Terry Stillman sees cards, photos and letters left in books at his Jolly Olde Bookstore in Port Moody all the time.
What he doesn't see these days, as more and more people turn to the internet for news, information and entertainment, is people who are as keen about old books as he is.
But recently, just before the holiday season kicked into high gear, a family of readers popped by and snapped up three books by Charles Dickens — A Tale of Two Cities, The Pickwick Papers and Martin Chuzzlewit — and the children's book Wee Willie Winkie by Rudyard Kipling, all published in England at the turn of the century and all in great condition.
"Vinyl made a bit of a come back, maybe books will too," says Stillman as he regards with bemused enthusiasm the excitement shared by the Dunlop-Mysynuk family at the acquisition of these treasures.
But there is more to these books than meets the eye.
HIDDEN TREASURE
When the family returned home with their newly acquired old books, they found not just yellowed pages and a scrawled signature dating back more than 100 years years (two of the books were owned by W. Y. Beattie, who signed them in 1903) but, also, cards and newspaper clippings left between the pages by former owners.
One of the findings was a page of the Daily Graphic from 1905, discussing several localities in London that were featured in Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities and, stuffed between the pages of The Pickwick Papers, were clippings and cards advertising CBC radio broadcasts of the Pickwick Papers during the holiday period of 1948.
Unearthing these treasures from between yellowed pages did not come as a surprise to Stillman, who said he sees these kind of mementoes left in books all the time.
But for Port Moody resident Crystal Dunlop-Mysynuk, who purchased the books and found the notes, it was a link to another era.
"This is like time travel," Crystal, a former nurse, joked.
BACK TO THE FUTURE
Indeed, the books and cards look like something from the Victorian era, a memory of an earlier time, before TV and Youtube, when people snapped up Dickens' serial stories for a halfpenny.
A history buff who enjoys heritage architecture, Crystal purchased the books for her daughters so they would have something to look back on when they are adults. Now, though, daughter Jaimison says she prefers videos to books, although she admits that might change.
Husband Greg was just as intrigued as his wife by the books and the hidden gifts inside.
As for Stillman, a kind of Dickensian Bob Crachit figure in his crowded bookstore in one of Port Moody's turn-of-the-century buildings, the family's excitement suggests there might be a future for his book store, which sells second hand books and records.
"It's always nice when young people come in and are still interested in books," he said. "That really warms my heart."
