Things Found in Books

When I started my job here at PNCA, back in November, 2002, I was shown the secret, blue box labeled, “Things Found in Books.” I was told that any interesting and anonymous artifact found in a book should be stored in the box.

Of course, things we find that we can return to the rightful owner are always returned. But those other things, those things curious and odd, things you can’t image why someone was saving, go into the box.

One of my favorites is a cryptic note with 3 lines of numbers, then the phrase “Diane is pregnant,” then one more line of numbers.

There’s this pretty napkin, which surely comes from the fifities. How long has it been used as a bookmark? Was it from a special party? A wedding? A bris? The night we met and fell in love?

There’s a mimeographed brochure titled: “What are you going to do about the Draft?” with advice on alternatives to being drafted.

A copy of a newspaper photo from 1936 reads, “Sing Sing, 1936: Mary Creighton takes a last look at the outside world bfore entering the Death House… Twice she had gotten away with murder. But her third try was to be fatal to her as it was to her victim.” The photo shows a portly woman, who looks the very caricature of a cleaning lady, in a fur trimmed coat and jaunty hat, squinting at the sun, bars behind her, guards clutching her arms.

In one book, we found this shiny piece of foil, all neatly flattened, and pretty enough to line your nest with.

Singing Ventrilogram! In person or by phone! For that special occasion, why not call Jim and Tony (be sure to let me know which one answers the phone) and order your loved one a singing ventrilogram? The service is available 24 hours a day. What could be creepier then to send your ex a ventrilogram at 2 am, with Jim and Tony singing, “I just called/to say/I love you”?

One of my favorite finds in the Things Found in Books box is an envelope containing several items all found together in a copy of Moby Dick

There’s a bus transfer and a postcard of a whaling boat and a postcard of an archway formed by whale’s jaws.

These things seem appropriate.

But why, in this little collection of special mementos, tucked away in this copy of Moby Dick do we find a newspaper clipping of actress, Brooke Shields as a teenager and her mother, with the caption, “I want her to do all the normal things.”

If you know the answer, or would like to peruse the Things Found in Books box, or contribute your own findings, come by the library at the Pacific Northwest College of Art.

May 2, 11:51 AM by