Showerthought: the guy at the estate sale in Akron handed me a 1911 dictionary with the spine held on by electrical tape and said "that's how you know it was loved"

Jesse Wells · 2026-10-19T06:30:06.236948+00:00

I went to an estate sale last Saturday in Akron mostly for the old cloth and ended up in a basement full of water damaged books. This older man picked up a Webster's from 1911, spine split clean through, pages hanging by a thread, and instead of putting it down he started telling me his grandmother read it to him every night. I told him I could reback it with some linen and hide glue for maybe $20 in materials and he just smiled and said electrical tape was good enough for her so it was good enough for him. I stood there holding a roll of thread and honestly didn't know what to say back. He bought it for $2 and walked out with it under his arm like a trophy. Made me wonder how many people out there want their beat up books fixed and how many want them left exactly as they are, tape and all.

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Showerthought: the guy at the estate sale in Akron handed me a 1911 dictionary with the spine held on by electrical tape and said "that's how you know it was loved" | Bookbinders - Rigidtalk