I bought this beat-up paperback at a library sale in Springfield, Illinois for 50 cents. Some prior owner had scribbled 'this is where the ghost gets him' next to every single page, and I kept flipping ahead to check his spoilers. He was wrong like 90% of the time, which made me realize I was reading for his commentary instead of the story. Now I flip through any marked-up book before I start, and I just ignore the notes entirely... has anyone else ever had a margin writer ruin a good scare for them?
Picked up this old diary from a yard sale on the south side of Spokane for like 8 bucks, written by some rancher's wife in 1924. She wrote on the inside cover, 'If you think you know weather, wait an hour.' Sure enough, that afternoon a dust storm rolled in out of nowhere and wrecked my plans to photograph the wheat fields. I normally ignore those margin notes people leave in old books, but this one had exact dates of storms matching local records. Has anyone else found a random scribble or handwritten caution in a used find that actually paid off for real life?
Picked up a mason jar full of recipe cards at an estate sale in Wichita last Sunday, tried the molasses cookie one, and my kitchen smelled like burnt rubber for 3 hours. Turns out the card called for 'butter substitute' which was actually lard, but the handwriting was so faded I read it as 'butter substitute' twice before checking under a UV light. Anyone else found old cooking notes with cryptic shorthand that ruined your batch?
Found this beat-up Boy Scout handbook from 1934 at a library sale and the knot diagrams are unreal, but half the advice like eating pine needles feels like a trip to the ER. Anyone else grabbed old outdoor guides and ended up torn between following them or just framing them for the shelf?
Picked up a stained Betty Crocker book at a garage sale in Ohio for $2 and a folded magazine page fell out when I opened it. It was a full color ad for margarine with this wild before and after photo of a butter dish, same picture but one had a drop of water on it. The caption said the margarine "stays fresh" while butter gets watery, which is basically false science from 46 years ago. It made me wonder how many other old ads got slipped into books as bookmarks, have you guys ever found something like that with a weird claim?