Another facet of collecting pens. Collecting journals and diaries.

[Bisquitlips]

Some people may think me strange, but I get that a lot so no problem here.

One of my favorite collections is of handwritten journals and diaries. Not my writings but that of others. I began collecting these around 1990 when I traveled to London and went to an antique street market in Greenwich.

While roaming up and down the outdoor aisles of old English clocks and Victorian hats I stumbled upon two journals, picked them up and began to read a few pages. The journals were written in the summer of 1940 during the Battle of Britain and, according to the author, many of the pages were written while she took refuge in the tube tunnels under the city during the actual blitz of London.

While writing she describes the sounds of the bombs falling above and the terrible experiences of her friends, family, and the other Londoners with her in that subterranean "crypt" as she refers to it. There were a couple of false alarms where the klaxons went off, but no bombs fell. In the journals she did say that when that happened that she and Bob went out of the tube and to a movie or to a pub.

Those two small journals hooked me. The page crevices where they meet the spine were still dusted with a fine concrete powder / grit which I have to believe fell from the ceiling of those tunnels during the bombings. You can almost taste the fear and dust and hear the rumble of the explosions overhead as you read this persons thoughts. She describes them so vividly it is as though she thought that these journals might be the only thing left of her during those times when the bombs fell.

From that time I have collected journals and diaries of other people where I could find them and if they were interesting and I am always impressed at the insight these give you into the minds of the writers. People always seem to be very transparent when writing of personal experiences. Much more so than just telling of them.

Another of the diaries I have is from the 1940's and journals a mother's search for her runaway son. Unfortunately the diary stops before you ever read whether she finds him, but it is still an engrossing emotional journey.

Another one, and one of the most candid that I have, is one of a teenage girl from the 1950's. This young lady is a 17 year old typical teenager, but you can tell that she writes in her diary as though no one but her will ever read her musings. How these diaries ever escape the family I will never know, but they do. I have another one of a young lady in the 1930’s that speaks often of her many romances (not explicitly) and of the many times she got “tight” which I think means drunk.

Another part of journal / diary collecting is that when I acquire one, I always attempt to trace down the original owner with the purpose of returning the journal free of charge. Of course this can only happen if there is enough information on the author contained in the text. I have never been successful, but I have a couple of acquaintances that have been and they said it was very rewarding to do so. I can only imagine what the original author of such a diary would experience as they receive in the mail that long lost book they penned as a young man or woman and thought was lost forever.

I also have a journal from a US Navy sailor in WWII that chronicled his exploits in the war as well as his adventures during shore leave. He was not shy in his descriptions. The diaries also contained photos of him taken by a friend as well as letters and other things stuck in its pages.

I currently have about 30 diaries and journals total and again it has been one of the most interesting of collections. The good ones are very hard to find as most people only journal of daily mundane experiences such as the weather, what they had for dinner, and family experiences, but there is that occasional jewel where a person decided to write their most private of thoughts. Those are priceless. Even though you don't know and probably will never meet the people who wrote them, they are still phenomenal.

It can be amazing what the world of fine writing instruments and ephemera will open you up to.

[Taffi Abernathy]

This was quite an interesting post. Your intrinsic interest in people's lives, motivations and experiences would have also held you in good stead had you opted to be a psychotherapist. I, too, am fascinated by autobiographies and biographies. More specifically, in real life, I find myself asking people how they arrived their present point. Sometimes we start on a particular trajectory but different experiences intervene and change our course. What a fascinating hobby you have there.

[2th Dr]

Interesting post Richard. Thanks for sharing!

[BarkMaster]

Very Insteresting!!!

I once got someone's journal among some other personal items as part of a storage facility auction... where people have quit paying for their storage unit, so by law the failicity sells off the contents to offset the charges.

Once I got home, I unsealed the first box and found a notebook. I started reading and instantly become engrossed in it. It was a daily journal from a girl and her struggle with parents, drugs, etc.

I started piecing the information in the journal with some of the personal items and was able to figure out that this girl was the daughter of a prominent wealthy family here. The information showed that by the time she was in her early 20's, she had blown through a $4 million dollar trust fund left by her grandparents.

Some of the items seemed to be family keepsakes and I felt obliged to see if I could get them back to the family. Could not find info on the girl, but I was able to contact her mother through their family business and made arrangements to bring the boxes there.

She was very appreciative. We never discussed the status of her daughter, but I could see the years of heartache in her mother's eyes that had been chronicled by the daughter. I am sure that her mom had never seen that journal before, so hopefully it gave her some information she found useful in some way.

[R1@160@alltimes]

Very interesting hobby, and stimulating posts. Thanks for sharing.

[Bisquitlips]

Originally Posted by 777

Very Insteresting!!!

I once got someone's journal among some other personal items as part of a storage facility auction... where people have quit paying for their storage unit, so by law the failicity sells off the contents to offset the charges.

Once I got home, I unsealed the first box and found a notebook. I started reading and instantly become engrossed in it. It was a daily journal from a girl and her struggle with parents, drugs, etc.

I started piecing the information in the journal with some of the personal items and was able to figure out that this girl was the daughter of a prominent wealthy family here. The information showed that by the time she was in her early 20's, she had blown through a $4 million dollar trust fund left by her grandparents.

Some of the items seemed to be family keepsakes and I felt obliged to see if I could get them back to the family. Could not find info on the girl, but I was able to contact her mother through their family business and made arrangements to bring the boxes there.

She was very appreciative. We never discussed the status of her daughter, but I could see the years of heartache in her mother's eyes that had been chronicled by the daughter. I am sure that her mom had never seen that journal before, so hopefully it gave her some information she found useful in some way.

Good on you!!! My compliments on doing this and going to the trouble. It is always a good thing that a journal like this falls into the hands of someone who cares more about people than they do about what they spent on it.