"The Truth About Fake Giants and Other Great Hoaxes" (1981)

When I was traveling to visit my dad in West Virginia last month, I stayed in a hotel in Raleigh, Virginia, on the first night, and after a show about the architecture of the Pantheon ended, the only good thing on TV was Martin Scorsese's 2004 Howard Hughes biopic, The Aviator. Though it was late, I ended up watching the whole thing.

The next afternoon, Dad and I went to an awesome bookstore in Beckley, West Virginia, called Burm Booksellers (209 Prince Street). I highly recommend it, if you're ever in the area. They sell books on AbeBooks, too. While there, I was browsing the many shelves full of great old books and I came across this oddball that I'd never heard of: 1981's The Truth About Fake Giants and Other Great Hoaxes, published by Rourke Enterprises of Florida. And, lo and behold, one of the chapters in this book for kids was about Clifford Irving's hoax involving the attempted publication of a Howard Hughes biography. Why you'd have that as a chapter in a kids' book with robots, the Cardiff Giant and winged moon creatures featured on the covers, I have no idea. But it was a heck of Hughes coincidence.

Anyway, the book is amazeballs. It's a hardcover former library book measuring 5⅝ inches by 8⅞ inches. The colorful front and back covers and the interior black-and-white illustrations are by Norman Nodel (1922-2000), a World War II field artist for the U.S. Army who later became known for his illustrations for the Classics Illustrated series.

The author is Timothy Bay, who seems to have a much smaller biographical footprint online than Nodel. If anyone knows anything about him, please share it in the comments.

It's worth noting that this book was first published as Fake Giants and Other Great Hoaxes by EMC in 1980, before being republished in 1981 by Rourke Enterprises with the longer title that adds The Truth About... I have no idea why.

This book spent many years in the Gauley Bridge Library in West Virginia, which was part of the Fayette County Library System before closing in early 2014. The town has a population of less than 600, which may have been part of the reason for that. I do want to note, however, that the Fayette County Library System has an official cat, named Bob. And Bob is no hoax.

The book's table of contents page is pictured below, and I can tell you that, in addition to the Irving-Hughes hoax and the Cardiff Giant, the topics include "King of the Mediums" Daniel Douglas Home [sic], Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast, art forger Hans Van Meegeren [sic], the Piltdown Man, the New York Sun's fantastical moon hoax, and H.L. Mencken's bathtub hoax. It's an odd but fascinating mix.

The book possibly had a fairly limited distribution, because there's very little about it online, especially compared to similar books from the 1970s and early 1980s that focused on similar weird topics, such as the Contemporary Perspectives books. There are no reviews at all on Amazon or Goodreads. I guess this will have to become the post that champions and remembers the book, moving forward. Now is a good time to get a copy, if you're intrigued; I see at least two on eBay with prices under $20.

After the coincidence of The Aviator and The Truth About Fake Giants and Other Great Hoaxes, I was inspired to create a watch list of films that are intertwined in some interesting ways:

• Hell's Angels (1930, director: Howard Hughes)
• Ice Station Zebra (1968, John Sturges)
• F for Fake (1973, Orson Welles)
• The Night That Panicked America (1975 TV movie, Joseph Sargent)
• The Amazing Howard Hughes (1977, TV miniseries starring Tommy Lee Jones as Howard Hughes)
• Melvin and Howard (1980, Jonathan Demme)
• It's All True: Based on an Unfinished Film by Orson Welles (1993 documentary by Richard Wilson, Bill Krohn and Myron Meisel)
• The Aviator (2004, Martin Scorsese)
• The Hoax (2006, Lasse Hallström)

It also strikes me that you can draw a direct and fascinating line from Welles' F for Fake to this year's Nathan Fielder/Lance Oppenheim/Elizabeth Holmes film You Can See Everything.

And finally there's Clifford Irving's 1969 book Fake! The Story of Elmyr de Hory, the Greatest Art Forger of Our Time.

Bookstore bulletin board, late summer 2025

Changing Hands Bookstore, Phoenix

September 9, 2025

Sunday evening ramblings

Blargh. Between the national news, the desert heat, the prospect of returning to work in the morning, taking care of the cats and did I mention the national news, my mind is all over the place this afternoon and evening.

I missed my normal window of putting together a coherent blog post this morning, partly because the Phillies-Nationals game started at 8:35 a.m., Arizona time.

I'm behind on posting as it is. I do have a lot of good starter ideas stacking up in Blogger's "Unpublished" queue. It's just time that I need. Don't we all? 

Anyway, here's a miscellaneous collection of stuff that's been on my radar and won't be in a separate post:

1. I made a cryptic reference to Orson Welles last Sunday, but I no longer have the energy or desire to do that as a separate post. I was going to write about how Ash and I watched the ridiculous 1981 "documentary" (it really shouldn't be called that) The Man Who Saw Tomorrow, in which narrator Welles shares the prophecies of Nostradamus, as badly interpreted by Erika Cheetham. 

Skip it and watch F for Fake if you're looking for something involving Welles pulling one over on the public. I stand by what I wrote about The Man Who Saw Tomorrow in 2018: "The supernatural-seeming angle and the fiery, horrifying visions of the future offered by the film ... preyed on both Cold War fears of nuclear annihilation and racist anti-Arab sentiment. It cast "The Middle East" as some strange land from which a devilish villain would start the gears of World War III into motion in the 1990s." That is not an endorsement.

Further reading: Reddit and Jedadiah Leland on the Through the Shattered Lens website.

2. RIP, Terence Stamp. My official favorite movies of his are The Limey, Spirits of the Dead and Superman II. But my secret favorite movie of his is the absolutely bonkers Modesty Blaise (1966), where he saves the world alongside Monica Vitti. 

3. Want to help a New York City bookstore, spread the availability of books and contribute in a small way to the ideas of social justice? There's a summer book drive for Bluestockings Cooperative, a bookstore located at 116 Suffolk Street in New York. They're seeking new and gently used books on the topics of race, gender, sexuality, class, socialism, anarchism and more. The book drive continues through Sept. 1. For me, it was a very positive way to chip away, once again, at Resimplify Me and clear some shelf space. Here's the poster. 

4. Speaking of books, this amazing dust jacket cover showed up in my BlueSky feed recently. Adventures with Phantoms, by British ghost hunter Robert Thurston Hopkins (1884-1958), was published in 1946. I hadn't heard of this one before, so I'll have to keep my eyes peeled. It would look dandy alongside the likes of Haunted England and A Ghost Hunter's Game Book.

5. That's all for now, folks.

Revisiting 2016 (Part 3)

OK, it's time to conclude cleaning out the time capsule marked "Calendar Year 2016." Here's the final collection of running observations and snapshots from this eclectic collection of everyday ephemera dating to the last full year of the Obama administration...

1. We were involved in the York County 4-H Alpaca Club, so I reckon that one of its associated events is how I came across this delightful and ridiculous flyer for a "Galactic Genetic Gathering of Alpacas" in Iowa. 

2. I kept so many yellow receipts from the York Emporium, and I will continue to hold onto them. They're great for tucking away inside books.

3.  An empty wrapper for key lime Creamy Coconut Patties from Anastasia Confections.  

4. A menu for Masa Bistro, one of our favorite York-area restaurants back in the day.

5. There was a little blank notebook in the time capsule with the note "Log the stories you find in this box." I guess I'm blogging as my way of logging. I'll use the notebook to document something else.  

6. On the back of this business card, I wrote "Funniest card I picked up on drive to FL." (I was on a road trip to visit Dad.)

7. A movie ticket stub for Star Trek Beyond, the last movie I watched in a theater with Mom.

8. A printout from the website I Waited 96 Years! ... The website still exists and includes this message as of today: "In the weeks before the 2016 election, this website featured 186 women, ages 96 to 105, who were eager to elect Hillary Clinton. These women were born before the 19th Amendment and were, for the first time, voting for a woman for president of the United States. ... Then, in 2020, we followed up with a few of the (now) centenarians when the female presidential candidates suspended their campaigns. And in 2024, we gathered reflections from one inspiring 106-year-old. At this critical and challenging moment, our nation needs these women’s voices and wisdom more than ever."  

9. A copy of LNP | LancasterOnline's Trending section that leads with an article about Little Free Libraries. The article is still online.

10. A printout of an email sent to me with the subject line "The Troubles," in which one of my former Penn State University journalism professors, discussing the Penn State child sex abuse scandal, tells me "You make incisive comments on Twitter. Keep up the good work."

Speaking of Twitter...

11. ...Not all of my comments were incisive, although the sentiment about Philip Seymour Hoffman still stands.

Also speaking of Twitter...

12. ... This is pretty darn funny. I had mentioned 2016's Pokémon Go phenomenon in Part 1. This also marks the first appearance of a Bulbasaur on Papergreat.

13. A brochure for the Long's Park Summer Music Series in Lancaster.

14. An editorial cartoon, relevant then and now, that I printed and saved.  

15. A Powerball ticket that wasn't a winner. Jackpot was $142 million.

16. A business card for Too Many Books in Roanoke, Virginia. On the back, I wrote "This store had a big friendly black poodle. And some books." The bookstore is still in business. Last August, a Yelp reviewer wrote: "Talk about charming! The store is two floors and has a lovely collection of history/non-fiction upstairs and fiction downstairs. ... I found several names/titles that were new to me and felt like I was prowling around my Pop-pop's basement the whole time. Magical!"

17. Finally, there's a sealed envelope inside the box. A time capsule within a time capsule. "Random old photos of unknown, unrelated folks," the front of the envelope states. I don't have the energy right now, so look for exploration of this one in a future post, maybe.

From the readers: Jim Lewin, Hatchy Milatchy, Lakeview Gusher and more

Well, I had my gall bladder removed yesterday, so I'm taking it easy and handing off today's post to Papergreat's awesome commenters. Thank you so much for everything you contribute!

RIP Jim Lewin: a wonderful bookseller, writer and human being: Joe writes: "Jim was one of the nicest guys you'll ever find. I loved and miss going to York (Pennsylvania) and stopping at the Emporium to see what new treasures I could find and say hi to Jim. Only knock on him was he was a Bills fan, but he didn't treat me any worse for being a Jets fan. RIP Jim!"

I'm bummed that Jim's beloved Bills didn't finally beat the Chiefs and get to the Super Bowl on Sunday. Perhaps the Eagles can somewhat avenge Buffalo and get the job done against the Chiefs on Feb. 9.

Have a very Fritos Thanksgiving: Anonymous writes: "We have had our stuffing like this for all my years of life (41). My grandma has always made it like this since before 1948 when she married my grandpa. It’s delicious. However we toast the bread, and no apples and no baking powder but everything else is exact. And we drizzle some of the turkey juices over the top (basting) as it bakes. It’s DEVINE!!!!"

Note: The original recipe that I blogged about didn't contain apples or baking powder.

WNEP-TV staff from 1975, including Miss Judy: Anonymous writes: “I remember when I used to watch Hatchy Milatchy with Miss Judy back when I was growing up. Those were the good old days and — take it from this streetwise man — those were good times. Believe me they were good times."

Revisiting the Lakeview Gusher: Dan Brekke writes: "Chris: You posted this five-plus years ago, but it somehow escaped my notice. Thanks again for helping me with the images, and also for the kind words regarding the piece I wrote."

You're very welcome!

Cheerful Card Company can help you earn extra money for the holidays: Two more great and appreciated comments on one of the most popular Papergreat posts of all time:

Anonymous #1 writes: "I recently became curious about what ever happened to the Cheerful Card Company, so I looked online and stumbled on this site. I've really enjoyed reading this page. I sold Cheerful cards and other products from their catalog briefly when I was about 12 or 13 years old in the early 60s in Chicago. I quickly figured out that I could make bigger profits by dealing with a local wholesaler (perhaps manufacturer, I'm not sure) called Elmcraft, which I found in the yellow pages, located a few miles from my home. I drove there on my bicycle and found that they had a showroom filled with cards and other products, including boxes of closeouts or marked down cards that I was able to buy for much less than the prices from Cheerful, resulting in bigger profits. I didn't last long; lost interest in it, and I don't really recall why. Until sometime during college, I actually thought I'd have a career in marketing, perhaps sales. As an adult, I am not the least bit entrepreneurial and I hate trying to sell anything to anyone. Nevertheless, I look back fondly on that experience as one of the steps in my personal development that made me who I am today. I'm guessing that many of the people who sold those Cheerful products benefited from the experience far beyond any money that they made."

Anonymous #2 writes: "OMG — this page is a gem! I‘m sitting here in Austria in 2024 reading digitalised comics from the 1960s and found the advertisement of Cheerful Card Company and wondered if I could find anything about them on the internet! And here we are!

So nice to read all the memories of the people who were selling these cards!"

I love that the internet, for now at least, remains a place where great memories like these can live on and be shared.

Straight Arrow Injun-uity card from Nabisco Shredded Wheat: Anonymous writes: "I will always remember visiting my grandfather, who ate 'Hay Bales' for breakfast, and saving the Indian lore card dividers which my cousin and I fought over. We tried to get the full set."

1909 Christmas postcard mailed from Auburn, New York:  Anonymous writes: "I have a stamp collection that I believe is the best single stamp collection in existence. I think I'm ready to let it go. Can anyone help?"

We are intrigued and I'm sure there are many folks out there who would like to help. But you didn't leave any contact information!

Mystery bookstore in Lancaster: Greg's Book Mart: Anonymous writes: "If this is the store I'm thinking of, they sold used books and also crystals and other occult items. They were at the end of that shopping center on Columbia Avenue, next to where the old McDonald's used to be."

The Three Investigators #1: The Secret of Terror Castle: Mark West writes: "I've been a big fan of the series since 1978 (when I was 9) and discovered a hardback of The Secret Of Skeleton Island during a wet playtime at school (I'm in the UK). Loved them ever since and I re-read at least six of the titles a year."

Today I learned that "wet playtime" is what they call it in the United Kingdom when rain cancels playground recess. Over here, we just called it "indoor recess" during grade school. By the way, Mark wrote a fabulous blog (years ago) about The Three Investigators. Please check it out!

A groovy response from the CEO of Whirley-DrinkWorks! Anonymous writes: "Great blog you have here. I live in Canada. We used to have Husky gas stations and they had the dashboard mugs. I just purchased one on eBay. Do you know if these are safe to drink hot coffee from? Just wondering about the chemicals and whatnot, since these were made before everyone was concerned about plastic. Thanks."

I do not know about the modern safety of these older plastic cups. That is far, far from my field of expertise. It's a good question. I recommend seeking out quality sources in the scientific field or within your relevant federal government department. It's a good thing you're in Canada, because in the U.S. this type of vital information may become harder and harder to find, the way things are going.

RIP Jim Lewin: a wonderful bookseller, writer and human being

2018 photo of sales counter at the York Emporium (Chris Otto); inset: Jim Lewin (The York Dispatch)

Last week was a sad one, as we learned that Jim Lewin, longtime owner of the York Emporium, the best used bookstore in York, Pennsylvania, died on Nov. 26. Jim was a family friend, a tremendous writer and a compassionate human being who put his heart and no small amount of elbow grease into making the Emporium one of the very best spots in southcentral Pennsylvania for book lovers (and those seeking out oddball treasures). Jim owned the Emporium for nearly 20 years before selling it and retiring this past April.

Mike Argento, a colleague of mine when I worked at the York Daily Record, wrote a terrific profile of Jim and the store's history when Jim retired. It's the best piece to read for Jim's full story and to learn how Jim and his store became York institutions. Argento writes: "The store’s eclecticism reflects Jim’s own. He loves books and reads widely. One of his benchmarks for a good used bookstore, and one of the benchmarks of his own store, is that someone can wander in and find a book they never knew existed. ... Some things he just did for himself. He started a jam session that features bluegrass, folk and blues every Sunday afternoon, a slow business day, 'because I got tired of being here all alone.' ... Over the years, Jim introduced special events – 'being mercenary,' is how he put it – to make the Emporium a part of the fabric of York’s culture. He’s had events celebrating literary genres, from sci-fi to horror to romance to mystery, and hosted concerts and the aforementioned jam sessions."

To me, Sundays were one of the best days to go to the Emporium. I hate just sitting around, waiting for the week to start. What better way to pass an afternoon than perusing bookshelves? 

Our family went to the store regularly over many, many years. Jim, usually stationed just inside the door, would greet us all by name and ask what was new. Our house remains filled with books purchased at the Emporium. Ash essentially grew up with it as his primary bookstore. While we were memorializing Jim last week upon hearing of his passing, Ash talked extensively of his love for Jim and the store. He noted two important things: 1. You never went into the Emporium looking for a specific thing; unexpected treasures would find you. 2. The passage of time was different when you were inside the Emporium. Two or even three hours might go by as if in a happy dream of endlessly going through mazes of shelves with the wonderful smell of books. It was the timeslip that Jim built.

I've specifically mentioned the Emporium in about three dozen posts over the years. And if I'd been transparently detailing the source of every book I've written about, Jim's Emporium is the source of another fifty or more posts. When Papergreat was in its first year of existence, Jim generously gifted me an 1897 program for the York Opera House that I turned into a two-part post.

Here are two pictures I took inside the Emporium during separate visits in 2018. The first shows a silhouetted Ash browsing the shelves. The second shows some of the eclectic decorations that filled the store. Jim was a huge fan of Star Trek.

In addition to being an bookseller, Jim was also an author. His books include Lines of Contention: Political Cartoons of the Civil War; How to Feed an Army: Recipes and Lore from the Front Lines; How to Tell a Secret: Tips, Tricks & Techniques for Breaking Codes & Conveying Covert Information; and How to Party Like It's 1899.

And from 2008 to 2013, while he was also juggling the daily business of managing the Emporium, Jim wrote more than 50 posts for his blog Book Flaps (subtitled "Musings of a smalltime book peddler"). It's a great peek inside the business and it displays the wonderful writing touch Jim had. As you know, I worry about the permanence of the internet and I don't know how long Book Flaps may continue to be online. I want to share Jim's final blog post, from September 2013, in its entirety. It takes on a new poignance with Jim's passing:

Treasure

    I was on my knees this past Tuesday afternoon, painting (and cursing) an old bookcase that obstinately refused to be anything close to useful. I happened to glance up and saw her standing there, silently, watching me.

   “He’s gone.”

   The shop was closed. It always is on Tuesdays. But I had left the front door unlocked, because you never know who is going to wander in. Obviously, today was her day. She had let herself in and found me there, paint-spattered, on my knees and gently damning this inoffensive piece of furniture.

  “Sunday afternoon. He died in his sleep.”

  I let out a groan and got to my feet. I didn’t really know what to say.

  They were an older couple (“older” being a relative term as I close in on that realm myself); maybe mid-80s. I don’t think I ever got their names. But they had been coming into the shop on a more-or-less regular basis for two or three years now. I’d see them every month or two.

  It was always he who bought the books. He’d walk around and look in several areas, but he would always find his way to the same spot; the same books. He would delve into our Treasure Chest.

   The Treasure Chest is really just an old trunk that I found in one of the storage rooms shortly after we took over the place. The handles are missing. What hardware that is left on it is rusted. It certainly doesn’t lock ,and it really is pretty well beat up. Its glory days are long past.

    For the first year or two we were operating the store, I would drag it around, trying to find a spot where it might fit. But nothing seemed to work. It wasn’t tall enough to be a display stand. It was too rickety for a table of any sort. And while it did have a certain texture and charm (as in, “I’ll-bet-that-was-really-something-in-its-day” way), it was now, simply, in the way.

    Until, that is, we re-worked our paperback fiction area two years ago. Suddenly, and unexpectedly, there was a spot. And! There was a function: older, series paperbacks. They were the sort of paperbacks that few wanted; that wouldn’t command high dollars, or any dollars at all actually. But we had a lot of them left over from the previous owners.

    Don Pendelton’s The Executioner series (more than 700 individual titles so far), Able Team, Phoenix Force and Stoney Man. Also the Nick Carter — Killmaster series (250+ titles) and the like. The main characters are all clean cut, square-jawed and handy with both guns and women. Mostly women. The books all contain plenty of bad guys, too. But they’re pretty disposable.

    We probably had two hundred, or more, of these books when we took over. So we tossed them all into that old trunk and slapped a sign on it, dubbing it our “Treasure Chest.” All books found therein are 50¢.

    We don’t sell a lot out of it, perhaps $5 or $6 a month on average. But its fun, and it fills a niche. And it doesn’t eat much, so we keep it.

    I wiped the paint from my hands and took a step closer to her, preparing to give her a hug. But she wasn’t interested in that. In fact, she wasn’t interested in me, or what I had to say, at all.

   "The last group of books that he got here are still in the bag. They’re on his night stand,” she said.

   I just stood there and looked at her. I still hadn’t said anything.

   “I want to go to the Treasure Chest,” she said. “I want to visit with him there for a minute.”

   She didn’t ask permission. She didn’t say another word. She just went back to the Treasure Chest and spent some quality time there. I don’t think she was interested in the books.

  A little earlier tonight as I walked past, I noticed that our Treasure Chest is starting to look a little empty. And that’s not right.

   I need to start looking for more of The Executioner.

   It’s important.

* * *

I could go on with stories about Jim and the Emporium. But I also realize that so much of Papergreat stands as on ongoing kind of tribute to the man and the place. The books and ephemera I've written about, the rabbit-hole inquisitiveness and the passion for the obscure and esoteric: they're all reflections of the physical bookstore in downtown York that Jim lovingly created starting on Jan. 1, 2005. 

I do want to conclude by noting that, as the United States got crueler and dumber in the past decade, Jim wasn't shy about standing up for what's right. He did this until the very end. Below are a few of his final Facebook posts, and they speak to the man he was. Rest in peace, Jim. We'll keep reading, learning and trying.

Sunday evening miscellany

1. Here's a photo of me in my dorm room at Penn State University in October 1992 — 31½ years ago (yikes). I'm not sure of the reason for that expression on my face. Turtlenecks and sweaters were part of my wardrobe for a long, long time, but they are obviously a thing of the past now that I live in the Arizona desert. That's a MicroFridge behind me. According to a September 1990 article in The Daily Collegian (the student newspaper I worked at for four years), the MicroFridges were first offered that year to seniors and graduate students for $32 per semester. They were subsequently offered to underclassmen. The units weighed 87 pounds and saved power by turning the refrigerator off when the microwave is in use. In the background is my very messy desk, with my USFL Philadelphia Stars cap hanging from the lamp.

2. The Guardian last week had an article about all the interesting things Jonny Greenwood is involved with, including the score for the new Paul Thomas Anderson film that will come out on IMAX in the summer of 2025. Greenwood's love of music and instruments is contagious. At one point he had an opportunity to examine some of the oldest church organs in Europe, and his passion for the topic just pours through in this quote:

“I was able to actually play some of these amazing medieval instruments. The internal parts — what they call the ‘brain’ — are these incredibly complex pieces of technology. These huge machines, created centuries ago, were tackling the same challenges of synthesis and sampling and sound reproduction that we struggle with today. ... I love the idea that these ancient churches have centuries of sounds that have almost soaked into the walls and the organ pipes. Just looking around those Italian churches, you saw organs that summon up remarkable histories. Some of them have double sets of black keys, so the F sharp and the G flat keys are slightly different — as it would be in natural temperament. Some have keys which play percussion. One church in Comunanza, near the Sibillini mountains, has an organ with a little water tank that enables the organist to make this burbling noise that imitates birdsong. There was another church where Mozart is supposed to have visited and played the organ, so we were all rubbing the keys excitedly! Every church organ on Earth will have years of history embedded in it.”

3. I recently stumbled upon the existence of this nine-book 1970s Dracula series by Robert Lory. (And he published all nine books within three years!) Mostly, I think everything about the covers is amazing. Has anyone read these? How are they? A 2022 post on the website Fonts in Use by Florian Hardwig shows the covers in all their glory and indicates that the titles are done in Quaint Roman, a font that dates to 1890. 

There are plenty of (spoiler-filled) reviews out there on Amazon, Goodreads, Reddit and various blogs, if you want to know more about the series, which sounds like it's a lot of fun if you don't take it too seriously.

I like the 2011 post on the My Monster Memories blog, which may be in danger of becoming a Lost Corner of the Internet. Frederick writes: 

"My grandma's house was a few miles from a small bookstore called Bill's on Ingleside Ave in Macon, GA. As a young teen, when visiting her house on the weekend, I would sometimes walk the distance to look for the latest issue of The Monster Times or other cool magazines. After all, they had a better selection than the closer-to-home drugstore where I usually went. One summer, in 1973, I came upon the first in the Dracula Horror Series titled 'Dracula Returns,' and had read it nearly halfway through on the walk back to her house. It's a wonder I made it without getting run over, but I was pretty good at walking and reading. I still recall exactly where I was in the book at particular points as I walked home, passing under the oaks draped with spanish moss, blowing in the faint breeze."

These books are precisely the kind of treasures I go looking for when I have the opportunity to spend an afternoon in a used book store.

4. Finally, enjoy this photo of four cats tucked into a cat bed (from top: Spice, Autumn, Nebula and Bounds, aka Osmond Portifoy) ... 

Book from the Renaissance Festival: "Hill Walking in Snowdonia"

Ashar and I spent the day at the Arizona Renaissance Festival in Gold Canyon (about 35 minutes from our house) on February 19. The festival is held for two months each winter and it's huge. We did a lot of walking that afternoon to check out the demonstrations, food, shops, animals, jewelry, artists and more. There was live jousting, a museum of medieval torture (egad!), a show featuring birds of prey and a vendor selling scrumptious European chimney cakes (Kürtőskalács). I would guess we only saw about 20% of everything on the grounds. And we definitely got lost at one point and had no choice but to retrace our steps to the entrance.

One of the things that was most interesting to me is that there was a full-blown bookstore on the premises! It had four rooms and wide variety of new and used books focusing on medieval history, English history, magic & mysticism, various religions, Shakespeare, royalty, costume-making, craft-making and much more. Several frightful books piqued Ashar's interest, possibly because we had just come out of the museum of torture.

I was "good," mostly because I didn't want to haul heavy books around the rest of the afternoon (the car was parked a mile away). So the only thing I bought was a lightweight booklet for $2. And so that will be today's book to examine here.

• Title: Hill Walking in Snowdonia
• Subtitle: "Routes up fifty 2000 foot peaks in the Snowdonia National Park"
• Where's Snowdonia? It's a mountain region containing a national park in northern Wales.
• Author: E.G. Rowland (Edward George Rowland, 1879-1958, though I found just one source on the year of birth)
• Photographer: W.A. Poucher (William Arthur Poucher, 1891–1988)
• Publication history: The book was first published in 1951. It was then fully revised in 1958. This is the 1972 reprint edition by Vector Publications.
• Cover price: 25 pence
• Dimensions: 4¾ inches by 7⅛ inches
• Binding: Staplebound 
• Pages: 80
• Dedication: "Dedicated to the youth of Britain"
• Title page note: "Indication of a route in this book does not imply a right of way"
• Provenance: Written in cursive on the title page is "Barbara Be---- Wales 1973." I can't decipher Barbara's last name after the "Be."
• Excerpt from back cover: "While the main object of this book is to encourage beginners to come to the hills for a sport that will give them lifelong pleasure, more practised walkers will find new routes to interest them. It is not a rock climbing manual — the average holidaymaker with a clear head and reasonably strong leg muscles should have no trouble on any of the walks."
• Some of the 53 mountains in Snowdonia with distinct peaks of 2,000 feet or higher (as spelled in the book): Snowdon, Crib y Ddysgl, Carnedd Llywelyn, Carnedd Dafydd, Penyrolewen, Foel Grach, Elidir Fawr, Moel Siabod, Pen Llithrig-y-wrach, Drum, Yr Aran, Garnedd Goch, Cnicht, Tal y Fan.
• Excerpt #1: "Snowdonia, a name with some warrant from antiquity, covers some three hundred square miles of mainly mountainous country, centred on Snowdon itself."
• Excerpt #2: "The big moorland rising up from Pen-y-Gwyryd to Siabod is not very inviting, but it gives a pleasant stroll on a clear evening."
• Excerpt #3: "All hill walkers who take more than a very casual interest in the sport should pay the modest membership fees necessary to join one or more of the following Associations. This will keep you in touch with those that share your enthusiasm and you will receive much useful guidance. Even if you prefer to ramble in solitude, you should support movements that do much to preserve the countryside from threatened spoilation and provide facilities for those of moderate means."
• List of Associations: The Rambler's Association, The Camping Club, The Youth Hostels' Association, The Holiday Fellowship, The Central Council of Physical Recreation, The National Trust, The Council for the Preservation of Rural Wales. 

Snapshot & memories: Our little bookstore

Facebook served this up today as my photo memory from 12 long years ago. Have I posted this picture before on Papergreat? With 3,500-plus posts, who knows? Who hell even writes an ephemera blog with 3,500-plus posts?

This is the "guest room" in the basement of our house on Ashland Drive in West Manchester Township. That was two houses ago. Most of the time we lived there, the guest room was actually occupied by human beings who were staying with us for various reasons. But there was a period when we had no lodgers and, simultaneously, Joan and I were expanding our long-running side business of selling used books on Amazon and, later, at the Dover Antique Mall. It was not what you'd call a lucrative side hustle, but it was a tremendous amount of fun. We did eventually get overambitious, though. At one point our entire garage was filled with boxes of books. We eventually winnowed that down and moved the remaining boxes to this basement room. This photo from February 20, 2011, shows we had gotten to the point where Mr. Bill could fit into the room alongside the books, too. 

After books were assessed and listed for sale on Amazon, they went onto the shelves to await sale and shipping. Most of the books you see here never did sell. Books sales on Amazon were always a long, slow affair, until they completely cratered with the flood of mega-volume sellers and penny books. A lot of folks got out of online book-selling at that point and never returned. 

But I'm not going to digress about the crash of used book sales online. What interests me about this photo is that I sorted our "for sale" books by color. I'm not entirely sure what the point of that was. I suppose each book had a photo with its online listing, so I had a starting point for searching after a sale was made. But it's a truly odd way to sort books (not to mention that they're vertically stacked!). It probably helped that I had a much, much better photographic memory back then, so I had a Spidey sense for where everything was. But this wouldn't have worked with my cognitive function as it now stands. Alphabetical or bust, baby.

This was also the room where I kept items that could be turned in Papergreat posts. I had a couple drawers full of such stuff — a lot of early material came from those boxes of used books and the things that were tucked away inside of them. Twelve years ago today, the Papergreat post was "A photo of Ruth Manning-Sanders." That was only the 31st post ever on the blog!! This is the 3,546th!

Other snapshots and memories          

• Adorable little me on Mulberry Street
• Kitchen at Willow Street house in Montoursville
• Me and Pop-Pop in the kitchen
• Commodore 64 corner
• (Missing) snapshot & memories: Thanksgiving
• Me & Cyrano
• Me in a Star Trek shirt
• All kids do these days is play video games
• Posing with a Saturn V in 1982
• The Phillies are hot, and so was I
• Relocated fire engine in Montoursville

Poignant inscription discovered at a bookstore

I didn't buy the book, but I had to snap a photograph with my iPhone.¹ I spotted this 1981 inscription inside The Art Treasures from Moscow Museums, which was on the shelves of Bookmans Entertainment Exchange in Mesa, Arizona. 

Carol and Richard had something special 40 years ago, for a moment in time.

Footnote

1. The only book I did buy was a very nice 1969 first edition of Clifford Irving's Fake! The Story of Elmyr de Hory, the Greatest Art Forger of Our Time, complete with dust jacket, for just $4. As a big fan of Orson Welles' F for Fake, I was quite pleased with this find.

Postcrossing arrivals featuring cats and books

A pair of cheery Postcrossing arrivals in recent days have featured the always-winning combination of cats and books. First up (above) is this wonderful Rudi Hurzlmeier illustration of two cats reading. It was sent by Birgit in the Netherlands, who writes: "When I have a book & a cat I'm quite good at staying in a room for quite a while — but I must confess that eventually I do feel the need to go out a bit, & I'm happy out lockdown is over now." I agree, though the temperature is 107° F here in Arizona today, so I don't have a tremendous longing to spend much time outside.

The second postcard is from Alexandra, who live in Chartres, France. The postcard showcases a bookstore in Toronto, Canada, called Acadia Art and Rare Books. The black cat on the postcard is Frodo, Acadia's bookstore cat. I think Frodo looks a lot like our Mr. Bill (below), who is doing better this evening after a harrowing trip to the veterinarian this morning.

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.'"

From the readers: Witches, Hurr's, floods, Vincent Price & Baba Looey

Pop on your bunny slippers and grab a mug of tea. It's time for another rollicking edition of From the Readers. I've dawdled on this for too long, which means there's a pretty big stockpile to share. Special thanks to all of the older readers sharing wonderful mid-century memories that might otherwise be lost.

I connected Morten, a librarian and Princess Bride fan in Norway, with Papergreat via Postcrossing. He sent these helpful comments about the 2013 post Theodor Kittelsen postcard: Trollkjerringer på Norefjell: "Dear Chris, thank you for linking to your blog post about Kittelsen's witches. This image was new to me, and you appear to be well informed in many things. Allow me to suggest a few edits:

• 'Enerett' is a noun, not a first name. It's an archaic word for 'copyright'
• The word 'trollkjerringer' is plural, as it ends with '-er'. A single witch is a 'trollkjerring'
• Norefjell is just 40 km away from Kittelsen's home at Lauvlia. And the Norefjell range must have been the local equivalent to Blocksberg"

Meanwhile, in early July I wrote a little bit about Atomic Plot (Dale of the Mounted #9). In that post, I mentioned blogger Brian Busby of The Dusty Bookcase, who is fond of the Dale of the Mounted books but had never read Atomic Plot. So I got in touch with Brian and was able to send him Atomic Plot, because that is clearly the proper home for the book. Here's the link to his enjoyable recent review of Dale's atomic adventure.

Some 1965 Amazing Stories ads were too amazing to be true: Here's another roundabout connection. Aaron Raisey, writing on Instagram, recently featured an "advertising booklet from 1953 for a long-gone establishment called Werewolf Bookshop featuring Gnome Press." He links to my Papergreat post because of its short mention of some of the history of Werewolf Bookshop. In addition, Aaron emailed me and mentioned something else: "As an aside, I see you have an interest in Ruth Manning-Sanders. One of my very favourite books from my childhood is A Book of Ghosts and Goblins. I read this so many times as an elementary school kid in the late 70s. Some of those stories scared the bejesus out of me!!  Maybe 8 or so years ago I picked up first editions of this and A Book of Enchantments and Curses. They will appear on my Instagram at some point in the future." Raisey's Instagram account is highly recommended for Papergreat followers and book lovers. Recent posts have featured Sargasso of Space, Iceworld, The Enormous Egg and a couple of novels by Clifford Simak.

Rest of the old grocery store photos: Tom from the dandy Garage Sale Finds blog writes: "I believe the toy on his shoulder is Quick Draw McGraw's sidekick, Baba Looey. As for the Native American cartoon, it almost looks like the Ernie the Keebler Elf behind him, so could be something related to that, although I'm thrown by the 'Klear' drum the other Native American is beating."

Vanished place: Old South Bar-B-Q Ranch in Clewiston, Florida: Mr. Two Cents writes: "Ah yes. I remember always chuckling at the funny epitaphs on the tombstones of the little graveyard near the parking lot."

Montoursville 2018: Hurr's: Anonymous writes: "When I lived as a 10-year-old kid on Randall Circle in Williamsport, we used to bike to a Hurr's stand by the road that was shaped like a malted milk glass or mixer. I think it had a huge fake straw sticking out the top. Anybody remember that? It would have been 1943, when the TNT plant was being built."

Real photo postcard: Flooded Sunbury, Pa., in 1936: Harvey writes: "I remember the 1936 flood while living as a kid near Forty Fort. My dad was called to help evacuate his boss's house, moving furniture to save it, etc. Later a small book about it was published, Lest We Forget. I remember it on our bookshelf. Forty Fort was badly flooded; people spoke of the coffins floating uprooted from the graveyard."

Mystery RPPC: Feeding a chipmunk at Yellowstone: Alyxyn writes: "My name is Robert Brawn and I currently reside in Eugene, Oregon. It is my understanding that 'Grant Brawn' is a relative of mine through my father Richard's father, Sumner Brawn. My family is out of Yoncalla, Oregon, but my grandfather's family had a large presence in Portland as well."

A label for Frostie Root Beer (a jailhouse-born beverage): Two comments on this popular 2012 post:

• Unknown writes: "Just found Frostie blue cream soda at an Aldi in Gallatin, Tennessee. Still trying to find their root beer."
• ptrain8 writes: "As of Summer 2020, Frostie Root Beer, Diet Root Beer, Grape Soda, Blue Cream Soda and Orange Soda are now available at Food Lion stores out of Salisbury, North Carolina."

Book Cover of the Day: What's up with his toes? Ziaheart, commenting on one of Papergreat's super-earliest posts, notes: "The stories are so enjoyable that they're literal toe-curlers."

"Only long enough to make a beginning" (a short post about the 1958 science-fiction novel 43,000 Years Later): Anthony J. Langford writes: "Reading it now. Finding it full of interesting, satirical and insightful passages like the one you present."

Happy 100th birthday, Vincent Price: Margaret Leona Garnto shares these memories: "I am a Vincent Price fan too. I have been a fan of his for many years since the 1970s, and I have admired his work on television and in the movies of his that I have seen on TV. I even had a crush on him from late 1973 to mid-1978. He was also my favorite Hollywood Squares panelist at that time, and I always enjoyed listening to his witty answers to the questions that he was asked on the show. I have never met him personally, but I met him only in dreams that I had about him back then, including a scary dream about him back in early January of 1973, where he made a room go dark and gave me quite a scare."

Saturday's postcard: Whale at Moon Valley Park in Milford, Pa.: Wendyvee, commenting on Twitter, wrote: "Reminds me of a mini version of Fantasyland. I've been there on my bike several times; but post Moon Valley."

Bushkill Falls: "A Delightful One-Day Auto Trip": Unknown writes: "I have that same poster. I think it is 1934."

Eight awesome things you'll never find inside e-books: Pip writes: "My grandfather owned Ell's Books in Newcastle. I now live in Newcastle and lots of elderly people still ask me if I'm related to Ell's Books ... then they tell me all their lovely memories!"

Cheerful Card Company can help you earn extra money for the holidays: Irv Kettler shares these lovely memories: "I, too, had great experience 70 years ago sending off for a sample box of cheerful cards. Every person commented as to how they had never seen such pretty cards. I even sold scalloped stationery to a young teenage boy. Those cards 'sold' themselves and my younger sisters continued that legacy after I went off to military school — for another TEN years! I learned a lot about selling and keeping customers such that when I started my own insurance business, I became a beloved agent."

1979 Star Wars toy ads: Taylor2878 writes: "Just goes to show have far the franchise and the world of marketing has advanced through the years. The first releases of Star Wars toys were very interesting because they offered a wide variety of choices in different categories. If you wanna learn more about the history of Star Wars Toys, you can go check out The Toy Report for more information about the releases of Star Wars figures dating back to the first releases and the present releases."

Scholastic Fest: #11, Nine Witch Tales: Unknown writes: "I checked this book out from my school library when I was in 6th grade. I loved it! Excellent Halloween read. I never forgot it."

Real photo postcard: Steam Valley Mountain sign: Wendyvee, commenting on Papergreat's Facebook page, wrote: "Came for the vintage photo .... stayed for the Bigfoot sighting."

A time-honored school tradition: The excuse note: Unknown writes: "My store is in Waynesboro Virginia, where Fishburne Military School is located. It is definitely a pennant from that school."

"Mystery at Long Barrow House":  Ziaheart writes: "Is ... Becky pouting because she doesn't have chores to do? And she's being described as petulant for wanting to help with chores? My, how times changed."

"For perfect attendance at school": Ziaheart writes: "The odd double-lines on the signature makes my cynical self wonder if Marie hadn't written the note herself and forged her teacher's signature."

Postcard: One-room Amish school near Arthur, Illinois: Unknown writes: "I'd like to know more about the Liberty Amish school that was located southeast of Arthur, Illinois, several years ago. My wife, Doris Painter, went to this school for two years sometime around 1938-1942. Does anyone have a listing of the students from this era?"

Memories of the Junior Deluxe Editions from Nelson Doubleday: Unknown writes: "My mother signed me up to Junior Deluxe Editions when I was 10 years old. I grew up reading them."

Obscure and fabulous movie poster: Wendyvee, commenting on Facebook, wrote: "I definitely see why you were reminded of Bonnie MacLean. I love her style."

Promotional postcard for arcade game with Bimbo the clown: Unknown writes: "That was my grandfather's company. His name was Eugene Daddis. Hence Daddi-o." ... (Ironically, I had written, "There's a good chance that's the last Daddi-O reference on Papergreat." How wrong I was!)

Lamenting what we'll never know about Phyllis J. Stalnaker Harris: LindoLuciano writes: "You look at those eyes — you see more than any earthly records could have collected; you see Phyllis J. Stalnaker's soul. There's Vivian Maier, who recently became known post-mortem too — she and her body of work that immortalized dozens of individuals through single snapshots, too. And there's Elizabeth Short of course — another one who died too young, whose life became reduced to two words: Black Dahlia. And now, as if by a delayed miraculous twist of fate, the world knows they exist. Their lives were prematurely ended and their dreams went unfulfilled for the most part — but their souls must be smiling now, in eternity."