Is it normal to love reading extremely out-of-date publications?

89% Normal
20 Comments

I just can't get enough of reading old reference books, pamphlets, magazines, etc. Basically any non-fiction book, that is at least 60 years old and older. And magazines from as little as 20 years old and older.

I have quite an extensive collection of books now that are all quite old and very awesome! My favorites are a couple of medical books from the early 1900's, a condensed encyclopedia from the 40's (awesome because it was published in the midst of WWII, Hitler was still listed as living, etc) and a business book from the mid-1800's.

I love everything about it, I feel like I'm back in time, I learn so many lost arts and skills, I use it to make or predict trends, I like the older style of writing and the old ways of doing things, I am always surprised, informed and greatly amused by any old non-fiction reading material!! I cannot resist looking through an old book!! I am powerless!!

Is this at all normal?

Voting Results
89% Normal
Based on 38 votes (34 yes)
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Comments ( 20 )
  • NoraBaker
    11 years ago

    I love you.

    One of the publications I treasure the most are a set of foreign fashion magazines from the 50's and 60's that I acquired a few years ago, with full and intact patterns. They come in very handy for a costume designer.

    Also, not old enough for your standards, my favorite is my 1964 hardcover edition of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.

    I feel like a kid talking about my favorite toys. Wanna play?

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      I just got a bunch of science and mechanics magazines from the 50's and a special revised atlas from Rand McNally for after WWII, it still had the original letter with it stating what it was and how it was sent out on request to anyone who ordered it who had happened to buy a Rand McNally atlas or globe during WWII, as of course things changed!!

      I love reading the ads in the old magazines. I had to laugh at the 'amazing' 21" color TV for $399...get this, it was a kit that you had to put together, and it "only" takes 25 hours!! It weighs 179 pounds! This particular magazine was from 1964.

      Another great thing about these science and mechanics mags is that there's sections for people to make suggestions on inventions or improvements. Oh how fun to read them and see what has come to pass, what was just terrible and ideas that have come to pass but not exactly as the person in the 50's imagined. For instance, there was a person wanting pictures on a roll in a frame so you could easily and often change the picture. Kinda like a digital frame....kinda....the desire is the same, just the means is so different! Pretty cool.

      I'm planning on cutting out some of the ads offering this or that and sending them in to the companies, if I can find any that are still open. I wonder what they'd do if they got a 50 year old request for a catalog or a free trial? lol. At least I might make someone's day more interesting?

      Oh, I also got a bunch of these crazy newsletters called The Ruff Times by a man named Howard J Ruff, what a nut! They're from the late 70's, he's predicting all kinds of doom! It didn't happen though, but interesting to read.

      I'm not really into fiction at all but I did buy a really nice copy of The Godfather from 1969, the first year it was published. It cost me a whole $1.25!

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      • NoraBaker
        11 years ago

        That's some fantastic stuff you just shared! The WWII atlas story reminded me of all the atlases and old map books I've purchased. That's one of my fetishes. There are some really nice ones in an enormous 70's book that show a certain country's geographical changes/evolution over the centuries.

        You should cut those ads out soon, send them in and let us know how it went! :D

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  • Frosties
    11 years ago

    I'm fascinated by this. I have lots of old books, of all types. I have science books from throughout the last century. But, like you, I'm fascinated with the more generic things like newspapers and periodicals.

    When I was researching the family tree, I was often at the local library, reading local newspapers from the past 150 years on microfiche. There's a national newspaper published since the 1700's which has endeavoured to put each edition online. Reading how things were reported in 1790, or 1844, or 1911, or 1963 is fascinating. History is all very well but reading about it when it was fact is just something else. Reading those archives was like having a time machine and I went back and looked at the sinking of the Titanic, World Wars, Krakatoa erupting, Crimea, the French Revolution, the fallout from the American War of Independence.

    Back to family history, I also consulted books in the "special" collections in one of the world's largest libraries. Books that you had to wear gloves to touch and have special implements to turn a page. I found records of my relatives' legal battles from the 1340's to the mid-1600's. It's strange to think they were written about my direct ancestors (and maybe in the presence of them) twenty-five generations ago.

    And finally, I've not only seen but touched a version of the Rosetta Stone which is not hundreds of years old but thousands. I actually put my fingers into the carvings made by a man or woman in a time before Jesus was said to have been born and was awed by it. That communion with the past is something I'll never forget.

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  • lc1988
    11 years ago

    I have a biology textbook from 1922. It's really a fun read. Bacteria were classified as plants and the last chapter is about genocide and creating a perfect race.

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    • Frosties
      11 years ago

      I read an article about eugenics from a 1911 newspaper which shocked me to the core. In the same paper there was an article telling men to forgive their women any indiscretions because their "little brains" were naturally flustered by "men's science" and are more suited to the tasks of keeping the house clean and tidy. I had to read it three times to make sure the author wasn't being sarcastic.

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      • lc1988
        11 years ago

        Yeah, It's pretty ridiculous. I was having a good laugh reading it...it would talk about something called a protoplasm. It's the substance in cells that gives them "life"...like a glorified cytoplasm I guess lol. Plus, on almost every topic, it starts out, "We're not really sure but here's what we think goes on..." haha. But yes, when I got to the last chapter, I had to read it a few times to make sure it was real. Alright, last line in the book is, "It is clear, however, that the sooner serious general attention is paid to racial betterment through eugenics the better it will be for mankind, both in the near and long distant future." Oh! and of course on diabetes, the solution they had at that time was pretty much we know sugar is important to the body but hey! just don't eat sugar and they survive a few years. ha. Interesting stuff.

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  • 53739
    8 years ago

    not normal, that's actually awesome!

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  • gncp
    11 years ago

    yeah me too! i love to read old classic books but i really havn't own an old original one. too bad :(

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  • alv1592
    11 years ago

    Do any of your magazines have Al Pacino in them? Like from his youth? If so, I totally want!!

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  • Legion
    11 years ago

    I love reading old books and magazines, I have some national Geographic magazines from 1948-70 (not all), popular maechanics 1978-1994, and a bunch of other magazines, from the 50s- 1999. one of my favorites is the july 1978. of the books, my favorites are the Time Life Mysteries of the unknown collection, (1988-1992)

    Also, a life magazine 36th anniversary book that highlighted events from 1936-1972

    the oddest book, a medical encyclopedia, first edition 1962.

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  • thinkingaboutit
    11 years ago

    i have the NY daily post from 1904 lol

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  • Angel_in_a_Glass_Dress
    11 years ago

    nothing wrong with enjoying nostalgia.

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  • Darkoil
    11 years ago

    We have shit loads of really old sets of encyclopedias, some of them are really cool.

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  • Shackleford96
    11 years ago

    I enjoy them sometimes. Are you familiar with public domain books? If not, look it up. There are whole websites dedicated to them!

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  • NeuroNeptunian
    11 years ago

    I love reading atheist publications.
    To each their own.

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  • dinz
    11 years ago

    Granddad collected alot of Newspapers some dated as far back as the 1930s. It's so interesting especially the ads. I recalled seeing an ad one paper that dated in the 1980s pricing a VCR over $3000!

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  • Avant-Garde
    11 years ago

    Same here:) I love older books often more so than I like modern ones. There's something so beautiful and simple about made and set years ago. I miss how older books where made as well.

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  • [Old Memory]
    11 years ago

    Sounds normal (: & quite interesting tbh x

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  • Anime7
    11 years ago

    I am the same. My favorite novels were written in the early-mid 20th century.

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