Treasures in More Ways Than One

One of the things I love about used bookstores is that the books there have history. They’ve been read, held, laughed over, cried over, curled under bed covers with, enjoyed with a cup of coffee or a chicken salad sandwich. And some of them have the stains to prove it.

And then there are the bits of history you don’t expect to find. Like the time I pulled a copy of Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke (great dragon book!) from the shelf, flipped through it, and discovered a photograph tucked between pages 110 and 111. It was somewhat aged, judging by the dull colors—and the afros and bellbottoms worn by the people in it. They looked like they were having a good time, though. It appeared to be a picnic somewhere grassy and green. It was a sunny day, the people were smiling, and there was a big table piled high with food.

When I went to the cash register, I gave the photograph to the bookstore owner.

“I know it’s a long shot,” I said, “but I thought you should keep this in case someone comes back for it.”

What followed was an amusing conversation in which the owner, who had been in the used book business for well over a decade, related the many objects that he’d found inside used books over the years. It’s a pretty long and sometimes surprising list:

• Photographs - yes, apparently people tuck lots and lots of photographs into books, including what we will call photographs of a not-so-family-friendly nature. He said it’s really awkward when you recognize the person. (He has a lot of regular customers.) He’s never sure whether he should try to return the photograph or not.
• Money – sometimes hundreds and hundreds of dollars. A friend of mine used to have a grandmother who was so mistrustful of banks that she instead hid her savings by tucking the bills between the pages of books on her living room shelf. I supposed some people forget that the money’s there. Or perhaps when elderly book owners pass away, their family members may sell or trade their books, not realizing the small fortunes they contain.
• Old letters and postcards – these would be so much fun to find! Can you imagine the history—the loves, woes, travels, and dreams of generations past. And yes, I guess it would be kind of nosy to read them, but I’d do it anyway :)
• Visa Platinum cards – don’t ask me, I don’t get this one, either. I have no clue why someone would put a Visa Platinum card in a book. Personally, when I don’t have a bookmark handy I reach for something disposable to use, like a tissue or a Post-It Note, not the nearest high-limit credit card.
• Uncashed checks – for when your Visa Platinum card isn’t handy.
• Old lottery tickets – hope they weren’t winners!
• Driver’s licenses – as long as you take the book with you whenever you drive, you’re all set.
• Social Security Cards – sure, identity theft is a concern, but marking your place in a book is well worth the risk, right?
• Legal documents such as wills, trusts, marriage certificates, etc. – I mean, it’s not like they’re important, and you weren’t using them, anyway…

And my winner for the most unexpected:

• Illegal drugs – ok, these weren’t actually inside a book. They were in a small plastic baggy inside a duffle bag donated with a bunch of used books. Still, I bet it was a bit of a shocking find!

So yes, used books definitely have history—and sometimes treasures beyond the stories they contain. (Not the drugs. Those are bad.)

The moral? Always flip through your books before donating or selling them off. After all, someday you might actually need that Visa Platinum card or marriage certificate, if only to mark your place in another book.

So, please share: what’s the strangest thing you’ve ever found/placed in a book or used as a bookmark?

-Dawn Lairamore

photo credit: austinevan via photopin cc

photo credit: AMagill via photopin cc