A Book Recommendation or Two...

Howdy there, friends!  

How are you all doing today?  I hope you are well and that you are enjoying a great morning, day, or evening, depending on when you're reading this. 

I thought today's post might be a bit shorter- I've wanted to do a recommendation post for awhile now, but wasn't quite sure exactly what you might be interested in...then I got an idea. 

Are you looking for a book filled with wonderful memories, happy nostalgic photos, and happy snippets of people's lives?  There are quite a few books that were put out by Reiman publications back in the late 1990's/early 2000's that I recommend for anyone. 

These books are easy to find on Amazon- I bought them all for 1 penny each (plus 3.99 shipping) with the exception of the School Days book.  I won that one in a "find Hattie's Hatpin" contest sponsored by Reminsce back in 2000!  I don't have all of the books, but here are the titles in case you aren't able to read them from the picture:

"When Families Made Memories Together"
"We Had Everything But Money"
"School Days"
"We Pulled Together...and Won!"

Other titles that I'll purchase as space on the bookshelf allows:

"We Made Our Own Fun"
"When the Banks Closed, We Opened Our Hearts"
"The Christmases We Used to Know"
"Motorin' Along"
"Tough Times, Strong Women"

These books are nicely printed on glossy paper, have lots of black and white pictures with captions, and are jam packed with stories sent in by readers of Reminisce magazine.   

 I would recommend sticking with the older titles.  Reiman Publications was bought out by Reader's Digest in 2005 or so and things have really gone downhill since then.  I no longer subscribe to Taste of Home, Reminisce, or Country Woman because the magazines (in my opinion) have been VERY commercialized and have lost so much of the essence of what made them special. 


Here is a peek at what you can expect to read in these wonderful, homey, wholesome books: 

"When I was 14 or 15 years old, I saw a cedar hope chest in the Sears catalog and knew that's waht I wanted for Christmas. But we didn't have much money that year and Dad was working at odd jobs just to feed us all.  I put the hope chest out of my mind. 

When Dad finished doing some work for a neighbor, she offered him an old clothes closet she no longer needed.  Dad remembered my wish, took that closet apart, and made a cedar chest for me for Christmas!  He also used the wood to make a jewelry box for my sister. 

That chest is still my prized piece- a reminder of a young girl's wish, and all her dad did to make it come true."  From When Families Made Memories Together

And here's another:

"After three days at an invasion site in Salerno, Italy, our assault transport, the USS Samuel Chase, started back to Algeria.  That night the Luftwaffe found us and we underwent an intense raid.  Just as the attack subsided, one of the 40 mm guns malfunctioned.  At daybreak, the gunner's mates discovered a broken part. 

There was no replacement part to be found in Algeria; we'd have to wait until we got back to the States.  In Bayonne, New Jersey we were surprised we still couldn't locate the part. 

The word went out all along the East Coast, but we kept getting the same response: No part.
 
Finally, a seaman who had observed this fiasco said, "I think I can find that part."  In a most unmilitary way, he was given cash, a car, and a driver.  Her returned within in the hour.

"Did you find one?" he was asked.

"Yes."

"How much was it?"

"Five bucks," the sailor said, "so I bought four."

"Where on earth did you find them?"

"Montgomery Ward." 

From We Pulled Together...and Won!"

I hope that you enjoyed these two little snippets from some books that I consider warm, comforting, and a nice slice of life from back in the day. 

God bless you, reader.  Have a wonderful evening. 

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my little blog.  I do appreciate it.  :)