Bookishly's Hidden Treasures - Part Four

We truly enjoy finding the small but wonderful treasures hidden amongst the pages of our old books. Here are the most recent additions to our ever-growing collection!

1. INDOOR FIREWORK

A very old packet of indoor fireworks (firecrackers). We researched these magic snakes online and found a number of packets that dated back forty - sixty years. All of these packets however were in boxes with coloured graphics. From this, we can assume that our very basic black and white paper package dates back to, at the very earliest, 1940.

2. PHOTOGRAPH OF HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT

A photograph of the Houses of Parliament from across the River Thames. We would guess that this photograph dates back between 1930 - 1940. Any more definitive estimates are welcome!

3. LEONARDO DA VINCI POSTCARD

A postcard with a printed image of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks. What makes this postcard most special is the message on the back, dated as 1966. It is a passage taken from the Prayer Book in celebration of Whit Sunday.

“God, who as at this time didst teach the hearts of thy faithful people, by the sending to them the light of thy Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgement in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through the merits of Christ Jesus our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.”

On the other side, this lovely sentiment:

"Perhaps we think too much about perfecting ourselves instead of trying first and foremost to love.”

4. DOODLES AND DRAWINGS

A few sketches of men playing bowls drawn on to the first page of  X V Rex by Philip Macdonald.

5. SHORT STORY / JOKE

We can’t work out whether this is an actual account of events or a joke, written down so the man is able to remember it. From what we can read it says:

“Have just passed life saving [?] walking along bank of river. Crowd of kids rush up, “Hey mister, a boy’s just fallen in - we think he’s drowning!” Homme rushes - pulls boy out and gives artificial respiration - Schafer method by head, gallons of water coming out of boy’s mouth. Crowd gathers. He keeps on - his arms start to ache - he asks, “does anybody know any artificial respiration, [?] ?” No answer except one old man who says “I know about suction pumps.” He carries on. Later he again asks. Same answer, “know about section pumps.” He carries on. Then he asks “what the hell do suction pumps got to do with it?” Old man replies, “well if you don’t get his backside out the water you’ll empty this bloody river!”

Then a separate (equally odd!) story reads:

“Also Bob W. D.F [?] apparently had underclothes accident - Fogg tells him, he replies “they’d have stayed down a bit longer if I’d been here.” Also he said “anytime suits me, even in front of the fire warming my supper up!”

We’re not quite sure what to make of all that! What do you guys think?

Hope you enjoyed reading this edition of Hidden Treasures as much as we enjoyed finding them!