A Wonderful Time

Today for a change we just drove around looking for signs, as nothing stood out in the newspaper listings, and it seemed pointless trying to decide which ad had the most promising version of "something for everyone". Turns out we drove luckily, as the first was really good- a moving sale of a former ad man, and we picked up some old Art Directors Annuals and some other cool odds and ends. The middle was a few hours of driving around from toys to Nascars to baskets and the usual nothingness, but it was sunny and fun. However from that we came to a really great moving sale in Cape Elizabeth. This was our last stop of the day, at around 1 o'clock. Why these fantastic books were still there is a mystery. Being an easy mark for any old Tolkien, I got all punchy when I saw these -geek alert- pirated LOTR Ace paperbacks and the rare "lion" cover of The Hobbit, along with old hardcovers of Smith of Wootton Major, Farmer Giles of Ham, and Tom Bombadil- Nice! Also a ton of James Thurber, which is always fun to paw through, some old Wyeth family books and catalogs, and some 60's and 70's bohemian stuff, among which was this Ecology/Earth Day silkscreen from 1970. Balancing all this was the rare find of a nice first edition of Slim Aarons' 1974 book 'A Wonderful Time', his photographic journey through the backyards and playgrounds of the rich, jet-set, and favored few. We grew up with this book, a gift from Commander Whitehead to my grandfather Meyers, but I haven't seen it in years.

Definitely a wonderful time, Saturday.

(Commander Whitehead)

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