At work, I'd been saving donated books from the 1970s for a while now. I put them all out yesterday.
Selection below.
Seen altogether, they really do catch the decade, from macrame to microwaves; transactional analysis to body building; folk music to feminism...
They're interesting, but I wouldn't want any of them. I'm curious to see if they sell. I priced everything 99¢ each.
I like making displays, but I'm not setting books and things aside anymore--there's not the room, and it takes time from all the many other things I need to do to keep the books section in trim.
In fact, my New Year Resolution for work is to "price and put out".
I'll still make displays, but only from what's on hand.
Selection below.
Seen altogether, they really do catch the decade, from macrame to microwaves; transactional analysis to body building; folk music to feminism...
They're interesting, but I wouldn't want any of them. I'm curious to see if they sell. I priced everything 99¢ each.
I like making displays, but I'm not setting books and things aside anymore--there's not the room, and it takes time from all the many other things I need to do to keep the books section in trim.
In fact, my New Year Resolution for work is to "price and put out".
I'll still make displays, but only from what's on hand.
Ah yes, the 1970's. One of those eras that got caught between the love-ins/ peace marches 1960's and the gluttony/yuppiness of the 1980s!
ReplyDeleteJonathan Livingston Seagull was THE book one year and I remember the "I'm OK, you're OK" which probably came out before EST was the rage.
Kirsten
That collection is AWESOME. I'm so glad that you preserved it in photos.
ReplyDeleteMeet my Psychiatrist?? That was a real book? the only thing that ages worse than '702 humor is poetry by Rod McKuen.
We got a copy of Jonathan Livingston Seagull at the used book store where I work, too. It was in very good condition and just for the heck of it, I re-read it. It is AWFUL, just as I remembered it. Anyway, I put a hefty price on it -- $2.00 -- and waited for the right customer. And sure enough, one day a woman walked in and spotted the book on display on the fireplace mantel and cried -- "Oh! I loved that book! "
I was happy to reunite her with a fond memory, and I hope she's not too disappointed with her 1970s-self when she re-reads it. But then, maybe she'll just keep it as an object. Books work like that, too.
PS-- is that an 8 track tape of Johnny Mathis? Hey you were cool if you had an track tape player under the drivers side seat.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing really missing from these is a CB radio!
I do love the photos.
Kirsten
KIRSTEN: "I'm OK" made the New York Times Best Seller list in 1972, and I think of it as a very 70s book because I remember my mother buying a paperback copy of it at the nearby corner store that had a rack of pbs,
ReplyDelete. . . but you're right--it was early--originally pub in 1967 and est started in 1971. (I had to look that up).
Sharp eye--that IS a Johnny Mathis 8-track! My mother used to play JM LP records at naptime when I was a baby, and a friend had just given me The Best of JM for Xmas, on CD.
VIVIAN: Hello fellow/sister Book Lady! I love to hear your tales from the trade.
Two whole dollars for JLS!!!
We also got a clean hardcover, with dust jacket. Huh--I just looked it up, and they sell for $10-$15 on EBAY... Can that be? We have one with one without a dust jacket--and a paperback...
And lots of Susan Polis Schutz, who wrote deathless lines such:
"Love is . . . Being honest with yourself at all times, Being honest with the other person at all times, Telling, listening, respecting the truth, And never pretending."
Never pretending???
BUT NO ROD MCKUEN!
Not one since I started in June. How can this be???
Yes, books as objects.
Wow -- SO '70s. I bet some of those will sell (if they haven't already). I'd totally buy that John D. McDonald book. I love his novels.
ReplyDeleteSTEVE: The Nixon book sold immediately! The others are going slowly.
ReplyDeleteDarn--I'd have happily mailed a pile of old JDM paperbacks to you in Florida.
Wouldn't be worth the price to mail them to London, now there's no surface mail rates anymore (I hate that.
Let me know if you have a relative in Florida who'd like to hold them for your next visit???
I"m very surprised that the Planet of the Apes book didn't sell immediately (there yesterday when I was there). It's such a perfect period cover, I would have thought it would have sold right away to a fan.
ReplyDeletePeanut Butter Cookbook...gag. I like peanut butter but I do remember the era when it was used inappropriately in almost everything.
I'm OK, You're OK: I remember having general assemblies in Jr. High where someone presented the info about that book (more than once!) It probably coincided with the Up With People concerts we were forced to endure.
No nostalgia on my part for that era. Glad to be done with it!