Collecting
Bound in gilt-embossed black leather, the book’s pages are a pick ‘n’ mix of pretty sherbet shades marked with musings from friends and family. Ranging from small sketches and ditties to messages of advice for the years ahead, most were inscribed in the early 1930s, when the book was given to my grandmother by her parents on her 13th birthday. Coming across it during a recent house move, a turned-down corner on one of the pages caught my eye. On the folded flap was written The course of many a silent tear… I turned it over, expecting a confession, and was hit instead with a punchline: onions.
The joke is typical of the tone of vintage autograph books. These personal, pocket-sized albums were commonly given to teenagers – especially girls – as birthday or Christmas presents in the early 20th century. Treasured by their owners before being
