tentative attempts to translate it into communicable form.
• First sentence of book: There is a relationship between what we think is out there in the world and what we experience as being out there.
• Last sentence: So I find that my concern and love for life, my longing and desire, have sowed a wind within this orb of skull, and here in this spiraled fire I reap the whirlwind of all the worlds.
• Random sentences from middle: Piaget observed that we are continually hatching an enormous number of false ideas, conceits, Utopias, mystical explanations, superstitions, and megalomanic fantasies. All of these disappear when brought into contact with other people.
• Goodreads rating: 4.02 stars (out of 5.0)
• Goodreads review excerpt: In 2016, Nicholas wrote: "I wasn't sure I'd made a good choice when I ordered this book, as I prefer my data empirical and this seemed to lean more towards the speculative. Coupled with the fact that it was written in the seventies, referenced Don Juan and held Sri Lankan firewalking to be the principle evidence in the flexibilty of reality, made me even more suspect of my own decision making process, but I proceeded to read it regardless. By the end of the first chapter my fears where not confirmed and I began to enjoy the book for what it is."
• Amazon rating: 4.4 stars (out of 5.0)
• Amazon review excerpt (slightly edited): In 2009, Elbert Clark wrote: "I reread this book after it had inspired me years ago to think in new directions. It still holds up brilliantly. I recently met the author, a feisty old gentleman, who apologized for the followup book to this work. He says it was essentially unproofed and unedited and explained how it got that way. The publisher simply ran with the first rough draft."

But wait, there's more...

Check out this nifty bookmark that was tucked away inside this paperback! It's from Bookarama, which had stores at the Westgate Mall in Bethlehem and the Hamilton Mall in Allentown.

The Westgate Mall, which opened in 1973, was sold last autumn to a joint venture led by Onyx Equities LLC and PCCP LLC.

The Hamilton Mall was an attempted re-envisioning, in the mid-1970s, of Allentown's downtown business district to lure shoppers who had fled to suburban shopping centers. It was never fully successful and faded out in the 1990s.

It appears the Bookarama stores were finished by the mid 1990s, too.

1960 book cover & bookmark: "The Pink Motel"

• Title: The Pink Motel
• Author: Carol Ryrie Brink (1895-1981)
• Illustrator: Sheila Greenwald
• Dust jacket blurb: "When the Mellens took down the Closed sign on their very own Pink Motel in Florida, left to them by Uncle Hiram, and the regular winter guests arrived, there began for Kirby and Bitsy the most exciting summer of their lives so far. There was Miss Ferry, the artist, who started Kirby on a search for Uncle Hiram's special secret; Miss P. DeGree with her three valuable poodles; Marvello, the magician; and two tall, dark and mysterious gentlemen who Kirby felt pretty sure were gangsters."
• Publisher: The Macmillan Company (first published 1959)
• Edition: Weekly Reader Children's Book Club edition published in 1960
• Price: $2.75
• Pages: 183
• Format: Hardcover
• First sentence: Until Kirby Mellen was ten nothing very exciting had ever happened to him or his father or his mother or his little sister Bitsy.
• Last sentence: And Kirby shouted back, "You bet!"
• Random sentence from middle: Kirby even forgot to polish up his J. Edgar Hoover G-Man badge or keep an eye on the gangsters or worry about the pencil which was missing from Uncle Hiram's desk.
• Amazon rating: 4.6 stars out of 5.0. (62 reviews)
• Goodreads rating: 4.19 stars out of 5.0 (511 ratings)
• Goodreads review excerpt #1: In 2009, Helen wrote: "I have the original hardcover copy of the 1960 edition. I loved this book as a child in elementary school. I wanted to inherit a pink motel and go to Florida so I could meet all these interesting people. What a great introduction to the world of mystery solving. I have read it over and over."
• Goodreads review excerpt #2: In 2012, Bob wrote: "I vividly remember Mrs. Hannah, my 4th grade teacher and one of my all-time favs, (1969), reading this book to us. I can still hear her voice and the 'crinkle' that the pages made as she turned them."
• Notes: I don't think my scanner did a great job with the shade of pink on this dust-jacket cover. If you use this color guide ...
  
  
  
  
  ... then the actual shade on the dust jacket would be closest to peach. But when I scanned the cover, it resulted to something closer to pink or taffy. Oh well. ... Carol Ryrie Brink wrote many books for children, including Caddie Woodlawn, which won a Newbery Medal. In her biography at the back of The Pink Motel, she is quoted as saying, "Children need the lift and thrill of imaginative writing as well as the tangible foundation of facts. It is this combination of realism and imagination which I wish very much to achieve in own writing." ... Illustrator Greenwald has her own website, which you can check out here. ... The Weekly Reader bookmark that's pictured above is back of the inside-back flap of the dust jacket. ... Among the blogs that feature memories and discussions of this book are Belle, Book, and Candle (great name!) and Book Discussion with Myself.

Early 1980s bookmark from Northshire Bookstore

I picked up a copy of New England Cookbook by Eleanor Early at a Lancaster, Pennsylvania, thrift store and tucked away inside was this nice oversized bookmark for Northshire Bookstore of Manchester Center, Vermont.

Northshire Bookstore was founded in 1976 by Ed and Barbara Morrow and is still going very, very strong more than four decades later, and I don't have to tell you how unusual that is for an independent bookstore. It even has a second location now, in Saratoga Springs, New York, about 50 miles west. The bookstore's website, www.northshire.com, is fantastic and it has a great reach on social media, with nearly 12,000 followers for @NorthshireBooks on Twitter.

Back in the early 1980s, though, there was no such thing as websites or Twitter. So bookmarks represented a great and important opportunity for "viral marketing" by bookstores. This one features artwork by Lance Hidy — a child reading a book in a chair while a cat lounges alongside — and that artwork is copyright 1982, which is probably when this bookmark was produced and distributed.

The back of the bookmark, which measures 3 inches by 7 inches, is full of useful marketing information. Some excerpts:

• "The Northshire Bookstore is dedicated to the art of browsing. We invite you to visit us and are ready to help with your selection. We will gladly special order any title in print and also ship anywhere in the world."
• "Our Children's Level, downstairs, is a complete store within a store, highly esteemed throughout New England and beyond for its breadth, friendly atmosphere and knowledgeable staff."
• "Our full service record and tape department is well known for its strength in classical and jazz. We will gladly order any record or tape that we do not stock."
• "Please include $2.25 UPS & handling for the 1st book and 50¢ for each additional book."

Children's books are still a huge part of the bookstore's mission. According to the website: "Almost a third of our stores are devoted to kids! Getting youngsters to read sets them up for a lifetime of success. We have dedicated, expert Children's staffs and a superb buyer."

Best wishes for another four decades, Northshire!

Receipt and more tucked away inside 1967 sci-fi paperback

I recently purchased a used copy of a science-fiction paperback titled Down to Earth, and it was filled with "tucked away inside" treasures. Preserved inside the book were a small sales receipt and an advertising bookmark, both of which I believe date to the original purchase at a store in Michigan 50 years ago.

The first page contains, in the lower-right corner, an embossed stamp indicating that the book was once part of the library of J.R. Newell.

And there's a nifty advertisement, on heavier paper, for Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy that has been bound within the pages.

The book was published in July 1967 with a cover price of 50 cents. That information was helpful as I worked through the book's likely provenance.

And so away we go. That brings us to the first piece of ephemera tucked away inside — the receipt.

It's just 1⅞ inches wide, and the scan is difficult to read, so here is what's printed there...

ROSS MUSIC CO.
WESTLAND CENTER
PHONE 425-7550
20 JUL -7 5857
000.50 $
000.02 $
000.52 $T
It seems clear to me that this book was purchased new in July 1967 — the same month in which it was published. The cost was the original cover price of 50 cents, plus 2 cents for Michigan sales tax, which was 4% at the time.¹

Ross Music also provided a nice bookmark — measuring 2¾ inches by 6⅜ inches — to go along with this purchase five decades ago, and it apparently never left the book. (The binding is not creased and you could make a fair argument that this book has never been read.)

Ross Music Shop was located within the Concourse of the Westland Center. It sold records, sheet music, paperback books and musical accessories.

And where was Westland Center? (With its rather generic name.) Through some searching, it became clear that there was only one possibility for a 1960s location named Westland Center that had a store named Ross Music. It would be the Westland Center in Westland, Michigan, located a bit west of Detroit.² It opened with major fanfare in July 1965, including a full-page advertisement in the July 25, 1965, edition of the Detroit Free Press. That advertisement stated, in part:

"Westland is a community of fine stores and services in a beautiful new setting. A shopping center where it's always summertime, for its stores are joined by covered, temperature-controlled courts, landscaped with tropical plants. And Westland is more than simply a place to shop. It's a beautiful center to come and visit with its imaginative landscaping ... its interesting sculpture ... its many fine service facilities."

Ross Music Store was listed as one of the many stores for the grand opening, alongside the likes of Albert's Artiste Beauty Salon, Better Made Potato Chips, Hamby's Barber Shop, Raimi's Curtains³ and Triangle Furniture.

I don't believe that Ross Music Shop is still an incorporated business. There were multiple locations back in the 1960s; in addition to this one at the Westland Center, there was a Ross Music Shop at the Eastland Center in Harper Woods, Michigan.

I doubt that many bookmarks like this one remain after five decades. The best hope would be finding ones that were tucked away inside other books and forgotten.

Posting on a DetroitYES! message board in 2010, in response to the question "Where did you buy your records when you were growing up?" one user wrote:

"Bought my first LP at Ross Music Shop, at Eastland. Shopped at Hudson's there, too, but that was because I liked a girl who worked there. Ross had more of the English Invasion groups that I liked, and the proprietor, Bob (?) was hip and full of stories about rock n roll."

While I can't find much else about Ross Music, you can read more about the Westland Center in the 2008 post "Memories of Westland Mall" at Quasi-Interesting Paraphernalia Inc. And several photos of Westland Center can be found at the Malls of America website, with great comments on many of the posts.⁴ Start with this post and work your way backward through the "Previous entries" section at the bottom.

Finally, as mentioned earlier, here's a peek at the interior advertisement pitching Asimov's The Foundation Trilogy for just 10 cents as an introductory offer to get readers into the Science Fiction Book Club (which I wrote about last August).

Footnotes
1. Source for Michigan sales tax history: "The history of MI's sales tax" by Esther Kwon on UPMatters.com.
2. Fun fact: Westland, Michigan, took its name from the mall when Nankin Township incorporated itself as a city in 1966. (Source: Westland Center's Wikipedia page.)
3. Raimi's Curtains might have been owned by Celia Raimi, the mother of movie director and Royal Oak, Michigan, native Sam Raimi.
4. My favorite comment, appropriately from Anonymous: "I got busted trying to take pennies out of a fountain that was located in one of the department stores that was below and to the right of that clock. Can't remember the stores name. Santa used to set up right below that staircase."

From the readers: Mt. Gayler in Arkansas, sweets, trolls and more

Good morning! Here's the roundup of the newest reader comments on Papergreat posts. Continued thanks to everyone who takes the time to leave comments, questions and insights!

Old postcard: Twilight in the Ozarks: Velda Brotherton, whose news article I excerpted in the post, writes with this update: "I found it fun to read your article and your thoughtful excerpt from my article about Ruby Jo Bellis. She has since sold the property and left her beloved home. Work appears to be underway to do something up on Mt. Gayler, and thanks for seeing the name was spelled correctly."

Vintage wrapper for a Milk-Nickel: Nathan K. Wright writes: "I remember eating Milk-Nickels up to the late 60s. Loved 'em. But the event I couldn't wrap my third-grader mind around was when they raised the price to 7 cents. It wasn't a Milk-7-Cents at all ... it was a Milk-NICKEL!"

Klein Chocolate Co. of Elizabethtown analyzes Fannie's butter fat: An anonymous reader had his or her own Tucked Away Inside moment and writes: "I was posting some old books for sale on eBay and noticed something sticking out of one of the books. It was a candy wrapper, I guess used for a book mark, from Klein's Lunch Bar, Milk Chocolate and Peanuts, price 3 cent, manufactured by Klein Chocolate Company, Elizabethtown, Pa."

Theodor Kittelsen postcard: Trollkjerringer på Norefjell: Author Karen Hokanson Miller writes: "I have just finished writing a book for children about a troll girl. May I use this postcard on my website?"

Of course I said yes! I'm all for more children's books and more books about troll girls, an underrepresented portion of the greater troll population.

1970s Woodsy Owl bookmark: "Give a Hoot! Don't Pollute.": Anonymous writes: "When I was in grade school I remember this contest. I also remember the girl who came with 'Give a Hoot don't Pollute." Her first name was Debbie."

Does anyone else have any recollection of Debbie?

Coupons from the E.H. Koester Bakery Co.: Frank Remmell writes: "If I remember correctly I used to work on a Koester's Twin bread truck when I was a young man in Maryland. It was a great job and a great source of goodies that were always readily available in the back of the truck."

Thanks for the memories, Frank! Readers: If you check out the original Koester's post, you'll see that it has been one of Papergreat's most-commented-upon posts. Many great stories shared.

A photograph I think may be worthy of A Pretty Book: JT writes: "Thank you so much for highlighting my little blog and Instagram feed. I'm thankful for booklovers like you who follow my bibliomaniac musings. I'm still on the lookout for a pamphlet that can stump the Great Papergreat since you so handily wrote about scaly leg. Thanks again for the kind words."

Cheerful Card Company can help you earn extra money for the holidays: Anonymous writes: "I am 68 (almost 69) and Cheerfully sold my cards from the Cheerful card company to friends and relatives. My mother was shocked when the box came to our door with my 'first business venture' enclosed. I was very proud to won my own business. Fond memories."

Cheerful Card memories just keep rolling in! I tried to stay ahead of the wonderful flood of comments with this wrapup post back in March.

A Tyrannosaurus matchbox label, phillumeny and thoughts on Godzilla: Flemming Henningsen writes: "Hi, I just jumped into this blog, searching for phillumeny. I´m from Denmark and I´m a phillumenist since the 1960s. Please take a look at a part of my collection on my website: www.tandberg.webbyen.dk."

Delving into Henry K. Wampole & Company: DArsie Manzella writes: "We found a bottle from JK Wampole. Any relationship to this company?"

That's a great question, and one that has stumped me. While it seems that there would be, I do not know for sure if there was a specific relationship between H.K. Wampole and J.K. Wampole. Can anyone out there shed any light? If you can, please reply to Manzella's comment.

Bookmark: "Freedom is not Free"

Well, that's appropriate!

While sorting through some books today, I came across a red, white and blue "Freedom is not Free" bookmark tucked away inside a copy of 1965's The Land and People of Hungary by Emil Lengyel.

The bookmark, of much more recent vintage, doubles as an advertisement for the Disabled American Veterans. Some of the text on the back states: "Thank you for your generous support. These bookmarks are a gift to you and there is no obligation to pay for them. When you use them, remember that your gift helps disabled veterans."

The purpose of DAV is "to provide support, encouragement and a better life for the noble men and women who became disabled while upholding world peace and the freedom of the United States of America."

Speaking of freedom, Hungary was not free when this book was written. From 1947 to 1989, it was under the grip of Communism as a satellite state of the Soviet Union. Tens of thousands of Hungarians who opposed the Soviets during that dark era were killed or died in labor camps.

To its credit, the book does not gloss over the oppression and murder of Hungarians from 1947 through the book's publication date in 1965, and it provides good detail of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

In fact, the author, Lengyel, was born in Budapest, Hungary, and was raised and educated in the country. According to his 1985 obituary in The New York Times, Lengyel "was imprisoned by the Russians in 1916 in Siberia, and before he escaped years later, he had learned French, German and English, the language he later chose for his literary career."

The dust jacket of The Land and People of Hungary adds that: "During World war II Mr. Lengyel wrote the first English language biography of Hitler, which earned him the distinction of being put on a Nazi blacklist." [Actually, it appears that Lengyel's book about Hitler was published in 1932, the year before Hitler's rise to chancellor of Germany. According to a short description of the book on AbeBooks.com, the conclusion of Lengyel's 1932 volume states: "For a more definitive estimate of Adolf Hitler mankind will have to wait until his work is done. His program can hold out no hope to Germany. It is a concoction to please every palate, but it contains no new fare. Its sane recommendations have been tried and its insane proposals can never be put into execution."]