Richmond, IN
Details
- Dimensions
- 6ʺW × 2ʺD × 10ʺH
- Frame Type
- Framed
- Art Subjects
- Text
- Period
- 1930s
- Country of Origin
- United States
- Item Type
- Vintage, Antique or Pre-owned
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- Materials
- Glass
- Paper
- Pine
- Condition
- Good Condition, Original Design Modified, Some Imperfections
- Color
- Beige
- Condition Notes
- What was cut out of the “full book cover”… and displayed … in the mat … is in good condition. What was cut out of the “full book cover”… and displayed … in the mat … is in good condition. less
- Description
-
This is a really unique … vintage advertising item.
I guess they call it Ephemera.
Very rare item ! A … more This is a really unique … vintage advertising item.
I guess they call it Ephemera.
Very rare item ! A school book … book cover.
Vintage book covers … for school “children” are extremely rare because of their fragile composition and their
intended “temporary” nature.
(And … upon reflection … I maybe could have kept the book cover intact and matted over the torn and tattered edges.)
The framed item is a rectangular portion of the protective “book cover” that was found on an old and very worn “local” school grammar book; from an actual student’s book in Hagerstown, Indiana ... with handwritten notes therein referencing that one of the “inscribers” was a student in the class of “1935 !
This popular grammar school book was published in 1929 and it is surmised that the book cover is of a similar vintage.
The book is/was entitled:
“Better Speech” ...
By Woolbert & Weaver.
Copies of this vintage book can be found on online vintage book collector websites in decent condition. The actual text is neat. The in depth instruction is beyond any English instruction that most college students, today, receive.
(See photos sequenced 9th & 10th … sourced from EBay.)
We just sold the actual tattered book from which we removed the book cover … to a Hagerstown resident … who collects Hagerstown memorabilia …. (See photo sequenced in 6th position.)
Although our book copy was in rough condition, it permeated Hoosier nostalgia. It has names of young local students inscribed from Hagerstown in the early 1930s … including surnames of Thalls and McKinnon, inside the cover. See photos sequenced 7th & 8th.)
See also photo 12 for the backside of the advertising piece; skotch taped to a mat for our framing.
It further appears … per some online research … that said Doc McKinnon was born in 1911 and may have … incredibly … lived to age 112 ! Assuming that the obituary that we located regards this “same” … Doc McKinnon.
The book’s publication date supports or enhances this “advertising” item’s provenance.
The framed portion of the book cover is the result of us excising or removing the full cover from the book … and carefully cutting out therefrom the “clean” rectangular portion… big enough and suitable for the framing….
We then carefully placed the “cut out” portion of the Book Cover Ad into a new pine shadowbox, with black matte finish and glass cover … for display purposes.
As illustrated, the shadow box can be hung on the wall or placed on a table top.
The ad’s colors are very warm and rich.
The paper of the book cover which can be “touched” from the backside, is a heavy weighted paper bond … with a mild satiny waxed feel on its outside face. Probably originally made with some protective waxy sheen to it ... to repel dirt and moisture, since it's a protective cover for a child’s school book; back in the day when kids actually brought real books home … from real brick & mortar schools….
What a “novel” idea.
Real schools.
Real books.
And … actual books with real paper pages.
Hmmmm.
[Hey … We’ve also spent an hour or two online and cannot find any other “Honey Boy Bread” information or items … anywhere; other than a photo of a Honey Boy Bread bakery. (See photo sequenced #5.)
Sweet down-home language in the ad.
And really cool graphics.
At the risk of being redundant, the referenced book … as noted above …apparently was a school book of a local Hagerstown area child who we believe may have ended up being an actual physician; and was even nicknamed “Doc” as a child ... and it is so noted … in that very same text book ! “DOC” … As it is even printed on the outside of the book. Presumably …
said Doc McKinnon…. (See photos sequenced #s 7-9.)
Hagerstown, Indiana is a really quaint & historic community established in 1815.
One of a kind find !
[TMI - the only sample of another vintage childhood “book cover” located online … regarded a bland nondescript children’s MCM book cover advertising Eckard’s Drugs. See the last photo sequenced.] less
Richmond, IN
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