Sometimes I jump back and forth from the computer to the repair bench when I am fixing an old book. I try to just get to business and do the work efficiently, but, inevitably, I get drawn in by the content of the books. It's like going going back in time and getting caught up in another world. Instead of surfing the net, I'm surfing the content of the old volumes.

Yesterday I was cleaning up a couple of copies of The Boy Mechanic, from 1915 and 1925. They were compilations of "how to" articles written for boys, published by Popular Mechanics. There were detailed plans for making all sorts of things from a home movie camera, to snowshoes, bobsleds, skiffs, and gliders. How to make a carrying handle for your cuspidor. A tip for holding your straw hat on your head, and a variety of magic tricks. And who would have thought croquet was so popular that you'd need a tip for night play? I could have browsed for hours, and I was sorry we sold them so quickly before I had a chance to copy some of those old plans.

It's even more fascinating when you are looking at very old material like Salmon's English Physician, or, the Druggist's Shop Opened, a 17th century volume on pharmacy which I'm repairing for a friend. It's an incredible dictionary of information on just about every possible substance which was used for drugs in the late 17th century.

But I'm going to have to save that for tomorrow because I'm running late today...