Zephyr Used & Rare Books Fall Bonanza

Zephyr Used & Rare Books has issued their Fall Bonanza Catalogue. They offer an indescribably varied collection of items, so there is no point trying to describe them. They range from the common to “the exceedingly scarce,” including some that are “entirely unique.” Among the larger groups are items from the library of California State Librarian Gary Kurutz, who wrote about the California, Alaska, and Yukon Gold Rushes, and 20 Leo Politi children's books, many with signatures and original art. Unless your interests are very limited, like a single author who isn't Leo Politi, you are bound to find something you like here. These are a few random examples.

Connecticut was not a very liberal place in early Colonial days. The laws were puritanical, the punishments harsh. We begin with The Code of 1650, Being a Compilation of the Earliest Laws and Orders of the General Court of Connecticut... which includes some earlier town laws and Blue Laws. The Code was compiled by Roger Ludlow, likely the only lawyer in Connecticut at the time. Connecticut had earlier prepared a document often considered the first constitution in America. Ludlow's Code covered expected crimes like theft but also more personal offenses most people today would consider none of government's business. Some laws included defying parents if over 16 (the penalty was death), blasphemy (death), sodomy (death), and witchcraft (of course, death). Salem, Massachusetts, is better known for witch trials, but Connecticut had its share. Such offenses as smoking in public, chewing tobacco, and swearing were punished only by fines. Other crimes, such as fornication, were punishable with whippings. Bestiality would get you both a whipping and imprisonment. Corporal punishments, imprisonment, or fines were applied to various offenses with Indians, such as trading with them, living with them, or selling arms or dogs to them. No puppies for you. Ludlow would himself preside over a witch trial, but fortunately, all is well that ends well. The Connecticut legislature absolved all crimes of witchcraft and familiarity with the devil in 2017. Better late than never. Offered is an early Silas Andrus edition published in 1825. Item 119. Priced at $200.

Item 177 is the prison diaries and other assorted items from Staff Sgt. Leon Ochs, who was shot down over the North Sea during World War II. He ended up in Stalag Luft XVIIB, portrayed in film and television as Stalag 17. He spent 21 months in a place not nearly as disorganized and pleasant as that depicted in Hogan's Heroes. They endured long, repeated inspections, cold showers, inadequate rations where many lost half their weight, and yet they would share rations with the even more deprived Russian prisoners. The Germans had nothing in particular against Americans but they hated the Russians. He writes of being shot down, getting out with his parachute, and being picked up by a German boat. He describes the prison camp, of getting nightmares, and typhus in the camp. He learns to communicate with his German guards, and as time goes by, of hearing that Finland had fallen to the Allies, Italy collapsing, D-Day - “Boy!! We sure heard the big news to-day. The invasion has realy started now we're sure. We're the most happiest bunch of guys there is now.” However, he also writes of inadequate rations and days without food. Red Cross packages are essential, but sometimes meat is pilfered from them first. Then come the air raids – “Wow! What a night again.” On August 29, 1944, he writes “Had the biggest air raid we seen yet to-day, I betcha there were a thousand planes, and not even one fighter after them.” Finally, on April 8, 1945, all of the Americans are forced to move across the country ahead of the advancing Soviet Army. They walk in wooden shoes or shoes falling apart, no food or water, until reaching the Danube River five days later. They pass a Concentration Camp, and “oh what a place that was. Seen some bad messes on the road which some people wouldn't like.” Then, on May 2, 1945, Patton breaks into Austria. At last, they are found and liberated by a tank captain. “This is the day we been waiting for a long time.” Ochs was a Jewish American paper mill worker and one presumes he didn't mention that fact. $8,500.

See America First was the slogan of a movement that encouraged Easterners in particular to visit the American West, rather than going to Europe to vacation. It would be adopted by all sorts of businesses that thrived off the tourist trade. The idea was to focus all Americans' attention on their own land and helped unify a nation that warred against itself a few decades earlier. Railroads, airlines, and automobile manufacturers all participated in the movement. Item 26 is Arizona the Wonderland, by George Wharton James. Certainly the dramatic scenery, cliff dwellings, ruined pueblos, and the missions would appeal to those from the East who had never seen such a place. Published in 1929, this was part of the “See America First” series. By this time, a series of National Parks across the West were calling to American tourists to visit. Item 26. $75.

This brochure, circa 1927, encouraged people to “See America First” with assistance from Hertz Driv-Ur-Self Stations. People weren't doing many cross-country road trips quite yet as the first real national road system was still a few years away, so it recommended “Air-Rail-Water...and when you get there Rent A Car Drive It Yourself.” Hertz, founded by Walter Jacobs less than a decade earlier, then sold to John Hertz (whose name stuck), and then General Motors, had already grown to a major business in that short time. There was a need for its services. The brochure contains a map of Washington, Oregon, and California, locating the Hertz stations. Item 64. $150.

Here is an elephant folio album of material from the Charles M. Storm Co., producers of television shows for a long list of clients. You may not be familiar with these shows, but then again, you probably weren't watching TV in 1944. Not many were. You may not have even known that it existed that early. In 1944, there were roughly 5,500 privately owned television sets in America, most in New York City. There were only six broadcasting stations, three in New York, one each in Philadelphia, Chicago, and Schenectady. The networks were NBC and DuMont. Broadcast hours were generally limited to 7:00 p.m.-11:00 p.m. These programs weren't captured on film, so photos are all that remain from them, most undoubtedly in this album. Nonetheless, these photographs indicate they were surprisingly professional looking creations. Among those Storm produced for were Esquire, Alfred Dunhill Ltd., Official Detective Magazine, Mechanix Illustrated, American Red Cross, U.S. Army Ordnance, U.S. Chemical Warfare, the WACS (recruiting) and WAVS. This was wartime. Major shows included Gay Nineties (March 22, 1944) and The Boys from Boise (Sept. 28, 1944). Now you can view hundreds of channels 24 hours a day but I'm not sure the quality has improved all that much. Item 171. $7,500.

Zephyr Used & Rare Books may be reached at 360-695-7767 or zephyrbook@gmail.com.