JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

Book plates are little devices created especially for you; embodying your individual tastes or coat of arms. One pasted inside the front of your book not only ornaments the volume, but to the borrower with a defective memory, is a constant reminder of your ownership. - artist C. Valentine Kirby, 1911.  Sometimes, when browsing used books, you'll find a decoratively illustrated imprint or sticker indicating whose library the title once belonged too. It tells you a little about its former owner, who either cared enough to individually mark their books with illustrations that reflected their personal style, such as a sense of humour or a flair for the romantic, a tribute to family history, or betray an inflated ego. Inspired by an exhibit in Salem, Massachusetts, The Buffalo Sunday News placed a spotlight on book plates in its October 29, 1911 edition, focusing on the work and thoughts of artist  Clarence Valentine Kirby (1875-1947). In the years following this piece, Kirby ser...

This weekend, I had to buy a new computer. The old one had performed well given how heavily I use, but either old age or an inability to get along with recent Windows Updates meant increasing wildcat strikes by my mouse and keyboard. Setting up the new system was easy, and has provided an excuse to sort files. Among the folders I found was one filled with snapshots from late 1970s editions of Books in Canada , taken while working on other projects during some long-ago trip to Toronto Reference Library.  The first image jumped out at me. Books in Canada, August-September 1977. NIGHTMARE FUEL!!!  Kind of reminds me of that part of the opening sequence for the old Elwy Yost series Magic Shadows where the fighter pilot turns into a tiger man. Or the dude who physically modified himself into a catman . Or something Dr. Moreau genetically whipped up.  Shedding some colour on this doesn't make this cover any less creepy. Let's take a closer look at the ad...   Books...

Boston Globe, December 25, 1920 . Brooklyn Citizen, December 24, 1920 . Chicago Tribune, December 24, 1920 . Daily British Whig (Kingston, ON), December 24, 1920 . La Presse, December 24, 1920 . London Free Press, December 24, 1920 . Oakland Tribune, December 25, 1920 . San Francisco Examiner, December 25, 1920 . St. Louis Star, December 24, 1920 . Washington Star, December 24, 1920 . Season's greetings to everyone, and enjoy your holiday in the most satisfying-under-the-present-circumstances way possible.  PS : Wonder what was happening in Toronto during the 1920 Christmas season? Check out Tales of Toronto . 

A man dragged a few blocks under a streetcar. A stoned mentally ill man in a police standoff for a couple of hours. A TTC fare hike that vanished as quickly as it was proposed. Two bomb scares by the local CSIS office caused by the same person (who left his keys in the ignition). A police officer killed by a stolen snow plow. All this (and a story or two we're probably forgetting) since yesterday morning in Toronto. No wonder this newsboy looks frazzled. But, as a man on the bus this morning (either Eglinton East or Lawrence East, don't remember which one I hopped on), proclaimed, "smile, it's Wednesday!" Illustration taken from the June 25, 1859 edition of the Toronto Weekly Message - JB

...or at least how one could achieve fame, according to a Toronto-based 1920s humour magazine. Illustration by Jim Taylor. Source: Goblin , March 1925 - JB

Source: The Mail and Empire , December 25, 1909 - JB

This ad for a popular 1950s swimwear designer delighted quite a few websurfers when it was posted on Flickr. Chalk it up to the simple, classy style the ad designer used, or the hints of mischief emanating from the model's face. As for what a New York shopper could have done to amuse themselves after purchasing a "jewel of the sea," let's consult the "Goings on About Town" section (or, as it was subtitled in '58, "a conscientious calendar of events of interest"). If they were in a theatrical mood, productions in first run on Broadway included Look Back in Anger , The Music Man , Sunrise at Campobello and West Side Story . Under "Night Life", the "Big and Brassy" section might have caught their eye. At the Copacabana, " Ella Fitzgerald , as oracle of many voices, many moods, many tempos, can range from the romantic to the abstract as quick as a wink. She's the one good deed in a very long night." Use...