Of all the things that have drifted to me from the pages of a book, hot fluffy pancakes are the most welcome. Can you imagine the time I would save listing, selling and packing books, if they just fed me directly?

Unfortunately these hot fluffy pancakes from “Sytje’s Pannekoeken Huis” are waiting for me in Rochester, Minnesota. Since I’m not likely to make it out that way anytime soon, I’m offering this ticket to a North Star state resident for merely the price of an SASE (send an e-mail and I’ll give you my mailing address).

Doubly unfortunate the chain of “Dutch Family Cooking Restaurants” has since gone out of business.

I found a pile of these very sf-looking decals of the old National Education Association (NEA) Pi logo stuffed into a book.

Looks like a Vulcan merit badge.

And this substitution announcement saying that actress Guylaine Guy will assume the role of La Mome Pistache.

I think this was from a 1950s production of Cole Porter’s Can-Can. There’s a picture of her on a French-language site devoted to French-Canadian performers here.

I just found this order sheet for 1961 Dover new releases folded in a book (click on image for larger version). Dover was the first publisher I learned to watch for in my early reading career–and with such diverse offerings as Ruthless Rhymes for Heartless Homes and Finger Prints, Palms and Soles, it’s easy to see why they made an impression.

For those who don’t know, Dover specialized in obscure public domain titles that hadn’t seen print for decades. The books were chosen from widely varied fields and many were offered in facsimile editions including the original type design and illustrations. This definitely awakened a taste for out-of-the-way books to which I owe my present livelihood (okay, maybe it’s a more of a lethargihood).

Print-on-demand, Project Gutenberg, Google Books and other digital delivery systems have put a hurt on this business model and Dover’s current focus is on clip art (with CD-roms), beautiful ethnographic and mythological coloring books and thrift editions of staple reading-list novellas.

I started to compile a scouting list of Dover books that have a decent resale value ($20 and up) but I stalled since the market is in such flux. Maybe, I’ll get back to it after the holiday.

One of my last and coolest finds from this year’s WLGS was this suede-covered souvenir photo album from Miami, Florida.

It was stuffed with photos and “real photo” postcards from the Miami area as well as somewhere in New England (judging from the 5-foot snowfall in several of the images).

The photos span from the 1910s to–I’d guess–the early ’40s and many of the postcards are addressed to a “Mrs. Grace Hammond.”

My favorite photos show parade floats bedecked in coconuts and giant paper-mache dragons.

Here’s a few of the highlights:

Vintage Miami Parade Photos
Vintage 1910-20s Family and Friends Photos