Category Archives: 1970s

370J: Man Cleans House To Win Contest

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I had this paperback children’s book in 1970. It is probably from the 60s. It is an American book with words. The illustrations were line drawings.  
All I remember is that an old man lived possibly on a hill.  The town was having a cleaning contest, and he cleaned every bit of his house, and I distinctly remember he even cleaned the cobwebs out of the corners. The people came to judge his house and he won.  This may not be right, but my memory comes with the color yellow. Maybe the cover- or maybe the man wore yellow.  I’ve tried and tried to find this book. 

370F: Kids exploring cave during the depression era (Solved!)

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I’ve been searching for this book for years.  I cannot remember all the details but the basics:
Farm kids during the great depression, I think a boy and a girl.  They go exploring a cave nearby and pretend its their mansion.  So they don’t get lost they use breadcrumbs but birds eat it.  They decide to use string instead.  A mystery of some sort is solved.  I seem to recall mention of the Hobos that would come around looking for work, and their family took one in and fed him a meal.  At the end of the book he left markings on their fence that was code for “friendly family” or something like that.  Other details: I THINK they took a canary into the cave, there was something to do with the underground railroad, and ration books were mentioned.  

I read this book when I was in 6th grade, possibly 1977/78.  It was an old book at the time, hardbound with the old fabric book covering. I think it had illustrations but can’t quite remember–I read a LOT in those days.  This book belonged to my mom who was born in 38–sadly its been long lost.

369T: My Busy Day

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I am looking for a book my father often read to my sister and me when we were very little. She was born in 1978; I was born in 1980. The book title (I think) was about a “busy day.” There are two lines/quotes from the book that stand out to me that my father recalled years later:

I start my day with breakfast. I drink from my own cup.

Next I play dress-up. Look! That’s me, the fire chief!

The book definitely seemed to be written in the first person, and it contains some kind of reference to drinking from a cup and playing dress up as a fireman.

Any ideas? Thanks for any potential leads you can give. My father died in 2015, and my sister and I are always looking for ways to help our own children know him. This book would be such a special connection!

369P: Overconsumption

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I am looking for a children’s book I read in class as a kid.  1974-1977 I remember it had a big gold award seal on the cover. About a society that the people replaced household pieces every day.  Specifically I remember plumbing pipes being replaced and then a landfill was piled high with all this junk that had only been used one day.  

369G: Father on Quest to Find Daughter’s Missing Doll

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I am hoping you can help me find a picture book. I may have had a copy as a child (or borrowed it from the library), so it was available in the 1960s/70s. 
The story was about a lost doll. A little girl loses her doll and her father goes out into the night in a storm/snowstorm to find it. The story is emotional and there is a sense of danger to his quest. The setting seemed to be an older time, turn of the century maybe. Russia or Eastern Europe?  
The illustrations were beautiful, dark, and very impressionistic. When I see art by Edvard Munch, it reminds me of the book and I wish I remembered the title or author. My mother was a bookseller, so it bothers me even more that I can’t find it.
Here’s hoping someone remembers.

369D: The Secret Passage, Straight to the Bakery (Solved!)

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I’m not even sure why this particular picture book continues to stick with me. Was it the thrill of exploring a secret passage that sparked my love of exploration? Was it my first surprise ending? Was it my love of bakeries? I’m really not sure, but I’d love to find a copy. I borrowed this book from the children’s section of the Elmhurst branch of the Queens (NY) Public Library many times from the late 1960s to the mid 1970s. There were either one or two children–boys I think–who were exploring a secret passageway they had found in an old mansion or castle. I think he or they had just moved there but my memory is unclear. One of the illustrations I remember best showed an interior view slice of the whole house, including the secret passageway winding its way through the multi-leveled dwelling, with the two boys visible with their flashlight somewhere on a lower level. The boys follow the passageway a long way underground to a door. The door opens out into a bakery in the town or village.  There’s another illustration of a surprised baker at his oven as the small door opens out from mid-wall and the equally surprised boys tumble into his bakery. For some reason I think the baker is French, but again details remain elusive. At the end the baker serves them cream puffs or eclairs. Another post I saw (on another book search site) seemed to be a  query about this same book and mentions the boys perhaps finding some old casks of wine (?) that had been missing for some time. I also think the town was celebrating some kind of anniversary and the townspeople hoped to celebrate with the casks of wine. It’s also possible I am confusing two books. If anyone can help, I’d really appreciate it! 

268V: Early 70s B&W Photos Perforated Pages (Solved!)

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I have searched for years for a book I once owned; I cannot remember the title, but the physicality of the book remains vivid.  It was paper-bound, roughly 8″ square, and I think there was a good deal of yellow in the cover design.  Most of the book consisted of perforated pages, with four 4″-square black-and-white photos per page, meant to be torn out and used as focal objects for meditation (or perhaps divination, in the manner of tarot cards).  The photo pages were printed on heavy card stock and had photos on each side.  The images were varied: people, landscapes, buildings, etc., all inviting contemplative regard.  There were also pages of text in the front of the book describing ways of using the photo cards.  My other lasting memory is that the book was the same size as Ram Dass’s Be Here Now (published 1971), so that, once all the photos had been torn out, the Ram Dass book could more or less fit into the space left behind.  Since this book does not neatly fit any standard category, I’ve never been able to track it down.  Many thanks to anyone who might share this memory with me and know the title.

368T: Hidden riches turns out to be rare books

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I’m looking for a mystery/adventure book I read in the 1980’s in my elementary school library.  I believe it came from the same section where the Nancy Drew, Three Investigators, etc. books were and so could have been published in the 70s, 60s, or before.  I don’t remember if it was part of a series or a stand-alone book.  I believe the main character was a female who was investigating a mystery that involved a mansion.  In the mansion there was a library with lots of books that she would visit.  I don’t remember any of the main plot but the end stuck with me.  The man who owned the house was said to have hidden his riches somewhere.  In a twist at the end of the story the main character realizes the books that are in the library are rare originals (e.g. first-edition Shakespeare, early edition Bible, etc.)  The riches were hiding in plain sight all this time in the form of these rare books.
Can anyone help me locate the title or more information about this book?

368Q: Girl & Boy Explore Castle Tower

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During my childhood, my family lived in Gloucester, Virginia from 1968 to 1971. My sister and I both remember a book we had out from the Gloucester Library at the time, but we have no memory of the title. It was a children’s story with two children, I think a boy and girl, probably brother and sister, exploring a mysterious castle or tower. The book was hardbound in green (may have had gold illustration in the binding) and was a somewhat tall rectangular shape but not too thick. There were illustrations inside in black and white, I believe. Unfortunately, that’s all we can remember. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!