- old banknotes of from the World War II era - some Japanese, some German with burned edges
- an airline boarding pass from Liberia in west Africa to Fort Worth, Texas,
- an ad from the 1950s: ‘Rinsing Dacron Curtains in Milk Makes Them Crisp, Stiff, Just Like New.’
- a gold ring set with a small diamond
- two printed lists of upcoming operations at a hospital
- 40 pressed four-leaf clovers
- a condom (unused)
- a holographic image of a lady who sheds her clothing
- a marriage certificate from 1879
- a valid driver’s licence
- a pair of scissors
- a cockroach (dead)
- a strip of bacon
- WW II discharge papers
- a child’s milk tooth
- a hotel serviette with a name and a room number scribbled on it – from Spain
- a WW II ration book (with stamps remaining)
- letters, torn out newspaper articles, shopping lists, business cards, postcards (send and unsent), family photographs, concert tickets, cryptic personal notes, theatre programme
What links did you come up with? In actual fact all of these items have been found inside returned library books/ second hand books. Fascinating yeah? You can see the full article at:
http://www.abebooks.com/docs/Community/Featured/found-in-books.shtml
Once you've checked it out try twenty minutes of writing. What might your character find in a book? Do they work in a second hand bookshop? Do they inherit a book? Using anything from above as a prompt, or your own imagination, try writing a piece of prose or poetry with 'found in books' as a prompt.
A Hamblen
