Treasures within treasures

There is a second hand bookshop that I stand outside everyday when I'm waiting for the bus but had never been into. Anyway so the other afternoon when my bus was running really late (they usually are in Auckland), I decided to finally pop in and have a look... well an hour later several buses had past me and I was still sitting cross legged on the floor flicking through pages. I ended up walking out with a shabby looking little book about housekeeping that was published in 1899!

The Expert Cleaner

Now not only is it full of very helpful tips on getting just about anything clean, but it also contained another little surprise for me. This fell out of the back of it...

Sorry it's very difficult to read, but it's actually an invitation from the President of the Wellington Horticulture Society for the Autumn Flower Show. It is dated Wednesday 27th April 1938! On the backside of the invite somebody has scribbled the recipe for an Almond cake with chocolate frosting, I'm very tempted to give it a go!


There was also a newspaper clipping with some additional cleaning tips in it but sadly no date on it.


Anyway it just reminded me of why I love second hand/ vintage things so much. It's knowing that you are holding onto a little bit of history, it's the imagining the people who had it before you, it's knowing that one day you will pass it on to somebody else.
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