Good book finds Tuesday

Okay, so I didn't find any high priced books but I still had fun. I always have fun book hunting. It's a veritable treasure hunt full of surprises.


I ended up at a little thrift store I occasionally visit, located on the main drag.
The door of this store had was open today to let in the fresh air. When I drove up there was an elderly man with a cigarette in his hand standing in the parking lot talking to someone seated in a car, the engine running. I stepped inside the store and began looking through the books. But the cigarette smoke was coming through the front door, competing with the fresh autumn breeze. For a couple of minutes, I tried to ignore the smoke and concentrate on books. Then I decided to pull my shirt over my nose and kept scanning titles. About the time I did this, the nice, elderly man came inside and I didn't want him to see me with my shirt pulled up over my nose so I jerked it back down. Thank goodness he finished that cigarette.

And thank goodness I got this book for a buck:
Betty Cornell's Teenage Popularity Guidecopyright 1966
Library of Congress
Catalogue Card No. 53-10967
*My copy is the twelfth printing
Artwork by Abbi DamerowThe cover is a wonderful pink and oh so feminine hue, with cutesy innocent teenage girls peeking out at you.
So much to read and so much to giggle at!

Betty, you're so funny! You say some of the darndest things!
You warn me not to squeeze hickies, tell me to shave my legs up to half my thighs and bleach the rest, cover my head in church, have a wisp of veiling at an evening wedding and keep myself tidy and clean, all the way down to my underwear (you recommend only nylon).
Betty is also concerned about not letting teen girls walk the streets looking like hookers.
"How you look on the street is a question that seldom troubles many of us, yet it is a mighty important one. City officials have been driven to despair by the sight of young ladies traipsing up and down their town in short shorts and bedraggled dungarees. Whether you realize it or not, some so-called 'informal' dress is enough to make adult blood pressure rise to the boiling point. For Heaven's sake, have a little pity on others and a lot of pride in yourself: put on a skirt when you're shopping." Chapter 9 "What To Wear Where" page 55. If only Betty could have predicted what we have to live with today: People of Walmart. She would have a coronary!

Here is a scan of the inside cover. Unfortunately mine came without the dust jacket so I had to snag the above picture from the 'net.

If you enjoy teenage guidebooks from the 1960's and earlier, keep an eye out for this little gem. Abebooks has I believe 3 copies for sale with the average price of around $12.00. Amazon also has 3 copies with the same average price.

My hat's off to Betty Cornell. Thanks for the most interesting advice I've ever read about hickies. You're the best, Betty.

Tuesday book finds

At the last minute yesterday (by book hunting standards - as many book hunting nooks and crannies close at 4:59 pm sharp) I jumped in my book hunting jalopy and went over to a regular haunt.
I clamored over to the bookshelves in the far corner. The first thing that caught my eye was a funny booklet, Is Satan Real? A two lesson presentation telling who Satan is and how to defeat him. Everyone needs this book in their collection and I was certainly no exception. I was hoping to find a way to keep Satan at bay when I was cruising thrift stores. This book will help me no doubt. Just look at the cover of this - guaranteed to scare the crap out of little kids. There's a sword held at the kid's neck, for crying out loud! Satan, put that sword away!

Grasping my great find, courtesy of Satan, in my left arm, I bent down scanning through the books. The same books that I saw a few days ago at this location were staring at me again: Danielle Steele, Nora Roberts, What to Expect When You're Expecting, The DaVinci Code - the usual cringe inducing, popular writers and titles. On the top shelf, I spotted a brown book that resembled a high school yearbook from the 1950's. I was half right. It was from the 1950's - 1957 to be exact, and had a cover with a raised picture of a girl and boy gazing up fondly at their mother, who was wisely holding an open book. A high school yearbook it wasn't. The book was The Young Mothers Study Club.

I flipped through the pages and saw plenty of great illustrations, some very funny - like these:

which can only lead us to....

Miltown - the miracle 1950's drug that due to its tranquilizing effect kept many a weary overworked mother from beating her kids into godly submission.
But I digress. (And might I interject here that I added the text to the picture of the distressed mother). For heaven's sake, get that woman a Miltown!

Score! Filled with hilarious, typical 50's illustrations of frustrated mothers, pissy children and the occasional question posed to Daddy such as, "Why do you plant seeds, Daddy?" Certainly a must have among 50's clipart and illustration collectors. And yours for apparently only $34.99 on Amazon. Over at ABE, 5 copies are available with the cheapest being a little less than 6 clams.
I doubt there's a high demand for this book, but if you find one, grab it. It will keep you giggling for hours.
I'll keep mine for nostalgia's sake.