I've had a few used books that the previous owner has stashed documents and pictures inside. One had a very dull letter home from what I assumed was someone in the US occupation force from 1947. Another had an honorable discharge certificate and certificate of veteran eligibility. Far and away my favorite is a large glossy photo of a red head in a Wehrmacht top and garters and boots holding a Luger in front of a swastika banner. It had never occured to me before that fell out of the book that there are people with a taste for Nazi type erotica. Tipping the book and spreading the pages is now the first thing I do with any used book I get. I imagine this has happened to quite a few of you who buy older used books. What have you found?
Nothing real exciting, but here's what I've found: The Lafayette Flying Corps Vol 2 (Hall & Nordhoff) - an article about the Lafayette Escadrille from July 29, 1916 issue of Collier's magazine Fighting the Flying Circus (Rickenbacker) - a former library copy from "Custer High School," it still has the book card in the pocket on the inside back cover (4 names and due dates pencilled in), and the "Date Loaned" paper glued to the last page (with a couple stamped dates) The Fourth Marine Division in World War II (Proehl) - several items: "Station List" (marked RESTRICTED), dated 30 Sept 1945; a typed poem "What do you do with the office boy when he comes back a major?"; copies of 2 letters attesting to the good character of presumably the book's first owner; a certificate authorizing shipment of listed items by book's first owner The Foxes of the Desert (Carell) - a not-very-favorable review of the book, clipped from the July 1961 issue of Army magazine Follow Me ! (Johnston) - cover letter from Gen. Clifton Cates, dated 15 Dec 1948, that probably accompanied the book when delivered to the first owner United States Destroyer Operations in World War II (Roscoe) - copy of Oct 1981 issue of The Tin Can Sailor newsletter These books were all owned by different people.
Actually I thought some of your finds were pretty interesting. And the poem sounds just downright funny
I think the most interesting was a Shellback certificate and newsletter dated 10 April 1946 from the USS General William Weigel. The ship according to the newsletter was at 34 degrees 15', 134 degrees 30' at 2000 the night before enroute to San Francisco from Manila. I assume it was doing a "Magic Carpet" transit bringing troops home from the Pacific. This was inside a 3 volume set of books titled Pictorial History of the Second World War I picked up.
I bought a British unit history in a junk shop, and tucked in it were various German wartime banknotes the owner had picked up during his service in NW Europe. I also got a US 2nd Division history from a dealer in the States; tucked in it was Ike's pre-D Day order and also a sheet with medal citations for the unit dating from 1944. No mention of that in description, but I wasn't complaining!
Well, the usual stuff that falls out of the pages of my second hand WWII books are library cards and page markers. The most unusual was a ripped page from what I think is a German math quiz book. This fell out from my second hand copy of Guderian's book, which my ex-wife bought for me from England a three years ago.