Archive Adventures: Do You Hear What I Hear?

It's finals week here at Penn State, and for students, professors, and staff...that means long hours and hard work before finally getting a break for the Christmas holiday. For everyone everywhere, however, it's the week before Christmas and it's just as busy! Carolers, or wassailers*, are crawling all over the place and even if you haven't heard them (yet), you certainly can't have missed the constant barrage of Christmas tunes in any location with an available speaker to hook up. When I think of it, music and Christmas have probably always gone hand in hand. Not surprisingly, here at Special Collections, we have a book for that....and videos!

Now we're in my domain! Up in Fred Waring's America, we have EVERYTHING Fred Waring. Considering how long his career was, it's no wonder there are five million and two Christmas songs put onto two million and a half albums (warning: these numbers may be off; which way is your guess), and for many Americans around during the Pennsylvanians' heyday on television and radio these songs are the staple of holiday cheer. Thankfully, due to the modern marvel of digitization and YouTube, we get to continue sharing them with you.

The most expensive song in Christmas was a dramatic moment for the Fred Waring Show. During "The Twelve Days of Christmas," they fit nearly the entire cast and crew of the show on set and created a surprise formation at the end similar to their "dancing dominoes" routine. You'll want to skip to 1:25 to get straight to the song I'm talking about. Remember: this was live television, and it was in the youth of broadcast television (most agree 1948 as its public birth year), so the routine was quite impressive for its time!

Christmas, just like any other family gathering, is not exempt from familial strife. In one of the funniest videos I have ever come across in Fred Waring's America, Fred gets caught up in a battle of the wills. And we all know that a large group of upset toddlers is more than a match for any one adult. Though the segment was originally entitled "Babes in Toyland," we in FWA have lovingly nicknamed it "Fred Waring in the Christmas Octagon." You'll see why...

Of course, there are always a wealth of beautiful, traditional Christmas songs. One of our most popular videos is the 1954 Christmas Special of The Fred Waring Show, hosted by Ronald Reagan. This three-parter on our channel is chock-full of songs, from traditional carols to popular modern ballads and devotional hymns. *Sigh* I do love the smooth, sweet tenor of Gordon Goodman crooning "The Christmas Song," and of course the sampling of scenes from Harry Simeone's "The Nutcracker Suite" is a classic. We hope you enjoy these, and the many other videos we have on the FredWaringsAmerica YouTube channel. (Pssst...We have Stuart Churchill singing Schubert's Ave Maria, one of my absolute favorite pieces of all time. Great Christmas music right there!)

We're not done yet!

Back down in the main Special Collections holdings, we have the Allison-Shelley Christmas collection to drool over for our pretty pictures. I had actually never heard of this specific part of the larger Allison-Shelley Collection (is that new? no...you could spend your life devoted to this archive and still find something new on your last day) until I started digging for post ideas. I'm very thankful I learned about it, because what I found is darn cool.

I haven't seen Sound of Music in awhile (and I don't know if it really counts as a Christmas film), but as soon as I saw "Trapp family" I knew this had to go up here. What I love is that you get the English words above the German, so you have some options for fun party games after the eggnog has been served. Try it with a whole room of people who don't speak German and watch out for those 3+ syllable words!

The unique, woodblock-like illustrations were done by Agathe Trapp

I'm particularly smitten by this 1910 print of Weihnachtsklaenge, a German Christmas music book. It has such wonderfully illustrated pictures in full color along with German carols.

Instant love from the moment I laid my eyes on it.

I love the richness of the colors! This was one of those times where I had to tear myself away or risk spending the afternoon doing nothing else but drooling over the illustrations.

This picture in particular caught my eye. It perfectly captures a cloudy, winter night with all its stillness. Reminds me of waking up at midnight in 2009 when the mini-blizzard hit PSU on homecoming weekend and knocked out the electric across town.

Finally, the Frost Queen and Santa Claus tickled me pink just because it sounds like a 1950s TV special. Really, it's an 1890 cantata written for children by William Howard Doane, who turns out was famous for his hymn-writing. Sunday school teachers must have loved his work, because an enthusiastic ad for this particular cantata appears in their circular and in my research on this I found out Doane amassed a sizable financial cushion to retire on. Part of it was his work in industry, but I have to be honest...if this were around today, I'd probably buy a whole bunch and give them out as Christmas gifts because it looks like a hoot. I can see why they were so popular back then!

Well, while our Christmas tour has ended, the joy of learning does not! We here at Special Collections wish you the merriest and happiest of holidays, and hope to see you in January 2013! Be safe, everyone, and to all a good night!

-Alex





*Fun fact: the word wassail is derived from the Anglo-Saxon toast of be in good health. Also, groups of young men would sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" for a musical excuse to trash prominent neighborhoods by demanding food and drink in exchange for not destroying people's homes. You know, in good cheer and all.Today's wassailers are laaaaame!

Reading of King Nutcracker in the Special Collections Library

On Sunday afternoon, December 2, at 4:00 p.m., The Special Collections Library, 104 Paterno Library, will host a reading in world languages of two popular children’s books by the 19^th-century German author Heinrich Hoffmann.  Bettina Brandt, Senior Lecturer in German at Penn State, and her young daughter, Vera Purdy, will be joined by a number of native speakers of German, Dutch, Turkish, Italian, French, Spanish, and more – including English!—in reading Hoffmann’s Struwwelpeter, a book that has delighted children on both sides of the Atlantic since 1845, and his second book, King Nutcracker and poor Reinhold.

The story of Nutcracker traveled a long path before it became the most well-known secular Christmas tale.  Heinrich Hoffmann, the author most famous for his wild Struwwelpeter, helped popularize the story with his colorful 1851 picture book, King Nutcracker and poor Reinhold.   Daniel Purdy, Professor of German, will introduce the program and speak briefly about how the Nutcracker helped define Christmas celebrations as we know them today.

A reception with light refreshments will follow the readings.  Children are welcome!

The event will conclude with a repeat screening (with new material added for the occasion) in the Mann Assembly Room of a video produced by Berlin videographers Alexander Kraudelt and Victoria Magali Herzog, featuring songs by the Tiger Lillies, a British trio often described as the forefathers of Brechtian Punk Cabaret. The entertaining video features Frau Marion Herzog-Hoinkis, whose late husband, Gerhard Hertz Herzog, was director of the Struwwelpeter Museum in Frankfurt am Main, talking about the history and influence of the boy Slovenly Peter, or Shockheaded Peter, as he is known in English. She will also reveal Hoffmann’s inspiration for his imaginative dream tale of King Nutcracker. In his autobiography, Hoffmann wrote, “I had the idea that children love stories out of a secret, magic world, and I wanted to create a fairytale among their usual toys.”

The reading will be held in conjunction with the exhibition “Heinrich Hoffmann’s Stories for Children and the Emergence of the Modern Picture Book,” on display in The Special Collections Library, 104 Paterno Library, through January 25, 2013.

The event is co-sponsored by the University Libraries, the Department of German and Slavic Languages and Literature, and the Max Kade German-American Research Institute.  For more information, contact Sandra Stelts at sks5@psu.edu or 814-863-5388.

How to Survive the Literary Apocalypse

Thursday, December 6, from 4:00- 5:30 pm in the Mann Assembly Room of the Pattee/Paterno Libraries.  

Presenting will be Jason Rekulak, Creative Director of Quirk Books (publisher of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, among other titles). He will be speaking on book design in the electronic age. His visit is sponsored by the Penn State Press and the Department of English.

Archive Adventures: What's On Your Plate?

We may wish for a "Grandma's Thanksgiving" and instead get family fights. We may spend the day with strangers, at work, or even alone, but the one thing we all share on Thanksgiving is...FOOD. Thanksgiving's roots are tightly woven into the harvest season of the agricultural cycle, and thus is celebrated at different times, in many different countries, and in many different ways across the world. Despite all those differences it's still all about food and sharing! So, in preparation for the holiday and since there's so much to harvest in our own field, I'm going to share the bounty of cookbooks we have in Special Collections. Yes, our cups and minds overfloweth!

The one I'd like to focus on visually today is the Susan Frierson Cookbooks and Advertising Pamphlets collection. Thanks to her generous donation of material from her grandfather's business--the L.C. Marts General Store--in Nowrytown, Pennsylvania, we have an excellent example of early 20th century food ephemera. Let's dig in...

Gelatin was a big deal in the early to mid 20th century. Today, we mostly know it as a sweet dessert, like the ones pictured here from the Knox Gelatine recipe pamphlets...

The illustrated pictures are just darling! Notice the bowl of cakes with little frosting flowers in the back

Haute cuisine? Simple lemon jello may not seem like it, but the way they present it--set on gold-trimmed china, surrounded by blackberries, and accented with a vase of lavender-- you might think twice!

But Jell-O wasn't just about the sweet. There's a recipe in the Knox Gelatine pamphlet for a tomato jelly creation and both the Knox and Jell-O books we have mention "salads" on the cover. Yup. Fruit and nuts aren't the only additions to add to Jell-O in these recipes. You've got peas, carrots, mayonnaise... Sometimes, there is a reason for certain food fashions falling to the wayside. I love my Jell-O, but I'll take it without the veggies, please! 

Appealing to the nostalgia of the Antebellum!

A young mother's dream. Jell-O was, and still is, cheap, fast, and easy to make!

Besides many of these having gorgeous little illustrations that make your mouth water (similar results at home not guaranteed), they all have a common theme...

Uneeda Bakers

Heinz

Land O' Lakes

American Stove

 They are published almost exclusively by food/appliance manufacturers! Now, the first one blew my mind (and might surprise people of my generation). Back then it was known as Uneeda Bakers, aka National Biscuit Company. Nabisco! You can officially go to bed tonight because you learned something new if this tidbit rocked your world .

Food chart for seven course meals! For the extremely dedicated housewife or hostess.

 

While this is a concentrated collection of ephemera that covers a wide range of food styles, we also have a large holding of cookbooks that are closer to home. Do you like Scrapple and Shoo Fly Pie? We have shelves of books that are dedicated to the tasty joy of PA Dutch/Amish/Mennonite cooking.  Thanks to the Chris Gaines Collection, you won't run short on delicious recipes from our devout friends!

We do have a few cookbooks that really hit home for those of us at the University. There are six that come specifically from PSU: Salt of the Earth, by the College of Earth and Minerals; How to Serve Patrons, by the University Park Libraries Employee Association; Penn State Student Athlete Cookbook;  Just What the Doctor Ordered, by the Resident Wives Club of the Hershey Medical Center; Cooking with the Nittany Lion Athletic Department; and Cookin' with the Lion, by the Alumni Association. Though I haven't checked them out yet, all the ones with puns instantly get my nerdy approval.

And, last but certainly not least, we have a sprinkling of other cookbooks in our holdings. You may want to check out our various African Americana cookbooks and recipes in Blockson if you're feeling like ditching the turkey in favor of some new soul food. Strangely enough, our Utopia collection also has an offering, The Futurist Cookbook, which is just...surreal. I would not suggest this cookbook if you're looking for meals to make for the family dinner, let's just put it that way. Also, it doesn't have turkey. Or cranberry sauce. I think I'll just put that one down, back away, and head for that cocoa recipe from Catharine Maria Sedgwick (1840).

Though that's the end of my spiel about what's on our plate at Special Collections, I do have one more thing. We'd like you to share something of your own! Leave a comment describing your favorite or least favorite Thanksgiving food memory. Did you run into any awful creations or food fads? What about plans gone awry? We'd love to hear from you!

Best wishes for a happy, safe, and filling holiday from Special Collections!
-Alex

Archive Adventures: I've Put a Spell on You

Once upon a desk shift dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,

Over many quaint and curious boxes of forgotten lore,

While I typed there, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of some one gently rapping, rapping at the archive door.

"'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, "tapping at the archive door-

Only this, and nothing more."

Things are getting spooky in Special Collections. Michelle Belden,  our Access Archivist, shows off her Gorey-themed costume with examples of the inspiration! 

If you think the Stacks are creepy late on a fall night, you should check out our amazing collection of strange, thrilling, and bewitching fare in the archives!

In the Exhibit Room right now is a wonderful selection of Struwwelpeter books and artifacts. Der Struwwelpeter was written by Heinrich Hoffman, a man who didn't think that life was scary enough for 19th-century children and decided to terrorize them some more in the form of children's picture books. Okay, not really--he was writing moral tales on topics that middle-class parents dealt with in raising kids, and believed that children's books should be a learning tool. Still, the ways he gets his point across are understandably terrifying. Some of these illustrated tragedies include a child's thumbs being scissored off, another being swept away into the sky by a blustery storm, and one even being burned to death after playing with matches. While Struwwelpeter was probably the nightmare-fuel of children around the world, these stories are beloved across all ages and many different cultures. There are  Struwwelpeter plays and movies, academic articles, and even Struwwelpeter accessories (to go along with your new Shockheaded Peter up-do for this Halloween season)! Why not stop in and get the full history? Seeing is boo-lieving.

So much learning it'll make your hair stand on end.

"Okay, sweetie, it's time for a bedtime story!"

I believe the term used today for accessories of this nature is "swag"

If you're looking for something a bit less on the side of reliving your childhood nightmares, perhaps you might enjoy our rather large Occult collection? We have everything from the famous Aleister Crowley (including his papers!)...

...to books on demons and Nostradamus' prophecies...

...all the way back to very old books (not bound in human skin, sorry) on the occult. 

On the other hand, sometimes around this holiday it's nice to put aside all the spooky unknown and just enjoy the decor. Bats, cats, orange, black; the sound of an owl on a crisp night and the sight of cobwebs hanging on a porch as little superheroes and ghouls run from door to door gathering candy. Well, what do you know! We've got that!

Unfortunately not included are the creepy, gorgeous prints inside! You'll have to come in to see those!

Another great cover for a book that we just got in out of storage

My particular favorite example out of all of these, though, is our Edward Gorey collection. These are a real scream...

I'll let you consider that combination for a moment...

Edward Gorey is famous for his macabre illustrated books. These are just two examples of a whole bunch I was pouring over today, and if you're a fan of surrealism or literary nonsense and don't know Gorey's work, we have a great collection of them in Rare Books. Be warned though, they might have you laughing out loud in the Reading Room and hungry for more!

Any way you like it--whimsical, terrifying, enchanting, or chilling--Halloween is fun to indulge in once a year (and by Halloween, I mean eating massive amounts of candy). Yet, long after you take your carved pumpkin off your porch and the Christmas lights start going up, you can still give yourself a good laugh or scare in the spirit of Halloween if you look in just the right places.

Happy Halloween!
-Alex 

Archive Adventures: Rah! Rah! Sis Boom Bah!

It's that time of year again at PSU! As the trees shed their verdant color for more flamboyant hues, a chill takes the air, and coffee shops offer everything in pumpkin flavor, we start to look fondly back on yesteryear. That's right...it's Homecoming. This weekend, in a flurry of blue and white, alumni, students, and fans alike will flock to the University Park campus to raise the song. It's a time filled with celebration, reminiscing, and hope. So what better way to get in the State spirit than to take a trip down memory lane with the nearest and dearest friend of the early PSU student!

The student handbook. In the early days it really was a "hand book" in that it fit easily in a pocket or hand, and would have been the underclassman's touchstone. These books introduced the students to college life, from the expectations in behavior, dress, and social etiquette to information about the surrounding area, "village" (aka State College) publications, and local or university activities. They also advertised...a lot.

Our handbooks, the oldest we have being 1894-95, provide enthralling glimpses of what was important during certain eras. In a few of the earliest, the largest sections are dedicated to information about religious organizations around or on campus, and encouraged the student...well, required really...to find a place of worship and participate. Religion, to the late 19th/early 20th century student, was an important facet of his or her education, and a place to make important connections, both spiritually and socially. One handbook even suggests that you should put your books under your bed on Sundays, because you need a day of rest in order to tackle the rest of the college week. As time goes on, pictures, more rules, athletic/Greek directories, letters from the Deans and President, and cheers/songs were added into the books and the religious aspect was dropped completely.

It was also a class custom that underclassmen had to have these books on them at all times and could be asked--a la "your papers, please"--to produce them at any moment by upperclassmen. Freshman today, you think you have it bad trying to find your classes, move-in, and get all your books in the first week? Try being a freshman in 1926-27. Here are some of the more outrageous (by today's standards) year-round customs that were required:

1. The privilege of going bareheaded is limited to seniors.
...
16. Freshmen shall at all times keep off the grass and on the cinder paths.
...
25. Freshmen shall not be associate with ladies within a three-mile limit of Old Main except at regular house party periods, or when attending authorized dances, or when escorting to and from such dances...

Dinks, the caps worn by Freshmen men during the early 20th century

On that note, women had their own separate rules to abide by when at college. As late as 1939-40, strict curfews abounded and the times they started depended on the occasion and your class standing (freshman vs. senior). Ladies of PSU not only had codes that applied only to freshmen, they had codes that were strictly enforced applying to their entire gender!

6. Freshman (first semester) may have association with men off campus or in dormitories up until 5:45 p.m. on weekdays, after which time there will be absolutely no association with men.

Dormitory rules: ...Any girl leaving town for the night or week-end must secure permission from the hostess and sign out with the checker-in of her dormitory...

General rules: All girls are subject to the W.S.G.A. regulations while in State College. Girls may not remain away from the dormitory overnight or stay in fraternity houses during Spring or Fall Houseparty. Girls may be in fraternities only when two or more couples are present.

If freshmen missed all the rules in their handbook they could also be reminded of their place via Proclamations. These were made by the upperclassmen and reminded the incoming class of their tenuous position in the university pecking order. So, if you were caught without your handbook, you could always look to the walls of campus to find these posters.

Uh, I guess they really mean business!

If the skull and crossbones didn't get it across, this other poster illustrates the consequences of freshmen transgressions.

The pictures on this one are a laugh riot. Crying babies capped in dinks!

You really couldn't miss their point. You were going to make a mistake at some point, and when you did...there would be an upperclassman to see it, and they were going to punish you. I mean, seriously. Look at all those rules! College really was a way of life to the student back then.

The rules, rendered into delightful prose!

All in all, today's PSU is a different place. Our handbooks are no longer hand-sized (they are 8.5"x 11"), and they don't cover curfews or rules about campus etiquette. So freshman of the 21st century, fear not. You won't be paddled for walking on the green or forgetting to wear your dink. However, I'm sure (though I don't speak for all of us) librarians and archivists alike would agree with this section of the old handbook:

Okay, so there's no more card catalog; it's now the CAT. You get what I mean.

Enjoy Homecoming Weekend and Fight on, State!
-Alex

Special Collections Gallery Talk Highlights Picture Books for Children

A Special Collections Gallery talk on Wednesday, October 10, at 4:00 p.m. in the Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, will highlight a new exhibition in the Special Collections Library. “Heinrich Hoffmann’s Stories for Children and the Emergence of the Modern Picture Book,” opening on October 8, will explore the work of Hoffmann (1809–1894), a German psychiatrist whose most popular book, Struwwelpeter, has delighted children on both sides of the Atlantic since its first publication in 1845.

Gerhard F. Strasser, professor emeritus of German and Comparative Literature at Penn State, will introduce an engaging video featuring Frau Marion Herzog-Hoinkis, of Frankfurt, Germany. Herzog, whose late husband, Gerhard Hertz Herzog, was director of the Struwwelpeter Museum in Frankurt am Main, will give a lively, illustrated tour of the history and influence of the boy called Shockheaded Peter, as he is known in English, and will explain how there came to be a museum devoted to a fictional character.

The video, produced by Berlin videographers Alexander Kraudelt and Victoria Magali Herzog, is accompanied by the darkly humorous songs of the Tiger Lillies, a British trio often described as the forefathers of Brechtian Punk Cabaret. Their 1998 musical “Shockheaded Peter: A Junk Opera” set the stories of Heinrich Hoffmann to music.

Frau Herzog recently donated to the Special Collections Library some 300 items from her personal collection of editions, translations, imitations, and parodies of the story, many of them included in the exhibition. Early children’s books were moral tales about teaching virtues or etiquette. Hoffmann’s genius is that he turned such moral tales upside down and made fun of them with his exaggerated stories. The iconic status of Struwwelpeter is a testimony to Hoffmann’s radical and original influence on the modern picture book, where the text and the illustrations are integral and equal. His innovation was the birth of the funny picture book, whose legacy includes comic books and even the graphic novel. Hoffmann’s influence can also be seen in modern examples in the exhibition, including works by Edward Gorey and Maurice Sendak.

The exhibition draws on the extensive holdings of children’s literature in the Allison-Shelley Collection of German Literature in English Translation. A special feature of the display will highlight educational toys developed by the 19^th-century German educator Friedrich Froebel, who created the concept of the “kindergarten” and coined the word.

The gallery talk will be followed by a reception in the Mann Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library. The exhibition will run through January 25, 2013.

Modernity Banned

On Thursday, Oct. 4 from 4:00- 5:30 pm in the Mann Assembly Room, Paterno Library Jon Abel and Bill Brockman will present "Modernity Banned" as part of the fall 2012 Materials Text Workshops.

Celebrating “Banned Books Week,” this workshop will address the question how we read censored texts. The Material Text Workshop at Penn State engages participants in thinking about the parameters of book history/print culture studies and the variety of material sources on which these fields rely.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Archival Adventures (Let's Explore!)

In Garth Nix’s novel Lirael, archives and libraries hold special powers. They are dangerous, alluring places filled with ancient books seething with written magic, where the librarians equip themselves with swords and the knowledge that they might not come back if they wander into the wrong section. Behind every door, ancient secrets come to life from ink and paper and there’s no turning back once you look in.

It’s a good thing that those libraries are fiction (imagine the insurance bills!), but Nix’s imaginings do hold a bit of truth. If knowledge is power, then libraries and archives are weapons of mass construction. Don’t worry, in Special Collections, enchanted creatures don’t come springing out of our shelves and you won’t need a sword to peruse the archives. However, there’s something magical about exploring archives. Time seems to disappear and your research pile mysteriously grows taller. You find connections in history between people, places, and things you had no idea about when you started. The most important thing, though, is that you come away with a broader perspective, more understanding about what you're researching, and a greater desire to explore and learn.

On that note, with the start of the fall 2012 semester and the Pattee/Paterno Library Open House, I'd like to take you for a backstage tour of some things you don't get to see when you visit Special Collections. Unfortunately, while we can’t show you everything here on the blog, I thought I might unveil some of the mystery of where exactly we get all that stuff we bring out to you in the Reading Room. 

When you first walk in, you get a nice sample of some of the rare books, manuscripts, and items we keep here at Special Collections. The exhibits do change, so check back frequently to see the newest offering!

On display until September 24th is "The Land Grant Act at 150: Promoting Liberal and Practical Education at Penn State"

See the doors at the very back? This is our Reading Room. Come on in...just make sure to check in at the desk--out of frame on the right--first! If you're not quite sure of the procedure, please either visit our home page or read our Special Collections tutorial (#8 on the list is a walk-through of the Reading Room with pictures). Now to the part you don't normally get to see!

Behind the doors in the Reading Room, we've got offices, the processing area, and other things needed to keep Special Collections serving you and functioning day to day. Nothing too fancy, and nothing really too interesting for anyone who isn't working here. The really cool part, the heart of Special Collections, is one floor down...

This isn't even all of them.

Each of those shelves moves with the push of a button for even more storage space and accessibility. Just think, try to imagine for a moment, how much we have down here based on this one picture alone...now double it. Quadruple that and you might get a decent estimate near what we have in the main storage, cold storage, the Annexes, and our other storage rooms for Fred Waring's America and Blockson combined. I know I'm getting excited here, so bear with me, but the knowledge held in this picture is priceless. It would also take many, many years and lots of people to go through and harvest that knowledge completely, because we're still getting boxes of new material pretty much every day. 

Boxes upon boxes upon boxes. What will you find?

If you're an academic explorer, this place is the treasure vault that never runs dry.

Finally, I've gotten to the books. But we all know we had those down here!

Just for the heck of it, I also took a picture of one of our intern's pamphlet folder work since she so neatly laid them out to dry. These will be used to help preserve our more delicate pamphlets.

I've been working here nearly two years, gone through multiple tours during my time as a student, and I still get all excited just looking at the pictures. Actually getting to go down into the heart of Special Collections is a trial in maintaining my composure (aka not getting distracted or sidetracked). If you're like me, hunting for one book means you don't come back with it, but you do come back with 10 other books nowhere near the same subject as the original prey. I may not be in Nix's universe, but libraries and archives are still an exciting promise of adventure, learning, and mystery...just without all the physical danger.

So, if you like exploring history and want to find out more about Special Collections, come visit us during our Open House (September 12th/13th, 2012)! We look forward to seeing you there and continuing to help you research in the future. Otherwise, keep tuned for more archive adventures...I'll try to get some good stories, focus on interesting collections or specific items, and continue my search for intrigues and oddities!

-Alex