Show-n-tell: interesting (?) old books

[idrivejunk]

At Thanksgiving I was handed a small stack of Army literature from smack dab in the thick of WWII. Smallest to largest:

Ordnance Noncom's Handbook (restricted) OS-95, June 1944.

Basic Field Manual. Infantry Drill Regulations FM 22-5, August 4, 1941 + FM 22-5*c3 (changes) September 10, 1943.

Ordnance Maintenance. Electrical Equipment (Delco-Remy) TM 9-1825A January 12, 1944.

Ordnance School Text. Handbook for Ordnance Officers, Vol #1. OS 9-55 vol 1 (restricted) March 1943.

The Officer's Guide, June 1944 edition (hard bound) includes a folded sheet marked Mil-6 that outlines honor and principles for the Ordnance Officer in training.

This one is my favorite so far. Large thin hard bound coffee table book with thousands of staff pictured shortly after V-J day. Sort of like a school yearbook:

Sketchbook. OR & DC, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD.

A couple blurbs from that last one... we had a bomb wind tunnel that could do 1,300 mph and a 914mm mortar that would lob a 3,750 lb projectile about 9,400 yards. Dubbed "Little David" as in Goliath. To crack the Seigfried Line.


Any of that interesting? Maybe you can see if these are worth anything was the sentence when book stack was handed over. I am digging reading some of it.

Want to see? Whadda you got thats a noteworthy old book? I might have a couple old automotive books or comics also but am betting youse mugs are clinging onto some cool books too.

[chimp koose]

I think I have some Canadian military issued shop skills training manuals from the WWII era .

[kb426]

I have nothing that old. I think I have nothing older than 1962.

[idrivejunk]

Well to answer the value question, the books do have some. $17, $35 maybe.

Being an electrical numbnuts, I could probably learn stuffs from the Delco-Remy one.

Somewhere around here and in poor condition, theres an "Illustrated Treatise on Self Propelled Vehicles" from 1908 thats kinda neat.

[jaybee]

That's very cool stuff. I once read a book about the B17 bomber. The latter part of the book reprinted the crew manual for the aircraft. Nothing about the weapons onboard or details about engine internals, just what the crew was required to know. Still, amazing stuff, obviously way beyond "the fuel goes here."

[idrivejunk]

Further perusal does prove captivating. And things Grandpa said are clearer as I read on. What is immediately obvious is the "mash the gas and get there fast" factor. I took that phrase from a country song but the intent is that of the "ox in ditch" biblical principle.

All peaceful folks young or old really need a friend, neighbor, relative, or kind stranger that is serious about their well being. Firey hoops or not.

When the call for action came, expansion of the facility in response was astounding. Leaders alert and already seasoned in whirlwind expansion and development were crucial. Civilian and noncom staff numbers skyrocketed and breakneck facility construction was constant. Only every fiftieth or hundredth unit of things with wheels could be checked thoroughly for flaws, in the name of production speed.

They rose to the challenge and made things snappy. Rapid restructuring of divisions and units and duties thereof, so which building you work in under whose command was pretty much week-to-week, ever changing. Those challenges set the stage for postwar glory because after V-J day a whole fleet of war-wisened leaders hit the streets. Alongside the masses of now more skillful workers, in a society ravaged by casualties. The little pics in a book don't do them justice but are quite glamorous compared to the recognition given to the fighting men.

Stumbled onto the sketchbook write up on the section Grandpa described. He did say much time was spent smoking cigarettes because there wasn't nothing else to do. But yeah, well not exactly. Such a call to duty today might just fall on deaf ears and undoubtedly encounter resistance from our young adults.

Theres a whole raft of emotions within them old books. Reference is made to a far reaching highly classified scientific element that well... did put us where we are now as a race.

Interesting. Very interesting.

[idrivejunk]

One pic defines "restricted" literature.

The other is inside cover art from the "Sketchbook", Aberdeen Proving Ground 1945.

In the 90s a sex scandal occurred there and some folks went to prison. Grandpa had already passed by then but he would have made a sour face at that.

[WZ JUNK]

I have a few old ones.  This book titled "Automobile Refinishing" was published in 1933.  It has a chapter that is well written about painting pearlescent.  I did my first pearlescent paint job in the 80's and I thought it was a new process then.

[kb426]

The book about painting shows that painters have struggled forever.

[enjenjo]

I have a 1933 edition of Audel's Auto Repair Manual that was given to me by my grandfather in 1963. I also have a full set of Hollander manuals from 1926 to 1990, 47 editions.

[idrivejunk]

I have a 1978 Hollander but thats it.

Have two Goodheart-Wilcox "Automotive Encyclopedia"s, one from 1978 that taught me the Otto cycle and another from more recent years. They are textbooks but did not come from school.

What is pearl essence?

[kb426]

Pearl essence is any pearl paint. Many colors have pearl as part of the mix but I'm sure you remember doing or seeing the pearl in midcoat where as you walk around, the color changes to reflect the pearl.

[idrivejunk]

So... coated (?) mica.

Grandpa Ed claimed to know all the 4 digit part numbers for Model Ts. Ford house parts man early on. I was that way with 3M and paint line numbers at that age. But he said the refinish kit from Ford was four seperately packaged raw materials: Lamp black, pine tar, pumice, and maybe turpentine. As I recall his telling.

[idrivejunk]

More intriguing / compelling morsels from when the folks were little kids.

[kb426]

I've never seen a ration book before.