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."

In which we learn that Melvin C. Reed's nickname was "Midge"

As you can see, there's a silly monkey on the front of this dandy QSL card from Richard Kalakie of Ferndale, Michigan.¹ The card, with Kalakie's call sign of WB8BCA, was sent in December 1969 to W3AIT, a call sign I've featured in three previous posts:

• Boris' Soviet-era QSL card
• 1957 QSL card mailed from France to Frackville
• Ragged QSL card from Romania

W3AIT belonged to Melvin C. Reed (1906-1987) of Frackville, Pennsylvania. But the short note from Kalakie on the back of this card states: "Sri I lost u Midge. QRM got bad. Hpe 2 BCNU agn."

A lot of that text is Morse code abbreviations. Sri means "sorry," for example, and BCNU, as you might intuit, means "be seeing you." And QRM (man-made interference) is specific to ham radio. But what intrigued me was the reference to Midge, which also appears on a number of the other W3AIT QSL cards I acquired. I wondered if Midge might be Melvin's wife, and perhaps she also participated in the hobby. But it's simpler than that, even. Midge was Melvin's nickname.² I found that via his obituary in the July 31, 1987, edition of the Pottsville Republican:

"Melvin 'Midge' C. Reed, 80, of 336 Lehigh Ave., Frackville, died Thursday morning in Pottsville Hospital where he was admitted
July 1. He was born in Frackville, a son of the late Jacob and Edna Heim Reed. He was employed by the former Reading Railroad Co. for 48 years, retiring in 1971. ... He was a Scoutmaster for many years in Frackville. His wife, the former Mary Zimmers, died Feb. 1, 1980."

So that's a bit more about Melvin "Midge" C. Reed. There should be plenty more to come. And one of these days I must also return to the tale of Loring A. Daniels and his QSLs.

Footnotes
1. According to Wikipedia: "Ferndale is well known in the Detroit area for its LGBT population and progressive policies. ... In 2006 the city passed an anti-discrimination ordinance protecting LGBT people from discrimination in public accommodations, housing, and business, with 70% in favor and 30% in opposition. Affirmations, a 17,000-square-foot LGBT community center in Downtown Ferndale, opened its new, expanded building on Sunday June 3, 2007, the same year the city elected the first openly gay mayor in Michigan." Way to go, Ferndale!
2. For future researchers who might be seeking information on me, my only nicknames, to the best of my recollection, are Toast, Ottoman, Toph and Topher. I've tried to encourage folks to call me "Hoss" but it hasn't really stuck.

Papergreat's 3,000th post, with a special celebrity guest

I have blogged about these things

We have arrived at another milestone post. Three thousand posts about ephemera (and semi-related topics) spread over eight years and 11 months. That's a lot of stuff. That's a lot of words and images uploaded into The Cloud, where their safety is anything but guaranteed, especially on this platform.¹

Papergreat has been mostly about the journey; about the people, stories and mysteries uncovered, and the many mysteries that will never be solved but have at least had a little light shined on their crypt doors. It's about using ephemera as a springboard to learn about Marguerite E. DeWitt, Guy Brown Wiser, Loring Daniels, Terry S. McMahon, Charlie O. Howard, Lada Draskovic, Helen Myers, Phyllis J. Stalnaker Harris and Florence Darlington.² (And many, many others.)

And it's about the readers and contributors who have made the journey anything but a solitary one. There wouldn't be 3,000 posts without Jo Ott, Wendyvee, JT Anthony³, Joan Concilio, Linda Chenoweth Harlow, Tom Beiter, Mom, Debbie Davidson (aka Dosankodebbie), David Southwell, Bonnie Jeanne (aka PostMuse), Mel Kolstad⁴, Jim Fahringer, and, of course, the amazing "Mark Felt." There are many others who I've not named here, including the zillions who have commented on the Cheerful Card Company post over the years. Reader submissions have fueled some of the very best Papergreat posts, so I cannot take credit for writing 3,000 posts. I'm just the curator here.

In that role, I've highlighted ephemera found tucked inside books, items seeped in school-days nostalgia, recipes, receipts, found and vernacular photographs, book covers, advertising, hundreds upon hundreds of postcards and more. About one-third of all posts have the history tag, because our ephemera is our history.

Examining found ephemera can help us bridge the gap between ourselves and total strangers from the past. Our own ephemera, meanwhile, helps us remember the milestones of our lives: newspaper clippings, autographs in a yearbook, vacation snapshots, book inscriptions, ticket stubs and countless other examples. When my son Ashar and I attended Steel City Con in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, in April, his cherished mementos included his VIP badge; the photograph, later autographed, of his brief moment with William Shatner; the iPhone video of Shatner's speech that he was able to share with his grandmother before her death; and the autograph he obtained from Walter Koenig. Those keepsakes, one of them digital, forever connect him to a time, place and experience. They will serve that role throughout his life. In the future, they might stay in the family. Or perhaps they will be mysteries for a future ephemeraologist to research.

I was thrilled to be able to attend the fan convention with Ashar. My approach was a little different. My journalist background motivates me to take notes, to write things down. To create a different kind of ephemera from the experiences we had a stone's throw from that mall where they filmed Dawn of the Dead. For funsies, I kept a list of all the cosplay outfits we saw on the floor of the convention center.⁵ And I also made notes following Ashar's interactions with Shatner and Koenig — recording details we might forget with the passage of days, months and years. For example, Shatner asked Ashar if he was still in school, what he does for fun, and what he wants to do for a living. When he said "tattoo artist," the 88-year-old Shatner grilled him on the steps he might take toward that goal, right down to who his first client would be and what tattoo he would ink. "You should pursue your dream. I hope you’re able to pursue your dream," Shatner told Ashar.

Koenig, meanwhile, had a wonderful long chat with Ashar during a slow morning at the convention. He talked about his mother (who was named Sarah), asked in detail about Ashar's recovery from spinal surgery, and talked about how people in the mid-20th century didn't have the medical options that we thankfully do today.

Ashar had one more interaction, with actor Dwight Schultz. They discussed how Ashar, perhaps unique for a 19-year-old 2019, has seen every episode of The A-Team and all five of Schultz's appearances on Star Trek: The Next Generation as the character Reginald Barclay. Schultz talked with humility about how grateful he was for the opportunity to be a part of the Star Trek television and film universe (he was also, memorably, in Star Trek: First Contact). To mark that moment with Schultz, Ashar and I agreed in advance that we'd make a very unusual request for his autograph. And that brings us to...

How cool is that?? Always plan ahead, folks! I knew back in April that I'd get to the 3,000th post eventually. I originally thought it would come around the Fourth of July. Life had other ideas, but I eventually made it here.

Now it's onward to the 3,001st post. Papergreat's posting schedule has been more erratic and inconsistent this year. Over the summer, I pondered concluding the blog with this post, so I can spend more time reading and focusing on other projects. Or maybe I'll just post until the end of 2019. Or until I get through one of my many lists. But, ultimately, I reckon there's no point setting artificial limits or deadlines. Maybe I'll go to 3,005. Or 3,200. Or twice a month until the year 2030. Who knows. There are never any guarantees; all we can do is see where the journey goes.

I have not yet blogged about these things

Footnotes
1. "And so castles made of sand fall in the sea, eventually" — Jimi Hendrix
2. “Sit here,
so I may write
you into a poem
and make you
eternal.”
― Kamand Kojouri
3. More evidence that the internet is as ephemeral as everything else: JT Anthony's blog, A Pretty Book, has vanished.
4. Mel's Ephemeraology blog is also gone, but you can catch up with her on Instagram.
5. Evil Jar Jar, Jason, Leatherface, Jack Sparrow, Darth Vader, Aquaman, Captain Marvel, cats, Deadshot, Doctor Strange, Malificent, Ghostbusters, the creepy boy from Us, Scarecrow, Batman, Riddler, Deadpool, Chimichanga Deadpool, Harley Quinn, Ricky & Morty, Wonder Woman, Dunder Mifflin employees, Captain America, Khan Noonien Singh, Kamala Khan (no relation), Michael Myers, Gilligan, demonic Batman, Groot, Beaker, Freddy Krueger, Star Trek crewpeople, Stormtroopers, a winged werewolf, Hulk Hogan, zombies galore, BobRossPool, Jabba the Hut, Cloud Strife, regular Bob Ross, Spider-Man, and the Undertaker.

1960s Scholastic book: "The Witch Next Door"

Author/illustrator Norman Bridwell (1928-2014) has more then 100 million books in print and was best known for his Clifford the Big Red Dog series, which includes an astounding 80 books. But in 1965 he published a sweet children's book titled The Witch Next Door. This is the Scholastic Book Services (fourth printing) edition from 1967. It is TW 776 and cost 35 cents (the equivalent of $2.66 today).

In the cheery volume, the witch's young neighbors observe that she paints her house black, does her laundry on Mondays, has a pet dragon, delivers soup to sick neighbors, goes to sleep at 8 p.m. every night (in an odd position I won't spoil), and casts "a few spells now and then."

Then some older neighbors decide they don't like having That Kind living on the block. So the witch uses some gentle magic to win them over. And everyone flies away on a broom, happily ever after. I think my favorite line is: "She showed us the bat bath in her yard."

Here are some reviews of The Witch Next Door from Goodreads:

• "I LOVED this book when I was little and I LOVE it still! A witch moves in next door, but she is actually a very sweet witch who uses her spells to enhance her life and the lives of those around her." (Samantha in 2013)
• "Love this book! Way ahead of it's time, and so much fun! I remember this book from my youth and have always loved it." (Rebecca in 2018)
• "This text would be a good way to teach kids to be welcoming of others and it should definitely be read to this day." (Alicia in 2012)
• "Even when the witch confronts prejudice and gets angry, she doesn't get mean. She solves the problem in the nicest way possible." (Cindy in 2007)

Bridwell went on to write other books about the friendly witch. And now this book can go back into a Little Free Library!

Cinderella stamps for 1961's National Cat Week

This is the Cinderella stamp that celebrated National Cat Week nearly 58 years ago. National Cat Week, it turns out, has been held the first full week of November since 1946. So you still have a couple of weeks to get your cat(s) a Hallmark card in time for this year's observance.

According to a 1951 article in The New Yorker, National Cat Week was established by the American Feline Society and its then-president, Robert Lothar Kendell, who was also behind 1948's Cats for Europe plan to send many thousands of cats abroad as a way to control rat populations.¹ The American Humane association did not find the plan entirely copacetic. I don't believe it was ever carried out.

It seems like every single day is National Cat Week here at Essex Manor. My occupations these days, in order of priority and time consumed, are (1) journalist, (2) cat caretaker, (3) ephemera blogger. Our five cats: Huggles, the three-legged, 5½-pound treasure who is struggling with failing kidney function and dementia but still likes to have his ears scratched; Mr. Bill, who is more than three times the size of Huggles and is generally a good boy; Mr. Angelino, who squeaks a lot and thinks he's the cutest thing in the house, which is not true when he sprays; Monkey, who is the archetypal hot-headed redhead but also the best snuggler; and Titan, a man-child whose size lives up to his name but who is also mind-bogglingly incapable of defending himself against lesser threats. There are daily feuds, feedings, stand-offs, chases, hairballs, welfare checks, more feedings and litter-box cleanings. There are currently 10 medications per day to be dispensed.² And I'm a Saturday fixture at the veterinarian's office.

And before them there was Scoop, Salem, Floyd and Mitts.

But I reckon it's all worth it for the purrs, snuggles, foot-warming and companionship. Even if they don't provide a revenue stream like Grumpy Cat or Maru. As I write this, I'm wearing a T-shirt that reads "ALL AMERICAN XXL CAT HERDING CHAMPION." Sounds right.

Footnotes
1. Kendell was a fierce defender of the joy of cats during the 1950s and 1960s, when cats were far more despised and disparaged than they are today. But he did have one clunker of an opinion. In 1964, he is reported to have said that outdoor cats pose no menace to birds: "This is nonsense. I love birds myself and I can say beyond any question that only a sick bird could possibly be slow enough to get caught by a cat. Certainly cats don't particularly relish birds as food. There are any number of things they'd much rather eat." It was estimated in 2015 that cats kill 2.6 billion birds per year in the United States and Canada. Please keep your pet cats indoors!
2. After typing that sentence, I had to interrupt writing this post in order to take care of Huggles, who was crying for food from the bathroom suite he now occupies because of the incontinence caused by his kidney issues. He is an "endearing" combination of always being hungry and also being a super-picky eater, which means must offer dishes to him a ridiculous number of times per day in order to help him not fall under 5½ pounds.

Spooky Tuck & Sons Hallowe'en postcard mailed in 1910

I like this vintage Halloween postcard because it reminds me of what is still one of my favorite pieces of ephemera, eight years after I first wrote about it: The dark and stormy night Victorian trade card.¹

The postcard features a young girl who is wearing a nightgown and holding a candle. Peeking behind her, she seems the unsettling image of a grinning jack-o'-lantern in the mirror. In researching if there is any folklore surrounding the idea of seeing a carved pumpkin in a mirror, I didn't come up with much. But I did stumble upon this amazing photograph from the October 31, 1980, edition of the Star-Gazette of Elmira, New York.

First, it's a great piece of photojournalism by George F. Lian (who was Chief photographer for the Star-Gazette and died in 2010).

Second, it's a great time capsule of what American girls wore in 1980.

Third, I saw it and immediately thought, "The Olsen twins? What the heck?"

Finally, I love that this girl is the daughter of a man named John Saxon. Obviously it's not the same John Saxon who is a minor icon of horror movies, but it's a fun Halloween photograph Easter egg.

Getting back to the postcard, it was printed in Saxony and published by Raphael Tuck & Sons as part of the company's Hallowe'en series of postcards (No. 174). It was postmarked at 2 p.m. on October 20, 1910, in Remus, Michigan.² It was mailed to Belmont, Michigan.

Here's my best transcription of the cursive message:

10-20-10
Having lots of fun here some more than in Dear (?) Old Cannon. Have not heard the cause yet and it has been 9 days instead of 2.
As ever,
Brid

My best guess is that "Cannon" refers to Cannon Township, which is also in central Michigan. But what is Brid referring to? What happened? We'll never know for sure. But here's on historical tidbit that's a possibility.

In August 1911, several Michigan newspapers reported a minor epidemic of infantile paralysis, or Acute Anterior Poliomyelitis, in Cannon Township and other areas of Michigan. One article notes that "this disease is most prevalent during the months of August, September and October. It seems to be more prevalent in dry weather, and at times rain has seemed to cause the subsidence of an epidemic. It would therefore seem as though dust had something to do with the spreading of the contagion."

So is it possible there had also been an outbreak of infantile paralysis in Cannon Township in October 1910?

We, of course, know this disease as polio. It was usually spread, according to Wikipedia, "from person to person through infected fecal matter entering the mouth. It may also be spread by food or water containing human feces and less commonly from infected saliva. Those who are infected may spread the disease for up to six weeks even if no symptoms are present." So we now realize that any idea that rain could cause the epidemic to subside held little merit, except to the extent that heavy rain might "cleanse" unsanitary locations.

Polio was one of the most devastating childhood diseases of the first half of the 20th century, until Jonas Salk developed an approved vaccine around 1955.

Footnotes
1. There's a Victorian trade card titled "The Ghost Story" that's very similar to one I call "A Dark and Stormy Night." I plan to write about that one some day, too.
2. Remus is an unincorporated community near the center of tiny Wheatland Township in Central Michigan. The post office was originally named Bingen but was renamed Remus in 1880.

Peering at (literal) scary book from Germany in 1920

This hardcover book was published in Munich [Muenchen], Germany, in 1920 by Georg Mueller. The title is Das unheimliche Buch, which literally, and wonderfully, translates to The Scary Book. (Or The Eerie Book in some translations.)

Of course, the rest of it's in German, too, so there's not a whole lot I can tell y'all without spending a month on Google Translate. But I do know some things. It's a collection of supernatural stories, as compiled by editor Felix Schloemp (1884-1916). The illustrations were done by Alfred Rubin.

Some of the stories included are by Heinrich Mann, Frédéric Boutet, Gustav Meyrink, Edgar Allan Poe, J.P. Jacobsen, and E.T.A. Hoffmann.

And it features a foreword by Karl Hans Strobl (1877-1946), who wrote horror and fantasy stories, but whose awful existence was defined by being a member of the Nazi Party, an anti-Semite and a voluminous producer of Nazi propaganda. So screw him and his foreword. And also screw the story he contributed to this book.

Das unheimliche Buch was first published in 1914, two years before Schloemp's death. I have seen references to other editions. By 1938, Das unheimliche Buch was on the list of "harmful and unwanted literature" and would have been subject to Nazi book burnings.

Here's a look the bookplate on the inside front cover...

And here are two of Alfred Rubin's illustrations...

Needed round of Postcrossing cheer and optimism

When Everything Is Awful, it's a good time, perhaps, to try to look to some things that will bring us some moments of good cheer. Like what Samwise said in The Lord of the Rings. So here, as the tiniest respite, is a roundup of some Postcrossing comings and goings here at Essex Manor.

First up is this unique postcard, shown at right, from a young man in embattled Hong Kong. He writes: "I bought this postcard from Taiwan. This is the postcard issued by Taiwan Post and I suppose it's cute. And the stamp is one of the famous place for tourist to take photo with, it's the platform surrounded by the buildings. Have a nice day!"

The stamp he's referring to shows a view labeled "Hong Kong By Night II" and was taken at the Yik Cheong Building, also known as the Monster Building. According to Asia Trend, it is "a housing complex in Quarry Bay comprised of five conjoined old buildings. These composite buildings, commonly found in the olden days, house both shops and residential flats. After nightfall, household lights dot the buildings to paint a deeply nostalgic picture of old Hong Kong."

Next up is this gorgeous postcard from Anastasia in Russia, who writes: "You said you love autumn. So I decided to send you a postcard with a picture of late autumn in a Russian village. It was painted by contemporary artist Andrei Alyokhin [Алехин Андрей]. I hope you'll like it. Have a nice day!"

Another recent postcard came from the schoolchildren in Novocherkassk, Russia, I've been corresponding with for the past year. (We were originally connected by Postcrossing.) Their message, on a postcard featuring the Novocherkassk Museum of Don Cossacks History, was written by one of the students and states: "Hello Chris, We are 5 years students. We like your postcards. We send to you a photo of our city. Please, write about school life in the USA. Hope to hear from you soon."

* * *
Thanks from abroad

And here's another batch of emailed thank-you messages from fellow Postcrossing enthusiasts across the globe. Pictured alongside them is some artwork I received from Arkadii, a 13-year-old Postcrosser from Russia who likes reading, drawing, video games and sweets, and is very proud of the Muscle-Flexing Demon Guy that he drew for me.

张明娜 from China wrote: "Hi. Thank you for the Halloween illustration card and nice stamps. Although Chinese people know about Halloween, we hardly celebrate it. But the mall will be decorated as if we were celebrating Halloween. There are jack-o'-lanterns and black capes verywhere. Best wishes for you."

Li Ming from China wrote: "Hi Chris, nice to receive your card, I have the same feeling as you to bring happiness to people I do not know, also to get happiness from my own mailbox. Last Halloween there were kids come to my apartment to ask for candy, so we stocked some candy for the day, wish kids like them."

Kathinka from Belgium wrote: "Thank you for the beautiful postcard!! I bookmarked your blog, that's fun reading! What a story, the old half house! Must be fun digging in to it to find out more about it!"

Paresh from India wrote: "Hello! The postcard that left your country arrived in my mailbox today. I owe you a big thank you for your lovely postcard and beautiful stamps. Wishing you the best of luck in life."

Meg from the United Kingdom wrote: "I agree with all you said about the politics of our two countries. Here’s to working together for better future for our kids and their kids."

Prema from Czechia wrote: "Hi Chris, thank you for your card and nice stamps. I like also autumn and spring. I have St. Bernard dog, 8 years old, his name is Bobes. I wish all the best for you and your Mr. Bill."