Sheaves of Paper, Falling Like Autumn Leaves.

I have a thing about old books, particularly old school texts and readers. Their musty pages telling stories of yore (yore, such a charming time, wasn't it?). I can spend hours thumbing through a used book store, unwrapping each page like a tissue paper-wrapped present. And sometimes I'll even find an added bonus, hastily stashed between the pages. A newspaper clipping. A photograph. A purloined letter. Not to mention random scribblings etched between the type-set. I wonder if Edna still loves Bartholomew? Was it love forever? I see she didn't like that teacher, Mrs. Hastings.

I'm not a purist -- I don't need the first editions, wrapped in Mylar. No, for me, the first-person history only adds to the experience. A social history of sorts. Which is oddly dichotomous of me, considering I have long been loathe to bend a corner on my books, let alone write in them. Sacrilege! No, they always get clad in plastic bags for travel. And I always properly open a new book as to not break its spine. A colleague once brought me back a Spelling Bee book from the 1800s from his trip to England. Really cool. One of the most thoughtful gifts I've received. Better than something about Knitting Bees, that's for sure.

Having studied automotive history as a part of my degree, I was excited to find the book pictured to the right today: a complete reference book for the Ford Model T and Fordson Farm Tractor from 1920. Considering Ford's first car -- the Model A -- debuted in 1903 and the first Model T rolled off the line in 1908, this was still pretty early into the company's history. Mechanics today would likely laugh at the simplicity of the schemata (like the fold-out, detailed above), however complete they are. I like the "Slow Speed Band" (Coldplay anyone?) and the "Clutch Fingers" (which I did last night, nearly slicing off the tip of my index finger). The author, noting that there "is only one make of motor vehicle in the world that is sold in large enough quantities to warrant the publication of a special treatise on its repair and maintenance and that is the Ford Model T," points to how there were already more than 3,000,000 Ford cars of all types in use. My, how the world has changed. Too bad Ford's cars drive like it's still the 20s.