50: being 10 more than 40/ Fifty little pieces of ephemera brought home from California, now what?

Part one of a series entitled Fifty In, where in simple terms I share the ABC's of discovering what's on my desk and what to do with it.

[Dairying][California]
Hoyt, C.F., Some Important Factors in the Production of Good Milk and Cream, Circular No. 2. Department of Agriculture, State of California. Sacramento, 1920. 16pp in printed wrappers.



This unassuming  little government circular was written by the Supervisor of Dairy Inspection, Division of Animal Industry. That much I know from what's in my hands, but what next? Step one: Who has it? A search on Worldcat (a meta search of most worldwide institutional library holdings) and we find UC Berkeley and Cal State (Sacramento State) each having a copy. That's not excessive in the least, which leaves me optimistic that there are other potential collections that might be interested in adding this to their lot.

Where to next? A favorite launch pad for inspiration, articles, videos and research: ABAA.org. Under the tab "Find Members" we can use a handy drop down field to do an ABAA search by speciality, which in an of itself is an education. Here I find a field for California dealers  and Ephemera dealers, but those are vast fields, so it's time to fine tunea bit and consider how to additionally  categorize this pamphlet: Dairy Industry? Milk trade, check. Also, perhaps Culinary Ephemera? Now light bulbs go off,  a colleague or two comes to mind, and here's where databases end and experience and personal interaction comes to play.

My thoughts race: Cream > Scones > Samantha Hoyt Lindgren's cookies> Rabelais Books!. Their visual treat of a booth and homespun cookies never miss making an impression (the fun synchronicity of this pamphlet author's last name isn't lost on me either) and here lies something far more important than the 123 of search functions and drop down fields: get out there.

Where? Bring yourself to it: Book fairs, paper shows, local and regional Biblio societies and organizations, seminars and lectures. Bring it to yourself: dealer catalogs, auction catalogs, trade magazines, online newsletters and yes, blogs. Subscribe, join, fly, drive, consume, search, sit at the table and join the conversation. Find that table, any table within the book, ephemera or collectible community and nestle into a spot, be welcomed, be brave, be alert and be kind. Speaking of tables, it's lunchtime - cookies and milk, anyone?


For a fabulous ABC's of it all:
ABAA dealer Ken Karmiole talks physical books

For reading and cookies:
www.rabelaisbooks.com