I’m giving you a little peek at another slice of my life. I have 161 Little Golden Books published between about 1950 and 1984. They are all pre-bar code. That means none of them have the bar code printed on them. The first and easiest thing I do when I look for a book I might want is eliminate any that have the bar code on them. That is much easier than opening them to see date published.
This picture is taken in the Public Library. I loaned them about 120 of my books for display. Sorry the picture is not better, but you can get the idea. The display is for this month – the month of February.
This is one of the things I did ‘just because’ and it has became rather a white elephant now. I don’t know what to do with them. I have never been a big spender or a shopper by any means, but I do have a lot of “stuff” to take care of. I see the uselessness of accumulating. The fun was in the collecting, not in the possessing of collectibles.
I could have avoided the problem if I had heeded this scripture: I John 2:17 (NIV) “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”
While I totally understand about the eternal perspective and the white elephant thing (my struggle also), please note that by making such a collection (not just individual books) you have put together something delightful, and historically valuable and interesting, that others would love to see. The Public Library did not display them for nothing! Maybe your collection could even become a “travelling exhibit” in other libraries, bookstores, or community venues. Ha, maybe you’ll have to have special children’s days in the library from time to time, with the books on display and you reading some aloud to the little ones… (?!) 🙂
Thank you, Hildegard. My family members want me to keep them, but I don’t think anybody really wants them. They have their own shelves of CD’s, DVD’s, etc. Some folks here in town have tried to get a museum going. They have a pretty good selection of stuff but no building big enough for expansion. I wandered through the crowded area some time back. There are about a dozen of these L G Books in there. I wouldn’t mind giving them away for that use if they ever get a building to house things.There are other museums that would probably value them. I just want to keep them close enough to feel some “ownership.” I’m sure you understand. Lending them to other libraries for monthly exhibits is a worthwhile and possible thought.
The police station here ha as exhibit area with antiques there by their community room.
When I load up from the library, I will drop by there and see if they would like to display them for a while. They do not make monthly changes. I guess that is good, since they don’t plan to see a large traffic of the same people every month!
What wonderful memories those Little Golden Books stir! I remember reading them as a child, and I remember reading them to my children. I think we still have a few around, but not as many as you have. J.
Actually I did not buy many for my boys. They were into more active things like being Zorro instead of reading Zorro. I do have a couple of the Zorro books. I do not have many duplicates but Zorro brought lots of memories.
I think have some of these also! I grew up on the Dr. Seuss stories, and some others like My Big Ball of String and Are You My Mother,etc.
I think I have a couple books about the time you are mentioning – “Oh, Please, Mr. Elephant, Please Don’t Sneeze” and “Never Tease a Weasel.” Love them. Another one I love is “A Special House.” My favorite. I guess I can have a favorite of favorite, can’t I? Such fun read aloud books.
I have wonderful memories of Little Golden Books–learning to read with them, and reading them to children and grandchildren, nieces and nephews!
I wasn’t so impressed with the text of the stories, but the pictures were wonderful. They make very good “tell the story” books.
Oh, I loved the Little Golden Books. All I had to do was read your title to start listing them: “The Pokey Little Puppy,” “The Three Little Kittens,” “Mother Goose,” and one about a farmer. They were some of my first books, since they were introduced in 1942 and I was “introduced” in 1946. By that time, I was reading on my own and in kindergarten, so that stage of my life didn’t last long, but they were “my” books, and that was special.
Another one I remember so well is Gerald McBoingBoing. Most people today don’t know that those were written by Dr. Seuss before “The Cat in the Hat” days. I don’t remember reading the later books, but I remember Gerald. I just giggled my way through one of the original cartoons. You may get a kick ouf of this!
I was listening to the link but decided to hold it a bit because I was expecting the grands to come. The schedule got all mixed up and my time was gone. I’ve been gone since Sunday. I expect to pick up the books in a few days. I want to see if I have the ones you have named. I’ll get back with you.
+How wonderful that you have a collection of Golden Books. My childhood memories are filled with images but sadly I do not have any today. What a joy for sharing with others. I remember Goldilocks and the beauty of the pictures. Cheers!
Thanks Faye. I don’t remember having Goldilocks but I’ll check when I get the books back. I’ll let you know.
I love Little Golden Books! What a collection.
athling2001, thank you for reading and making comment. I notice you leave me likes occasionally. I appreciate it.
Wow that’s something very special!
The books are back from the library waiting to be put away properly. I can really get myself into more jobs than I want! But I had comments from friends who saw them at the library who have not been in my house to see them. That’s good. And thanks for coming to see me, Katia.
🙂
Oh my, we have so many collectibles and memory items we can’t seem to eliminate. Some day. When all four of our kids are on their own and can say yes or no to this stuff, then maybe the goodies will move on out the door. It can be overwhelming. My husband collects record albums. Literally thousands of them neatly stored in custom shelving with insulation on the back of the cabinets. Me, I have far too much paper and books. I’m so sentimental for papers, letters, cards, schoolwork, especially art work and writings. Oh, all those writing; drawers and drawers. So, instead of cleaning out, I’m blogging and reading blogs instead. One day…
You are at least young enough to trust your computer and its back up systems, aren’t you? I feel much more comfortable printing my blogs, speeches, lessons, musings, journals and filing them in notebooks! Not smart at all. Actually I am converting my mothers scrapbooks and albums to my computer so I can put them on power drive or CDs so I can pass them on to my young folks. Don’t know why I print off stuff I don’t need. So nice to have someone who understands. But you might need to start building on a extra room or clear out the attic for the days when your grandkids make all those I Love You Grandmal cards and color pages. I wrote Grandmal on purpose. My eight year old great granddaughter gave me one last week. I decided I needed to prepare her for the real world and told her there should not be an “l” on grandma. She argued a bit, after all she could hear the L at the end. I convinced her but I felt like I was burying another precious part of her little girl days. I guess I need to print this comment in case I forget this loosening of my apron strings and pushing her into the earth with Grandmal. But then I will need a new notebook for: Memories of Letting the Kids Grow Up or something like that.
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Amen. I wish I trusted my computer more. I’ve had enough crashes through the years I still feel better with a paper copy. OCD I suppose.
I think most of us with OCD like ourselves that way. It could be worse. I prefer it to kicking my clothes under the bed when I clean my bedroom. 😀