Category Archives: Just for Fun

From Our Collections, Just for Fun, University Archives

Clue: Visit the Duke University Archives

This year, the Duke University Archives participated in the Duke University Union’s 2nd Annual Homecoming Scavenger Hunt. The hunt was a great opportunity to bring new students into the RBMSCL and share a part of their university’s history with them.

The clue: “Take a picture with the first issue of the Chronicle.”

Answer: Vol. 1, no. 1 of The Trinity Chronicle was published on December 19, 1905, and is one of the highlights of the University Archives’ collection. It’s only recently returned to us from the Verne and Tanya Roberts Conservation Lab, where it underwent a little conservation work and acquired a new box.

Here’s our photo album of scavenger hunters!

Good luck to all of the teams and we can’t wait for next year’s hunt! E-mail additional photos of your team and The Trinity Chronicle to amy.mcdonald(at)duke.edu and we’ll share them on our Facebook page.

Just for Fun, News and Features

Another Wednesday at the RBMSCL

So, you ask, what did your friends at the RBMSCL do on Wednesday? Well, we helped some researchers and we added some new materials to our collections and we encoded a few finding aids.

And then there was this.

Bake-Off Treats!

Yes, on Wednesday afternoon, Team Smith and Team Perkins matched baking skills in the First Annual All-RBMSCL Bake-Off.

Our three esteemed judges sampled 37 desserts from four categories (cakes, pies, cookies and bars, and “other”) and assigned scores for presentation, taste, and creativity.

Cleansing Their Palates

They were a little overwhelmed.

Feeding Frenzy

While the scores were being totaled, we got down to some serious eating (note our serious eating faces).

Our Winners:

  • Pies Category: Patrick Stawski, Human Rights Archivist
  • Cakes Category: Mary Samouelian, Doris Duke Collection Archivist
  • Cookies and Bars Category: Elizabeth Dunn, Research Services Librarian
  • “Other” Category: Paula Jeannet Mangiafico, Senior Processing Archivist (for tiramisu!)

Elizabeth Dunn won “Best in Show” for her Heart-Shaped Dark Chocolate Brownies.

Best in Show

Although Team Smith won the categories 3 to 1, Team Perkins scored the higher average of points per entry. We’re calling it a draw. For now, the trophy—the Golden Recipe Box—will reside at Perkins in the RBMSCL’s reading room. Comparisons to the Stanley Cup are, we think, inevitable:

The Golden Recipe Box

We haven’t tried drinking champagne out of it, though.

For more Bake-Off photos, visit the “2011 RBMSCL Bake-Off” set on our Flickr photostream.

Just for Fun, RL Photos

A Well-Traveled Padlock

The Returned Padlock and its Envelope

Here at the RBMSCL, we ask our researchers to put everything they won’t need for their research in lockers, and we present them with their very own padlock to use during their visit. (Other special collections libraries do this, too, as it helps to keep our unique materials safe and secure.)

Occasionally, a padlock doesn’t make it back to us at the end of a research visit—and we have extras, so we don’t fret. But a very kind and conscientious patron discovered one of our padlocks at the bottom of her bag upon her return to the United Kingdom and sent it all the way back to us here in Durham. Thanks, lovely patron, and come visit us again soon!

Thanks to Josh Larkin-Rowley, Research Services Assistant, and Rachel Ingold, Curator for the History of Medicine Collections, for suggesting this post and to Beth Doyle, Head of Conservation Services and editor of Preservation Underground, for taking the photograph!

From Our Collections, Just for Fun, Manuscripts, News and Features, Rare Books, RL Photos

Big Book, Little Book

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Big Book, Little Book

Wandering through the stacks earlier this week, we found ourselves a bit goggle-eyed upon discovering this enormous volume of newspaper clippings from the George Tinkham Papers. For comparison, we’ve placed it next to The Bible in Miniature, or, A Concise History of the Old and New Testaments, an 1805 volume from our miniature books collection.

P.S. These aren’t the biggest or littlest books in our collections.

P.P.S. Surprisingly, the big book is not as heavy as it might seem.

From Our Collections, Just for Fun, University Archives

Flat Duke

This spring, the Flat Blue Devil has been visiting lots of fun places on campus. Here at the Duke University Archives, we have Flat Duke: that is, approximately 100 hand-drawn, 23 x 30 inch property plats detailing Duke University lands around 1925-1926. These plats helped the new university prepare for the reconstruction of East Campus and the construction of West Campus.

These five plats show the land along Anderson Street (part of which now belongs to the Sarah P. Duke Gardens):

Anderson Street Plats
Click to enlarge.

These two plats show part of East Campus:

East Campus Plats
Click to enlarge.

And when we say that these are detailed, we mean detailed. For instance, there was an apple tree near Vice President of the Business Division (and future Duke president) Robert L. Flowers‘ house (located on what is now East Campus).

Property Plats, Dr. Flowers' Residence

How do you piece the plats together? Match up the circles!

Assembling the Plats

As you can imagine, we’d need a pretty sizeable flat surface to lay all of these out. We wonder if we could borrow Cameron for a day….. Stop by the RBMSCL and pore over every little detail yourself!

Do Your Research, From Our Collections, Just for Fun, News and Features, Rare Books

The Cleanest Books Around

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I-XL Pump Co.'s New Scrubbing BrushThe RBMSCL’s reading room is going to be closed on Monday, May 9th so that we can devote a few hours to a careful cleaning and ordering of our stacks. We’ll reopen again on Tuesday, May 10th at 9:00 AM with everything sparkling and tidy!

(Incidentally, doesn’t this homemaker look thrilled with her I-XL Pump Co. Scrubbing Brush? According to the advertising circular, it “takes the cake.” Which we don’t doubt, because who isn’t equally a fan of cake and cleaning products?)

To get ourselves ready for cleaning day, we thought we’d take a look at the suggestions for cleaning and caring for books and libraries that have been offered to industrious homemakers and housekeepers over the years.

Please note that the RBMSCL doesn’t actually use any of these cleaning and care practices, nor do we recommend that you use them on your own books or manuscripts.

“To Prevent Moulding in Books, Ink, Paste and Leather: Collectors of books will not be sorry to learn that a few drops of oil of lavender will insure their libraries from this pest.”

—From The Skillful Housewife’s Book, 1846.

“When a parlor with handsome furniture is to be swept, cover the sofas, centre-table, piano, books, and mantel-piece, with old cottons, kept for the purpose. . . . Dust ornaments, and fine books, with feather brushes, kept for the purpose.”

—From Miss Beecher’s Housekeeper and Healthkeeper, 1873.

“To Preserve Books: Bindings may be preserved from mildew by brushing them over with the spirits of wine. . . . Russia leather which is perfumed with the tar of the birch-tree, never molds or sustains injury from damp. The Romans used oil of cedar to preserve valuable manuscripts.”

and

“To Remove Ink Spots on Books: A solution of oxalic acid will remove them without injuring the print.”

—From Practical Housekeeping, 1883. (With regard to the second piece of advice: now you know why we use pencils!)

“As the library . . . often knows the scent of cigar smoke we would refrain from adding upholsteries to catch and retain the odor, which, while it may not be objectionable at first, is certainly not enjoyable when stale.”

—From Home-Making and Housekeeping, 1889.

“Glazed bookcases are quite unnecessary. . . . Books do not suffer, but rather benefit, by coming into contact with the air. . . . Even if the [library] is not in regular daily use, a fire should be lighted frequently, especially in damp weather; otherwise the books will inevitably be attacked by mildew, and ruined sooner or later.”

—From The Book of the Home, 1900.

“Gum camphor laid among books on the shelves will keep the mice away.”

—From Putnam’s Household Handbook, 1916. (We would like to note how happy we are that we don’t have this problem!)

From Our Collections, Just for Fun, University Archives

Dressing Doris: Day Dresses

Doris Duke on honeymoonRain, rain, go away, more great fashions are here today!

Before we present part two of our runway challenge, here are the results from last week’s evening dress challenge. And the winner is . . . Sophisticated Lady with 32.73% of the votes, slightly edging out Who Me? by one vote.  And maybe gentlemen don’t prefer blondes (good news for us brunettes), as it only got one vote. Thank you to all who voted (and the poll is still open if you haven’t yet!).

Today’s runway show is day dresses. Click below to score the designs and vote for your favorite look. You get to decide which is in and which is out!

Continue reading Dressing Doris: Day Dresses →

Digital Collections, From Our Collections, Just for Fun, University Archives

ONE

It’s here at last! Have fun celebrating LDOC today (and be safe), because tomorrow….

Studying Student, 1970s

Good luck on exams from everyone at the RBMSCL!

(We’ve been counting down to LDOC with Duke University Archives photos of Duke students having a good time! Click the photo to see it on our Flickr photostream, Duke Yearlook. Thanks to University Archives student assistant Crystal Reinhardt for helping with photo selection.)

Countdown to LDOC: