c/lost-manuscripts

Found a 1970s recipe card with a torn corner, the missing bit changed the whole dish

Pulled a box of old recipe cards from a library book sale in Austin, and one card for "Aunt Ruth's Potato Casserole" had a corner ripped off right where the cheese amount should be. I made it twice, once guessing a cup and once using a half cup, and the texture went from gloopy to perfect. Anyone else find that a missing detail in an old manuscript makes you try way more variations than if the whole thing was intact?

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rowanjenkins•22d ago

Why did it take 14 years, a pawn shop in Reno, and a stranger's note to fix my research?

I spent years treating every stray pencil mark in margins as proof of someone's intent, then a librarian in Salt Lake City pointed out that spiral binding was invented in 1909 and my 'mysterious' holes in a 1902 diary were just a shop staple gone rogue. Now I catch myself asking if a 'manuscript' is actually a kid's homework gag before I spend a weekend cracking it like a secret code. What's the dumbest assumption you've caught yourself making about a fragment, and what tipped you off?

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richard_ramirez•24d ago

The librarian who told me to stop treating old notes like treasure

Overheard her say most marginalia in used books is just grocery lists and doodles, not hidden messages. Hit different because she showed me 3 examples from the 80s where people wrote phone numbers on recipe cards, now I read scribbles way more skeptical.

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angelab62•25d ago

A margin note in a 1972 atlas started a fight at my library

I found an old road atlas at the Goodwill in Boise with handwriting in the margins, stuff like "don't trust this bridge after rain" and "gas station closed, use the one on 5th." The dates on some notes line up with the early 80s, but a few look recent, maybe 2010s. So my question is, do we treat these as a real person's local knowledge or just vandalism? I showed the ladies at the circulation desk and half said it's a treasure, half said it's defacing library property. Has anyone else found notes that feel like a secret guide, and did you try to track down who wrote them or just leave it be?

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allen.quinn•26d ago

Found a 2003 letter in a library book at the San Diego central branch, still no idea who wrote it

I was digging through the mystery section for a rainy day read and this old paperback had a loose page sticking out. It was a handwritten letter, dated March 2003, addressed to someone named 'Dee' and it was about a dog that ran away. The writer was super upset, said they checked every shelter in the county for 4 days straight. No signature, no last name, just 'Love, M.' I checked the book's due date slip and the last checkout was 2005. I've been sitting on this for like 3 months now. Tried posting in a couple local facebook groups but nobody recognized the handwriting. Has anyone else found something like this and actually tracked down the person? How long did you keep at it before giving up?

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