The Indian How Book Parker 1975 (original copyright 1931) The author of today’s post was considered to be the expert on Native American culture in the early 20th century. Is his work worth studying? Probably. Is it an appropriate choice
Category: But it’s Historical!
Old stuff, textbooks, past events, etc.
Living the Fallout Life
Fallout Shelter Handbook
West
1962
I love Red Scare materials and I am always fascinated by the prospect of supposedly living through nuclear annihilation. Remember, I am from the generation who was told to hide under my desk when the bomb drops, so I could be “safe”. Note the apparent normalcy of life underground in a bunker on the book cover. Note how everyone on the cover is just having a regular day. Mom is even wearing an apron and Dad is smoking a pipe, probably waiting for the Mrs. to make him a drink. The whole scene is just charming.
These books are interesting and might work in places devoted to contemporary accounts of the cold war. Even if one of my public library patrons was interested in building an underground shelter, I think we could probably come up with something a bit more current. In the meantime, enjoy the good old days.
Umbrellas: The More You Know
A History of the Umbrella Crawford 1970 Back in 2009 when we started this little dog and pony show, a few of the titles got lost in the shuffle between migrations and our own incompetence. This title has been on
Bicentennial Fever
The Spirits of ’76 Sloane 1973 I was in high school in 1976 and the Bicentennial was the all the rage. Sloane was landscape artist and illustrator. This book was probably one of the many books of Americana that was
The Romance of Nickel
The Romance of Nickel International Nickel Company of Canada 1957 Submitter: My submission is a short paean to nickel, called The Romance of Nickel. The cover does little to convince me, however, as it shows the desolate wasteland created by nickel
Lifestyles of the Hippies
The Hippie Trip
Yablonsky
1968
Here is your insider guide to the mysterious world of hippies. This mostly academic work details the lifestyles of hippie culture through surveys, interviews and case studies.Yablonsky is a relatively important figure and his unorthodox research methods were part of an “immersion” philosophy as an academic. (He died in 2014 and you can read his obituary here.) Obviously, his work is important and should be included in sociology collections in the academic world. A larger public library would also probably consider including this in the collection, if community interest supported this kind of work.
I kind of chuckle since it reminds me of my undergraduate intro course in Sociology back in the day where the professor used the “hip” dialogue so he could relate to his students. Even in the late 70s, this guy sounded dated and ridiculous. I will also never forget that his opening lecture included the line: “Sociology is what sociologists do.”
Transcribing Oral History
Transcribing and Editing Oral History Baum 1977 Submitter: Finally tackling a long-overlooked section in my small academic library yesterday and found this one. I was amazed that the 33 1/3 record was still in the back until I looked at
Color Blind
Color Blind: A white woman looks at the Negro Halsey 1946 Submitter: The book I am submitting today caught my eye because of the sad state of the binding. It was very loose and very worn. It was the title page