1860s Personal Notebook Memory Scrap Book, Civil War Era READ THE DESCRIPTION

  

1860s Personal Notebook Memory Book, Civil War Era. If you are a lover of history this small book will give you a glimpse of life in the 1860's, a time not long after the Civil War ended. I do not know where the original owner called home. I found it at an estate sale in Dyer, Tennessee, in a very large, 2-story, antebellum house that was wall-to-wall-to-practically-the-ceiling of every room literally packed and over-flowing with things truly old and antique. This little book is, without question, worn and tattered.

Several dates mentioned are 1867, which was not long after the end of the Civil War. This was a time when the south had suffered badly, and when things as seemingly as ordinary as paper and books were often unavailable to most people. I've wondered if this might have been the case when I turned the aged, worn pages? I wonder about this because at some point every page had been used for something-writing, practicing cursive writing, whatever.

Some of what you will see was written in pencil. Other comments in what appears to have been dark brown ink. On some of the pages I'm thinking a child may have simply scribbled here and there over what was written. Also, some of what you will see will require turning the book upside down as it seems not to have mattered to the person writing what was the top or the bottom of the pages. Most interesting, in my opinion anyway, is that perhaps 60 or maybe 70 percent of the pages, although previously used for pencil or ink writing, were then pasted over with newspaper articles. These newspaper clippings (none show a date) cover many recipes of the time and many how-to household hints and instructions, and even recipes for home-made medicines. Be aware that while the comments in the book are fascinating, and even if you read cursive writing, what you will discover will require patience if you intend to read everything. This small book is a piece of real history of the time.