How do you know it was 80 years ago? Also, 80 years ago was 1945. Some guy went to war with Hitler, came back home alive, and joined a book of the month club. That book is now in your hands.
Thats wild.
The book was published in 1945. I’m just guessing they would have gotten it within a year or two of it being published.
I don’t think it’s the oldest book I have, but it’s in really nice condition for how old it is (I think I’m the first person to read this copy!) I wonder what the other two books they got with that months subscription were.
From late December 1945:
https://www.nytimes.com/1945/12/26/archives/booksauthors.html
“The Autobiography of William Allen White,” published by Macmillan, has been made the Book-of-the-Month Club selection for March. The club’s book-dividend for March and April will be “Saints and Strangers,” by George Willison, published by Reynal & Hitchcock."
Probably a pretty expensive subscription 80 years ago.
Neat!
I love finding ephemera in books. My favourite are bus tickets and receipts. Imagine the ordinary life of whoever bought a 60c loaf of bread and used the receipt as a bookmark.
