Hoarding is not collection development
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GVB
Gloria Vanderbilt Designs for Your Home
Vanderbilt
1977
This book screams 1977, from the cover to just about every project within. For example, you can make a telephone book cover, which is totally relevant and practical. There are all kinds of little crap crafts with oldie artwork you can stick on, and the artwork is even handily provided in pages of cut-outs (which were completely missing from the back of the copy I saw). If you’re a GVB fan (and let’s be honest, who isn’t?) you can even make a doll in her likeness. Check out the examples below!
Still rocking my GVB jeans, but letting go of all GVB decor,
Holly
Retro Home Decorating
1001 Decorating Ideas
Carter and Bernard, ed.
Consolidated Trimming Corp.
~1955
Looking for some decorating help? Look no further! There are so many ideas here (over a thousand!). Turn your home into a showplace! My personal favorite is the pink and red master bedroom. I’m curious why there is a book on the floor. You would think they would pick up since someone was coming over to photograph the bedroom. Maybe it is there to distract from the ridiculous red wallpaper or all the ruffles.
Mary
Teddy Bear Catalog
The Teddy Bear Catalog
Bialosky
1980
Submitter: This book was recently weeded from our collection. As a community college library, we strive to teach students how to find authoritative and trustworthy information. If this was a straightforward “how to repair teddy bears” book, it might stay, but the authors include references to the stuffed bears’ personalities (such as “hold[ing] its paw” during repair and consulting a veterinarian to learn how to tie a teddy bear sling for a broken arm). It is also from 1980, so prices listed for the current “teddy bear market” are well out of date.
Holly: Seems like an odd choice for a community college at all, but it’s definitely too old. I agree that it goes a bit far with the teddy bear sympathy. Maybe if it were suggesting ways to talk to a child about their beloved bear’s repair it would be kind of cute, but these seem to be adults sewing up old bears. If a lone adult takes a teddy bear into a veterinarian’s office to learn how to put a cast on its missing paw, they will probably charge for the time and materials, or just say they don’t have time and send you away. They would also think you were a little odd. Because you are.