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Shoutout to the old guy at the estate sale who said nonfiction from the 1970s is a goldmine
I used to skip anything published before 1990 in those dusty boxes, but last Saturday I grabbed a 1974 book on tree grafting for $2 and it explained the process better than any YouTube video I've watched, so has anyone else found older reference books that just click better than modern ones?
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iris_stone2813d ago
My buddy runs a small engine repair shop on the side. He picked up a 1978 manual on small engine carburetors for a quarter at a garage sale. Dude said it had exploded diagrams and step by step instructions that made zero assumptions about what you already knew. Modern manuals apparently skip over the little tricks and assume you know all the basics already. He fixed a mower that had been sitting dead in his garage for two summers using that old book. So yeah I believe it about older reference books being better.
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rileygonzalez13d ago
My buddy bought a 1975 motorcycle repair book for five bucks at a flea market and it had a whole chapter on adjusting valve clearances with just a feeler gauge and a wrench. The new service manual for his bike just says "take it to a dealer" for anything past an oil change. Stuff like that really makes you appreciate how thorough the old guides were.
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