What is an "Anti-Scrapbook Scrapbook" all about?? Come hither & I will tell you. When I was young, think elementary school age, I had a scrapbook. A much beloved scrapbook, filled to overflowing with all the important memorabilia of a young girl.
The cardboard insert of a Doeskin purse pak of tissues with the race car drivers autograph from Utica-Rome Speedway-In there. The birthday cards from Parents,Grandparents,siblings & friends-Got it. Tickets, brochures from places we had visited. Words to the Christmas music we sang at school, all in there & more.
The really special Valentine card from Mom & Dad, a paper cut-out of a blonde girl in a pink dress, called "Molly" with a pocket in her dress with a tiny replica doll in it, so that "Molly & her Dolly" could wish me a Happy Valentines Day. Molly & Dolly had their very own page, pasted in with , you guessed it- school paste. Remember the white paste with its applicator in the center of the jar & the strong odor? Do children still use paste? It seems you invariably didn't close the jar tight enough & then you had hard dried paste that was good for nothing. (Except for small children eating a chunk now & then....& why do kids eat odd & nasty things that can't possibly taste good anyways? But that is rumination for another day.)
My Scrapbook had a simple,lightweight cover,much the same as you'd find on coloring books, filled with plenty of newsprint paper pages. I didn't worry about how it looked. I recollect I used every kind of adhesive in it- tape,paste,liquid glue, rubber cement that came in a brown plastic bottle with a rubber- red slanted tip, slit, so the yellowish glue could be smeared all over the approximate designated spot. I used staples, too. Not the artistically arranged & promoted staples of today, but simply to hold those tricky pieces onto the page.
The pages became quite heavy, according to how many interesting things I felt had to be preserved. Ripped,torn pages were easily acquired if you weren't fastidiously careful how you turned the pages.I kept that Scrapbook for a long time. But, as most vestiges of our childhood are discarded, so went the Scrapbook. I did pull out one thing & kept it for awhile longer, it was my favorite card-"Molly & her dolly". I would take it out every now & then, pull "dolly" out of the pocket & then replace it.Eventually, she ended up in the scrap heap also.
The book had no planning, pages weren't color coordinated nor dressed up in the latest scrap booking accessories. There weren't any no-acid, low-acid papers or adhesives. No page protectors. Pages got ripped. Yellowed tape hung off the edges of cards & pictures. The backs of staples were evident on the other side & could catch & tear at your skin if you weren't careful. Pages were bubbled & rippled with glues & paste... and yet,it never failed to give me delight. Whether the process of attaching my newest treasures or carefully flipping through the pages, it brought joy. A simple childish pleasure.
See that lovely covered scrapbook pictured above- it's my "Anti- Scrapbook". It's not like my expansive one from childhood, but I'm just filling it any old which way. It does have page protectors, & I've got some scrapbook paper. But I'm not matching colors or rearranging pages. I'll put something "cute" on it only if I'm in the mood. I'm going to put the flotsam & jetsam of my life in paper & pictures in there. The tickets to the play I saw with Dan. A picture I was given of me & my siblings over ice fishing on Oneida Lake, all bundled up in our snowmobile suits. A newspaper article about my Great Grandparents. The little things that touch my day & bring forth a fond memory, a gentle smile.
So, go ahead, you modern day scrappers. I admire you. You are artistic. I love looking at your albums. You're talented, with matching colors & photo themes. Your scrapbooks are works of art that carefully preserve moments of life.
Even though this new, little scrapbook I'm tossing things in isn't quite that primitive, it still gives me the simple pleasure that my newsprint girlhood one did.... without all the glue bubbles!
Whatever or however you're holding onto your memories, whether a box with things tossed in or a carefully made & treasured Scrapbook, the important thing is to enjoy the moments of your life! God bless, Jill
