Old Books and Memories

I love old books, old movies, and pretty much anything from the 1940's, even though I was not even born in that decade. When I was a little girl, I used to visit my Aunt Margaret, who had the most amazing collection of books--bookshelves were in the living room and in the sitting room. I would spend hours just going through all of her books: novels, volumes of poetry, and biographies. Every night I would curl up in a large chair under a window in the sitting room and read. My favorite book was Betty Grable and the House with the Iron Shutters, written by Kathryn Heisenfelt and published in 1943. As an adult, I always wanted my own copy of that book. I found it in a used book store and subsequently found another Betty Grable book, Betty Grable and the House of Cobwebs, published in 1947. Every time I look at them I remember my Aunt Margaret and her love of books that she shared with me.

Along with my Betty Grable books, I have The Uninvited by Dorothy Macardle, published in 1942, and later made into a great ghost movie with Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey. The other books on top of the stack are Idylls of the King, Irving's Sketch Book, and The Deerslayer, which were my Great-Aunt Virgie's school books. These editions were published in the 1800's. Aunt Virgie became a school teacher.