“Personality is defined as the qualities or characteristics, personal traits or attributes peculiar to some individual. Specifically, it is that quality which sustains poise through self-control in the face of propitious or unpropitious circumstances,” asserts the preface of H. Laurent’s Personality: How to Build It, which I picked up in Austin last weekend. Do you […]
Category: Advice
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Causes of Divorce (1950)
It turns out that business advice isn’t terrible amusing, at least not enough to share on the blog. On Thursday, Joyce Dewitt, who is now starring in Miss Abigail’s Guide to Dating, Mating, and Marriage (the play), rang the NASDAQ closing bell. Finances and the stock exchange not being one of my normal interests, I thought […]
What Dr. Spock Didn’t Tell Us (1958)
With father’s day this weekend, it seems appropriate to share some advice for parents from a publication that came long before the pretty-darned-hilarious Go the F**k to Sleep that has been in the news and floating around Facebook recently. What Dr. Spock Didn’t Tell Us: Or, A Survival Kit for Parents, was written in 1958 […]
Recent Acquisition: The Answer Book on Naval Social Customs (1956)
Yesterday a package arrived at the door: a book titled The Answer Book on Naval Social Customs, sent by the mother of a friend who wrote a week or so ago asking if I’d like it for the collection. She said: “It is a first edition, Jan 1956, Military Service Publishing Company. What a kick! […]
Anniversaries, Gifts, and Anniversary Weddings
Today marks the occasion of my one-year wedding anniversary (time really flies when you are having fun!). While perusing my books on the subject, I was reminded of the usual custom of marking the occasion with a celebration or gifts made from certain types of materials. I was somewhat surprised to learn that these appear […]
Sears Discovery Charm School Book Teaser: Ideal Body of the 70s
To whet my reader’s continued appetite for excerpts from my copy of the Sears Discover Charm School book, I’ve scanned in this “fun with graphic design” page from the notebook’s section on Fashion. You’ll have to wait a bit for more from this section; I’ve been so busy and am I’m headed out of the […]
Invitation for a Drive (1891)
I’ve got this pretty beat up book from 1891 called The Business Manual; A Complete Guide in all Mercantile and Legal Transactions and Reference Book for Every Day Use (well used during it’s time, I presume). It covers a wide variety of topics, from how to measure coal, to how to make an ice chest. […]
How to Cure Chapped Lips (1916)
Wondering how to cure chapped lips? Instructions from a 1916 book by Professor T. W. Shannon: ~~ Take 2 ounces of white wax, I ounce of spermaceti, 4 ounces of oil of almonds, 2 ounces of honey, 1/4 of an ounce of essence of bergamot, or any other scent. Melt the wax and spermaceti; then […]
Country vs. City Kids (1891)
“It cannot be claimed that children brought up in the country are better morally than those brought up in the cities. Evil exists in both places, and much of it cannot be kept from the knowledge of the young. It is seen in the city stripped of its glamour, and with its degrading effects more […]
Shopping for Books the Old Fashioned Way
“Sixth Thousand Now Ready!” “An Important Book for the Family and School!” “An Attractive and Useful Gift” read the ad, found in the back of the 1894 printing of The Physician’s Wife, which I recently I picked up in Baltimore. How could I not be intrigued? Ads often appear in the back of some of my […]