PMS is making you crazy!
PMS: Premenstrual Syndrome
Berger
1984
I was ready to make fun of this book and then I remembered that no one really had identified PMS as a real condition back in the day, so I think this book is one of the first out there, at least for teenagers. However, the real issue is what is something this old doing in a current teen nonfiction collection? Think this helps? Also, take a look at the text toward the bottom of the post. I am sure all of you will appreciate the discussion of the reliability and stability of women in “responsible” jobs.
As an aside, the women this book was written for are now heading into menopause.
Just getting old and bitter,
Mary
Other “Periodic” Posts:
Lee Lan Flies the Dragon Kite
Lee Lan Flies the Dragon Kite
Herrmanns
1962
Submitter: Wow…the first paragraph of this book states: “Halfway around the world – where girls wear trouser and jackets instead of dresses – live Tang Lee Lan and her older brother, Tang Hing. We would call them Lee Lan Tang and Hing Tang, but in Hong Kong- their native land – the last name is always written first, just as it would appear in our telephone book.”
Ummm….what’s a telephone book?! SOOOO many things wrong with this book, that my brain has locked, and I have to stop…!!!
Holly: This is translated from Swedish. I wonder how much got lost in translation and how much is just plain OLD.
Friday Fiction: Celebrity Nurse
Celebrity Nurse
Gilmer
1974
After taking a peek at our feature Night Club Nurse or Cherry Ames, I got looking for more nurse titles from yesteryear. Thankfully there were quite a few choices in the local library. In this episode, our young nurse, Cathy Lewis has signed on to work for Acme Celebrity Service. (Cool business name!) This exclusive service provides all sorts of professional help to celebrities, including private duty nursing. (I wonder if they have personal librarians in the stable for celebrity research issues? I smell another series!) Oh and since we have been talking about sloppy book processing, yes that is a date due sticker partially covering the text of the inside flap.
Mary
While we are giving shout outs to nurse fiction, remember to keep health careers up to date. To remind you why, check out these old nurse career books:
The Shame of Pregnancy
Single and Pregnant
Pierce
1970
Looking at this book gives quite a glimpse into yesteryear. Those of you that are old enough remember a time when being pregnant and single made you a social pariah. When I was in high school, pregnancy was generally hidden and girls dropped out or went to night school. ( I got the feeling the idea was that pregnancy was something you could “catch.”) I can imagine that the public library was probably the only source of information available to young women facing these issues.
This book also suggests abortion as an option, as well as adoption, and covers the legal issues surrounding pregnancy. It is important to keep in mind that this book was published three years before Roe v. Wade and before the 26th amendment to the constitution giving voting rights to those who were 18. I could see this title being a potentially controversial choice for a public library.
According to WorldCat, most of the holdings are university libraries, but there are enough public libraries with holdings to be concerned. I just hope they don’t have this book sitting in a modern health collection. It is an interesting glimpse of history, though.
Mary
Other Related Posts:
Tie One On!
Sensational Scarfs
Straley
1984
I thought the plural of scarf was SCARVES.
Anyway, the information isn’t too bad. It is basic instruction on how to tie a scarf in different ways. Keep it, if you can’t find anything better or more current. The best picture is the scarf made into a rather flimsy top. I keep thinking if that poor model sneezes funny she could be showing off more than she intended.
If you look at the first picture below, I believe I had that exact hair and scarf accessory circa 1985-86. It was my “professional” look. I am sure I just oozed professional woman power!
Mary
We have featured another scarf arranging book in the past. Check out this Scarf Arranging post from 2010.
Big is Beautiful
Great Big Beautiful Doll
Everything for the Body and Soul of the Larger Woman
Reichman
1977
Kudos for addressing fashion of women of a larger size. I even appreciate the fact that they featured a more mature woman. Does it work for a current collection? I don’t think so. (For those of you keeping score, I was in high school when this was published and I believe Holly was a baby.)
Anyway this book is filled with photos of Reichman throughout in various states of undress. Exercising, dancing, modeling wigs, and assorted other beauty tasks. My entire office had a blast looking at these hilarious pictures and there is a part of me that admires the bravado of this book.
Enjoy!
Mary
The Teen I Want To Be
The Teen I Want To Be: Secrets To Modeling, Make-up, Fashion, Hair Styles
Green
1985
Submitter: This one is from my own library at home. Just to show even those of us who work in libraries can hold onto awful books!
The real title of this should probably be “The Teen My Mother Wants Me To Be.” She’s trying to claim this was a school project but judging from the writing inside I was in 6th grade when I got this. (Yes, I couldn’t spell “pretty” correctly in 6th grade, apparently. Nor “blonde.” To be fair I was going through some things and just Did Not Care at that point.) And since my 6th grade teacher believed that people should take a bath once every 3 days and never use antiperspirant or mouthwash – according to her Listerine was poisoning our water table – I sincerely doubt she gave this to any of us girls as a school project. (She also used to say that robots were going to take over all our jobs and it was all Reagan’s fault and that we’d all die in the coming ice age due to global cooling.)
Holly: This is not a self-esteem booster. It feels like a “you’re not good enough but if you try these techniques you might have some friends” book. It is also too old to be useful or interesting to today’s teenagers. (It doesn’t tell you how to get more Facebook friends, so it’s basically useless.)
Medical Mishap
How to Avoid Unnecessary Surgery
Williams
1971
Why on earth is this still in a public library health collection? I am not even going to speculate how insanely outdated the material in this book must be. What was a great choice in the early 70s is now a joke at best and dangerous at worst. If you really need to feel old, and outdated, check the cost estimates for typical surgeries.
Mary
Remarkable Writing Machine
Remarkable Writing Machine
Behrman
1981
The “highly complex word processors of today,” huh? Well, not really. I’m sure it has some interesting information on the history of the typewriter, but that’s not a good enough reason to keep it. A good typewriter history book would have to include those pseudo-computer machines like the Smith-Corona I used in college in the early 1990s, more than ten years after this book was published. It saved files and everything. I was so modern! (Ok, I was poor and it was the best I could do.)
Even poor libraries can do better than this. It’s called Wikipedia.
Holly
More great old-technology posts:
You know, a television-typewriter thing….
Friday Fiction: Chartbreaker
Chartbreaker
Cross
1986
(First published in GB as Chartbreak, 1986)
Submitter: Apparently, I need to call in the Ghostbusters. I just weeded fiction, but some gremlin keeps sneaking 80′s titles back on the shelf! A quick Google search shows attempts at updating the cover art. It’s already a challenge to keep teens interested in reading. Stuff like this really makes the school library look out of touch.
Holly: All that’s missing from the cover is a keytar!
