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Transcription
1901-1903
A MEMORY BOOK
BOTH YOUNG AND OLD TAKE PLEASURE
IN IT.
Record of Enjoyments at Home and
Elsewhere a Timely
Fad.
Written for The Evening Star.
A good many young people and older people,
too, have begun the delightful task of
arranging a Memory Book to record the
happy times they have had and the delightful
people they have met. Its make-up is
easier, it is of more general interest, and
much less tedious than the old-fashioned
journal, with its daily recount of often
trivial and unimportant events. A large
scrap book, strongly bound, with guards
or extra strips between the leaves to admit
the pastings and entry of souvenirs, is the
first requisite. A pretty over-cover can be
made of denim in blue, green or brown, or
of the ordinary tan canvas, with the title
in embroidered lettering in outline, or in
gold running through the center.
The title itself may be as fanciful and
poetic as one wishes, so long as it is in
harmony with the idea, "For Memory's
Sake," "The Light of Other Days," etc. A
spray of forget-me-nots or a scattering of
the blossoms on the outside or on the fly-
leaf inside gives a dainty suggestiveness.
Let the cover be large enough to meet
over the edges and bound with a neat braid
or ribbon, stitched on and tied across the
ends and at the front.
As this is a keepsake book for the years
of after life, it is worth some trouble to
make it pretty and attractive. The filling
of the pages will be according to the tastes
of the maker. A girl of nineteen summers
has made her memory book really a very
dainty piece of work. She selected almost
(2nd column)
entirely social happenings, using invitations
and other suggestive mementos. One whole
page was given to a visit to a friend at
Thanksgiving time. On the upper part of
the large page was the tag which was on
her trunk; under it, arranged in a design,
were the little hand-painted dinner cards,
and so on. Again, on a page commemorating
a clambake, given on the rocks of a
summer watering place, were some sprays
of the seaweed that the clams were baked
in, dried, pressed and fastened in the book
by little strips of brightly tinted paper, etc.
Programs of operas, plays and lectures,
dance cards, tally cards from whist and
euchre parties, filled out the pages, which
showed great variety.
The Memory Book of a college student
showed on one page a torn scrap of a
sweater worn at a memorable foot ball
game, and on another the program of some
college entertainment at which he assisted.
Every woman has some bright spots that
she would be glad to recall - an evening at
the grand opera with a congenial friend - a
merry sleigh ride, a gay dance, a sailing
party. Even insignificant and homely relics
bring pleasant thoughts and a smile of
gladness. The pages can be varied and
made attractive and artistic with the help
of the brush and paint box. An occasional
sketch in water color or black and white
often brings to mind very vividly the
scene itself, as well as the incidents. Another
good idea for the Memory Book is to
have a page or so for the autographs of
friends. Even though an acquaintance
drops out of one's life, when the pages are
turned his name is there, with some pleasant
association.
The Memory Book for traveling should
be much smaller - portfolio size - to admit
of use on the steamer's deck, or on the
long journeys by train. Many a delightful
incident, with its accompanying souvenir,
can be slipped into its pages for future
fastening, that would otherwise be forgotten
and lost forever in the crowding experiences
that follow.
"My Memory Book is the most precious
thing I own," said a young fellow. "It has
helped me through many a dismal evening
in a lonely city room." Years added to its
value, and in the library of the maturer
man or woman successive numbers will
stand like ledgers of the pleasure times of
youth.
A.P.R.
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