grrlTravels

books nobody wants: installment 1

The books, they call to me. At the flea market, at the thrift store, yard sale, discount bin, they call to me.

I'm not sure what it is. Right now it feels like nothing more or less than a compulsion. I am definitely compulsive when it comes to vintage cookbooks. When I see them I can't walk away, and when I sort through them there is always one or two which I must have. I am slightly better, just slightly, when it comes to vintage travel books and books that you might have used to write your first report in 6th grade on a country in Central or South America. Then there are children's books, crafting books, house books. books, books, books, books, books.

This little stack pretty much screams "AMY/GRRLTRAVELS" loudly. Cooking, travel, children's, a little crafting, some midcentury modern decorating, and some random stuff that always catches my eye.

1. The Cooking of China (1968) is a bit late for my tastes, but one look at the cover and it was in the pile.
2. I've never been to Alaska, which generally would preclude me buying Alaska (1969) but this book published by National Geographic has great photographs.
3. Ladies' Home Journal Book of Interior Decoration (1957) is full of 50s decorating goodness like this bedroom. For a non-matchy-matchy person like me, this is like a technicolor nightmare with a library binding.
4. Latin American Cooking (1968) is full of meat dishes that I will never cook. Lots and lots and lots of meat. But it is also full of photos like this one where "socialites in Arequipa, Peru, enjoy a patio luncheon of spicy regional dishes". I could not leave that stripey dress.
5. I honestly have no idea why compelled me to put Great Restaurants Cookbook, U.S.A. in the basket, but it does have lurid photographs of food like Ham Buffet Mold. Actually, I know exactly why I put it in the basket: Ham Buffet Mold. All of the photos of the food have fascinating props too.
6. I bought How To Make Your Windows Beautiful: An inspiring, all new guide for creating today's best window treatments (1972) as a gift for a friend. Yes, I did. Even with the cover. Then I realized that there might be people in the world, even friends of mine, who might not be completely infatuated with photographs like this. Odd world, isn't it?
7. I flipped through Easy Bazaar Crafts (1981) and was going to set it back down. It is very 80s in its crafting sensibilities, a little too 80s if you get my drift. But I ended up buying it because of this photograph and for no other reason. Just look at that baby. Just look. And tell me you could have left him/her at the thrift store. You could have? I did say it was a compulsion, right?

There you have it. Books nobody wants. I felt sorry for them (!) and brought them home. They actually make me quite happy.