Recent Acquisition

I almost forgot! I picked up this book while on a work trip to Oakland, California a few weeks ago – it’s called Outwitting Our Nerves, written by Josephine A. Jackson and Helen M. Salisbury in 1921, and appears to have been a bestseller back in its day. The fabulous Project Gutenberg has the full […]

Read More

1897: The Selection of a Wife

As promised, I’ve been reading through Sylvanus Stall’s What a Young Man Ought to Know to find you a representative excerpt from this 1897 book. There’s a lot in there, but I thought I’d focus in on this passage from a chapter titled “The Selection of a Wife.” With wedding season upon us, I’m sure […]

Read More

Recent Acquisitions

I helped shelve books this afternoon for the 24th annual Library of Congress Professional Association (LCPA) Book Sale. Yup, in my real life I’m a Library of Congress “professional.” One of the perks of volunteering is getting a chance to scour the selections early and purchase prior to the big opening day crowds. I was […]

Read More

1941: Garden Hints

“Flowers, shrubs and trees add much to the beauty of a home, and well landscaped grounds, with flower gardens, give an artistic setting to even a small cottage,” reads a section titled “Garden Hints” in Elaine Allen’s Watkins Household Hints (Newark: J. R. Watkins Company, 1941). With this in mind, I tackled my garden last […]

Read More