The Bookmark Project: May

Photo illustration by Stacy Reich

When I was a student, I always enjoyed when a teacher brought documents and artifacts into the classroom. These primary sources made the lesson more interesting, more relatable, more real. They made the facts and information I was reading in a textbook come alive. I think that is why I am endlessly fascinated with the objects our volunteers find in books donated to the Friends Bookstore. Each found item offers a snippet of history; some insight into what was going on in society, in the world, or in someone’s personal life at the time. I am most curious about materials from eras long past. All of the items in the collection above are from the 20th century. With a bit of research, I was able to discover some additional information about these finds:

• This photo of a World War II U.S. Navy sailor was taken at Genung’s Department Store in New London, Connecticut. This young sailor was most likely stationed at Naval Submarine Base New London and this photo was most likely taken somewhere between 1941 and 1944.

• In 1898 former book publisher Charles E. Lauriat established the Charles E. Lauriat Company with a retail bookstore in Boston. The business grew into a successful chain of bookstores with locations from New Hampshire to Maryland before filing for bankruptcy in 1999. The business card above includes a useful calendar for customers in 1945.

  
  

• There aren’t many guarantees in life, but this bookplate from the DuBois Book Store, with a book purchase date of September 26, 1961 and found loose in a book donated to the Friends, guaranteed that the book it was affixed to “…is unconditionally GUARANTEED right in price, edition, condition, and course.” However, it states, the guarantee is void if the bookplate is “altered or removed.” Too bad they couldn’t guarantee the glue they used to adhere the bookplate to the book!

• The only piece of information I could find about this Mary Poppins bookmark, copyright Walt Disney Productions 1964, is that there was a matching photo album. In my opinion, this vintage bookmark is practically perfect in every way.

• This 1976 American Greetings pop-up Mother’s Day card is perfect for this May collection. The Friends would like to wish all the moms out there a happy Mother’s Day!

• Frederick Allen Bliss was a WW II U.S. Navy veteran who was a pioneer radar instructor and served on the destroyer USS Evans as a radar operator. In 1971 he purchased the home located at 1402 S. Bayshore Drive in the Point View subdivision of the Brickell neighborhood of Miami, close to Biscayne Bay. He converted the home into the Commodores Rowing and Sailing Club where he operated the club and restaurant until 1981 when he was forced to shut it down and sell the property due to high property taxes. The 1976 Commodores membership card above bears his signature.

• Since starting The Bookmark Project, I have found that one of the most common objects people use to hold their place in a book is an index card. Peeking out between the Commodores membership card and the bookplate guarantee is an index card so browned with age I can deduce that it predates the 21st century, thereby meriting inclusion in this collection.

• The heartfelt letter above, mailed from Salt Lake City, Utah to Boca Raton in January 1978, communicates appreciation for an expression of sympathy given after the writer of the letter lost a loved one.

• The final item in this collection is a page that someone removed from a book from the Waterloo Public Library in Waterloo, Iowa. This page would have been either the first or last page of the book and contains the borrowing card still inside of its pocket. The oldest due date stamped on the card is February 25, 1986. The most recent date is from the year 2000, which is presumably when the Waterloo Public Library switched to a computerized borrowing system.

The Bookmark Project is an ongoing effort by Friends Bookstore volunteers to collect all items left in donated books. We are incredibly grateful to our book donors as they allow us to offer gently used books to the public at affordable prices which in turn allows us to fund major library programs and projects. Please enjoy this collection of found items, and visit our bookstore, Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., closed Monday. (For more information call us at 561-544-8596 and press 9.) 

To read about the origin of The Bookmark Project, click here: https://www.bocalibraryfriends.org/post/the-bookmark-project-by-stacy-reich