Bookishly's Hidden Treasures - Part One!

We have a lot of gorgeous old books here at Bookishly. Every once in a while we are lucky enough to find hidden treasures nestled within their pages. More often than not these small delights appear to be of no particular value, but on occasion they can hold a somewhat more significant sentiment.

The best part of discovering these little gems is trying to piece together the stories behind them. Playing detective is fun! There is something so magical about uncovering even the smallest snippet of forgotten history. It allows an incredibly authentic insight to what the past, albeit society’s or an individual’s, was really like.

We hope you all enjoy reading about these hidden treasures as much as we loved finding them. Let us know what you think and any information to aid our existing research is more than welcome!

1960's Nightclub Leaflet

A flyer which gives the recipient free entry into La Poubelle - a 1960's nightclub based in London’s Soho.

We asked Lisa (our lovely, very well-travelled administrator) to translate it for us. Let’s be honest, who can trust those online search-engine translators?!

First off, La Poubelle = The Bin. Inviting!

“First disco. In continental London with bar and restaurant. Open every night from 8. Present this card at the entrance. Thank you.”

We love that this is around fifty years old! Does anybody have any first-hand experiences of La Poubelle? We'd love to hear your stories!

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Fire Safety Leaflet

This leaflet was in such good condition that we were surprised to find that it is, at the very least, fifty years old! It was published by the The Central Council for Health Education which was an establishment run between 1927-1968.

We’d guess at this being distributed in the mid-sixties, but please let us know if you carry a more informed and exact estimate. We would love to know!

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Postcard and Bookmark Selection

Left to right:

Far left: A bookmark from Turnowsky.

A global brand that designs and produces luxury and very lovely paper products!  

Second left: William Shakespeare postcard.

Printed and published by Jarrold. This portrait was painted during Charles II’s reign and can be found in the collection belonging to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Top centre: Postcard of Haworth Church and Sunday School in 1939.

Printed and published by Walter Scott. This picture is the actual view from the Brontë Parsonage. Pretty cool!  

Bottom centre: Postcard of the Scottish flag.

Published by Pyramid. This postcard seems to have been purchased in St. Andrews. There is no written message but its intended address was all the way in Minehead, Somerset.

Second right: Postcard of ‘Noli me Tangere’ a painting by Graham Sutherland.

Published by Judges of Hastings. A postcard from Chichester Cathedral where the actual painting is available to view.

Far right: A bookmark promoting Lion’s Bluff.

Turns out that Lion’s Bluff is a collection of pretty amazing holiday lodges near Mt. Kilimanjaro in Kenya. We are incredibly jealous of whoever was lucky enough to stay there!

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 Photograph

We would absolutely love to reunite this photograph with its rightful owner! From our guesses, we’d date this photo back to the late 80s / early 90s. Any information would be gratefully received.

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This is only a tiny selection of the wonderful array of hidden treasures that we've found so far. We’ll be posting more of these little delights very soon.

Watch this space x