The Forgotten Library: Recent Episodes
Nikki Gee
Your intrepid librarian host delves into those dusty corners of the bookshelf to retrieve gems you probably have never heard of. Episodes usually run along one of the following themes: Back of the Stacks (public domain works of fiction or nonfiction), Ridic Fic (how was THIS published? No, seriously), Cavalcade of Comics (Golden Age comics from lesser known franchises, usually genre-based). Transcripts and source lists: http://bit.ly/4gotlib If you like this, buy me a coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/forgottenlib
In this episode, we're going to take a look at "The Little People," a psychological horror novel that asks, "What if leprechauns, but also Nazis?" Does it work? Tune in to find out!
Transcripts and source lists are always available at: bit.ly/4gotlib If you like this, buy me a coffee! www.buymeacoffee.com/forgottenlib
Intro music credit: "Starlite Lounge" by Rob Endo, courtesy of Clipdad.com
The prequel to the Dollanganger family series by V.C. Andrews. We're back with another gothic-y, incest-laden tale. This WAS the final installment but it looks like there are three more newish books telling the story from Chris' point of view. Should we look into them? Take the poll on Spotify!
Transcripts and source lists are always available at: bit.ly/4gotlib If you like this, buy me a coffee! www.buymeacoffee.com/forgottenlib
Intro music credit: "Starlite Lounge" by Rob Endo, courtesy of Clipdad.com
US libraries are facing more book bans and challenges than ever. Here are some ways you can help!Https://uniteagainstbookbans.orgHttps://shorturl.at/dyDI7 (ALA challenged book list)
In addition to romance, war, and superheroes, there were also a lot of horror, suspense, and mystery comics published in the 1940s/50s. On this episode, we're going to look at a few from Baffling Mysteries, a title published by Ace Comics. We've got animal/human hybrids, murderous paintings, and witches and werewolves . . .of course!
Transcripts and source lists are always available at: bit.ly/4gotlib If you like this, buy me a coffee! www.buymeacoffee.com/forgottenlib
Intro music credit: "Starlite Lounge" by Rob Endo, courtesy of Clipdad.com
That's right - back with another full episode finally! If you thought we were done with priggish Elsie Dinsmore in the last full epi, you're thought wrong, sucka! Everyone's favorite milquetoast is back and preachier than ever. But, are there some hidden meanings to all of this, perhaps? Tune in and find out! Transcripts and source lists are always available at: bit.ly/4gotlib If you like this, buy me a coffee! www.buymeacoffee.com/forgottenlib
Intro music credit: "Starlite Lounge" by Rob Endo, courtesy of Clipdad.com
Or, the biography no one asked for. A very quick update via mobile about the recent VC Andrews biography/trainwreck and why it isn't worth your time.
Happy Belated New Year! It's been a long time, I know, so have a slightly longer episode - that's also part 1 of 2. We're discussing Elsie Dinsmore, a priggish, milquetoasty little gal who was the protagonist of a book series spanning 28 volumes over the late 19th and early 20th century. The second episode (up soon) will discuss the second book, which takes off immediately from the end of this one. Shitty adults, annoying af children, and lots of Jesus-y talk can be found here. Join me, won't you?
Transcripts and source lists are always available at: bit.ly/4gotlib If you like this, buy me a coffee! www.buymeacoffee.com/forgottenlib
Intro music credit: "Starlite Lounge" by Rob Endo, courtesy of Clipdad.com
Women, are you having trouble with your partner? Perhaps this book from the 1960s showing you how you should act would help! (No, it won't. Please don't take advice from this). Are you ready to let your man be a king, and you the servant? Strap in and cringe along with me!
Transcripts and source lists are always available at: bit.ly/4gotlib If you like this, buy me a coffee! www.buymeacoffee.com/forgottenlib
Intro music credit: "Starlite Lounge" by Rob Endo, courtesy of Clipdad.com
On this episode, we're taking a look at Atomic War!, a four-issue comic set in a fictional World War III. Lots of nuclear warfare, planes, and tanks tanks tanks!
Transcripts and source lists are always available at: bit.ly/4gotlib If you like this, buy me a coffee! www.buymeacoffee.com/forgottenlib
Intro music credit: "Starlite Lounge" by Rob Endo, courtesy of Clipdad.com
On this episode, we're taking a look at the Good Housekeeping Marriage Book, which was published in 1938. Come for the insane price list, stay for the sexism and eugenics!
Transcripts and source lists are always available at: bit.ly/4gotlib If you like this, buy me a coffee! www.buymeacoffee.com/forgottenlib
Intro music credit: "Starlite Lounge" by Rob Endo, courtesy of Clipdad.com
What better way to celebrate the season of love with some misogyny? On this episode, we look at the world of pick-up artists, and one of their many manuals. Transcripts and source lists are always available at: bit.ly/4gotlib If you like this, buy me a coffee! www.buymeacoffee.com/forgottenlib
Intro music credit: "Starlite Lounge" by Rob Endo, courtesy of Clipdad.com
Happy New Year! Take a ride in my time-machine and let's travel back to 1923, where the flapper craze was running high and parents clucked their tongues at the promiscuous youth. In fact, this book was written by a journalist under a pseudonym in order to avoid criticism for the "scandalous" content!
Transcript of this episode (and all episodes) as well as source materials can be found here: https://bit.ly/4gotlib
And if you like what I do, you can always Buy Me a Coffee (think of it like a tip jar that takes Stripe and PayPal): https://www.buymeacoffee.com/forgottenlib
For our final episode this year, let's uncover what sexual education might have looked like for a 19th century boy with a book by a Lutheran minister.
I'd also like to extend a heartfelt thank you to YOU, dear listener, for being entertained by my cynical eye on forgotten and ridiculous books.
Transcript of this episode (and all episodes) as well as source materials can be found here: https://bit.ly/4gotlib
And if you like what I do, you can always Buy Me a Coffee (think of it like a tip jar that takes Stripe and PayPal): https://www.buymeacoffee.com/forgottenlib
Be safe and see you in 2021!
It's spooky season, y'all, so how about this little gem that was published in the 1980s during the Satanic Panic by the same guy who said all your beloved toys are evil incarnate? That's right, Phil Phillips is back, with a sidekick this time, nattering on about witches and devils and how you shouldn't let your children trick or treat. Or at least, that's what it's supposed to be, but Phillips becomes unhinged a third of the way through and loses his thesis statement. Join me, won't you?
For a transcript of this episode, along with source material, please visit the website!
Hello, my lovely listeners, I am BACK with another installment. We're looking at Seeds of Yesterday by V.C. Andrews, or as I like to call it, Get ON with it already!
As always, transcripts and source materials reside on the website.
Show suggestions are always welcome at floridhappiness@gmail.com
You can also DM me on Twitter: @forgottenlibra1
On this episode, I'm taking you through a brief run of teen comics that are tangentially connected to the romance comics that were previously discussed. Andy and Ernie are the same character, but for some reason, the publishing powers that be renamed him for a few more issues.
As always, transcripts and source materials reside on the website.
By now, you've been affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) in some way. Some libraries are closed and others probably will follow suit. What if you can't get digital resources because EVERYONE is trying to get them now that print is off the table? And your kids are home and bored, too? Listen in as your friendly neighborhood librarian offers up a lifetime's worth of free books and resources for you and your wee ones.
Links to all of the resources mentioned are on my website, as too many links were breaking the description.
Please stay safe, everyone!
Happy New Year, my lovely listeners! It's still January as I upload this, so let's start the new year off right by delving back into the V.C. Andrews canon and the continuing saga of the Dollenganger family, If There Be Thorns!
Transcript of this episode (and all episodes) are available at http://bit.ly/4gotlib
In this episode of Biblio Bites, we take a look at prison libraries and their eclipse by predatory tech companies claiming to offer inmates a bunch of free books and multimedia - but are they really?
Further reading is linked in my website.
HOW YOU CAN HELP: This LibGuide from the American Library Association has links to several programs to donate books and materials to prison libraries and inmates: https://libguides.ala.org/PrisonLibraries/bookstoprisons
In this episode of Biblio Bites, we take a look at two major library stories that are blowing up social media and beyond. First, a Michigan woman is facing possible jail time from overdue library fines, and then the Citrus County (Florida) Board of County Commissioners wants to deny library patrons access to the digital New York Times, because it's "fake news."
If you'd like to sign the petition, you can do so here: https://action.everylibrary.org/citruscounty
This is a special news bulletin. If you check out ebooks from your public library, you might wanna take a few minutes and listen to this mini-sode. MacMillan, one of the Big Five publishers, is changing the rules about their ebooks in libraries. Think the online queue is already long for the newest and popular? Yeah, it's gonna get worse. This is completely opposite of equitable access for all, which is the whole POINT of libraries, y'all.
Here's what you can do (as talked about in the show):
- Sign the petition at https://ebooksforall.org/
- Email Macmillan directly at: press.inquiries@macmillan.com or Tweet them: @MacmillanUSA
- Make sure your local library is letting patrons know about this.
- Spread the word yourself (perhaps with a link to this episode)!
ebooksforall
In this episode, we are looking at Valley of the Dolls, a fictionalized account of the glitz and glamour of Hollywood heydays, and the people broken down by the strain. It's a pill-popping, booze-chugging, sexist extravaganza! Show notes and transcripts are now at their own website: bit.ly/4gotlib
If you were a child of the 80s, you likely played with He-Man, She-Ra, GI Joe, Smurfs, and so on. We had SO much fun, didn't we? But did you know that those toys were actually full of Satanic influences, and that your adult mind is probably warped? Phil Phillips, an evangelist operating at the height of the Satanic Panic, wrote this book to warn your parents of the dangers! Tune in to this episode for some entertaining thoughts on your favorite cartoon shows!
Partial source list:
Adams, K. M., & Dickey, S. A. (2003). Home and Hegemony: Domestic Service and Identity Politics in South and Southeast Asia. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
Belkin, L. (1985, April 18). Procter & Gamble Fights Satan Story. New York Times, p. 1. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/18/garden/procter-gamble-fights-satan-story.html
Brownfield, T. (2019, September 2). Disappearances & Dragons: The James Dallas Egbert III Story. The Saturday Evening Post. Retrieved from https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2019/09/disappearances-dragons-the-james-dallas-egbert-iii-story/
Calvano, R. (1986, April 28). On a tennis star......braces for dolls......and panhandlers. Evening Tribune (San Diego, CA), pp. B-3. Available from NewsBank: Access World News: https://infoweb-newsbank-com.ezproxy1.hcplc.org/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&docref=news/11791C98751D5778.
Feinberg, B. (1986, December 9). Christmas toys: Back to basics. UPI (USA). Available from NewsBank: Access World News: https://infoweb-newsbank-com.ezproxy1.hcplc.org/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&docref=news/1570D9D790867418
Haberman, C. (2016, April 17). When Dungeons & Dragons Set Off a Moral Panic. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/18/us/when-dungeons-dragons-set-off-a-moral-panic.html
Hughes, S. (2017). American Monsters: Tabloid Media and the Satanic Panic, 1970-2000. Journal of American Studies, 51(3), 691–719. doi: 10.1017/S0021875816001298
Molotsky, I. (1988, November 7). Reagan Vetoes Bill Putting Limits On TV Programming for Children. New York Times, p. 1. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/07/us/reagan-vetoes-bill-putting-limits-on-tv-programming-for-children.html
O'Barr, W. M. (2008). Children and Advertising. Advertising & Society Review, 9(4). doi: 10.1353/asr.0.0017
Phillips, P. (1986). Turmoil in the Toybox. Lancaster, PA: Starburst Publishers.
Reinhold, R. (1990, January 24). The Longest Trial - A Post-Mortem; Collapse of Child-Abuse Case: So Much Agony for So Little. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/24/us/longest-trial-post-mortem-collapse-child-abuse-case-so-much-agony-for-so-little.html
Shewan, D. (2017, June 14). Conviction of Things Not Seen: the Uniquely American Myth of Satanic Cults. Retrieved from https://psmag.com/social-justice/make-a-cross-with-your-fingers-its-the-satanic-panic
A new episode appears!
On this installment, we're looking at the sequel to Petals on the Wind, the best-selling sequel to Flowers in the Attic, and more ridiculous than its predecessor.
Show suggestions are always welcome at floridhappiness@gmail.com
You can also DM me on Twitter: @forgottenlibra1
As promised earlier this week, this is the continuation of our look at All Romances from Ace Magazines. I also talk a bit about my sources.
Sources:
Nolan, M. (2008). Love on the Racks: a History of American Romance Comics. McFarland Books.
Comics were accessed from Comic Book Plus: https://comicbookplus.com
Information on Taxi Dancers comes from Wikipedia, and this July 15, 1990 article in the LA Times entitled “Taxi Dancers: It's No Longer 10 Cents a Dance, But Lonely Men Can Still Hire Partners by the Minute in Dim Downtown Clubs” by Martin Booe: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-07-15-tm-549-story.html
In this episode, we're going back to 1949 once again to take a look at some more Golden Age comics. The series was called All Romances and ran for a year. I also provide more history of the romance comic genre. This episode ran long, so this is only part one. Part two will be published later this week.
Sources:
Nolan, M. (2008). Love on the Racks: a History of American Romance Comics. McFarland Books.
Comics were accessed from Comic Book Plus: https://comicbookplus.com
On this episode, we're gonna take a deep dive into an old medical treatise from 1844, which basically states that if fall into the patterns of pleasure, you are headed for an early grave!
Transcript available here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1MIkpjlkrmkFCC7gOSKX0YLQGg9T9Dq8Z
Sources:
Englehardt, H.T. (2013). The Disease of Masturbation: Values and the Concept of Disease. Meaning and Medicine: a Reader in the Philosophy of Health Care.
Howe, J.W. (1883). Excessive Venery, Masturbation and Continence. Available via Internet Archive, Google Books, HathiTrust, etc.
Hughes, J.R. (2003). Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte: did he have seizures? Psychogenic or epileptic or both? Epilepsy & Behavior 4, 793-796. doi:10.1016/j.yebeh.2003.09.005
JAMA. Book reviews. 1884;II(13):358-359. doi:10.1001/jama.1884.02390370022010
Stephens, E. (2009). Coining Spermatorrhoea: Medicine and Male Body Fluids, 1836-1866. Sexualities 12, 467. ResearchGate link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/43525222_Coining_Spermatorrhoea_Medicine_and_Male_Body_Fluids_1836--1866
Willyard, C. (2019). Outmoded Diseases: Spermatorrhea. The Last Word on Nothing. https://www.lastwordonnothing.com/2019/05/29/outmoded-diseases-spermatorrhea-2/
In this episode, we're going to take a look at some genre comics from the 1940s - a series called All Love. These were ubiquitous during the post WWII era, and I'm dragging up a few gems for you. I also have a special guest! Transcript can be found here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1gtSpnZBxq_Ujjpxh6KiERUY_vllx9E4J
Source materials for this episode:
Ace Magazines (comics). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ace_Magazines_(comics)
All Love. https://comicbookplus.com/?cid=3245
Gardner, J. (2011). “True-To-Life”: Romance Comics and Teen-Age Desire, 1947-1954. Forum for World Literature Studies, 3(1), 118-128.
Gardner, J. (2013). She Got Her Man, But Could She Keep Him? Love and Marriage in American Romance Comics, 1947-1954. The Journal of American Culture, 36(1). 16-24.
J. Murrey Atkins Library – UNC Charlotte. Heroes and Villains: Silver Age Comics. https://silveragecomics.uncc.edu/timeline
WARNING: this episode contains mentions of rape and incest. Listener discretion is advised.
On this episode, your librarian tour guide brings you on a nostalgia trip! If you're a woman of a certain age, the very name V.C. Andrews in raised type on a book cover probably made you stop in your tracks back in the day. Hop on back into my Ridic Fic time machine as we talk about the first installment of the Dollenganger family saga, Flowers in the Attic.
If you are unable to listen to the podcast, a transcript is available: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1CRx7Gra6VK6b4cIzoxDgbHEaF1TTKyhZ
Source material for this episode:
Author’s success yields estate taxable asset. (1994). CPA Journal, 64(7), 16.
F., Jennifer. The Complete VC Andrews. http://www.completevca.com
Huntley, E.D. (1996). V.C. Andrews: a Critical Companion. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
Radeska, T. (January 5, 2018). Blanche Monnier was imprisoned in a tiny room for 25 years because her mother hated her choice of husband. The Vintage News. https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/01/05/blanche-monnier/
Rubin, S. (September 20, 1981). “Blooms of Darkness.” Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1981/09/20/blooms-of-darkness/7e133556-82cd-43a0-94a6-03738d628099/?utm_term=.94fe0c18cb1d
On this episode, we delve into What a Young Girl Ought to Know, by Dr. Mary Wood-Allen (1897), a "purity education" book that was purported to tell children about sex (but really didn't). This podcast is marked explicit because I occasionally use four-letter words.
If you are unable to listen to the podcast, a transcript is available: https://drive.google.com/open?id=17Vg7-7XTwkVdEs-2FFj1RwOFul0w2PgW
Source material for this episode:
Pierce, J. (2011). What Young Readers Ought to Know: The Successful Selling of Sexual Health Texts in the Early Twentieth Century. Book History, 14, 110-136. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/bh.2011.0009
Sethna, C. (2010). Animal sex: purity education and the abstinence agenda. Sex Education, 10(3), 267-279. DOI: 10.1080/14681811.2010.491636
Wood-Allen, M. (1897). What a Young Girl Ought to Know. London, England: Vir Publishing. Link to a copy at the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/whatayounggirlo00allegoog
Transcript: Imagine, if you will, an old library. You've been here quite a few times before, but now you notice there's a dark corner, in which you haven't quite seen everything before. You go towards it and as you approach, you can hear the angry buzzing of one fluorescent light above your head. You look around and there's old, leather-bound tomes that look like they're in need of a good dusting. Have you ever seen any of these books before? You've certainly been here before, but have you seen these titles? That's the Forgotten Library.
Some of the topics that we'll cover on this podcast are: deep dives into old, dusty tomes, most of which are in the public domain and you can certainly read along with me if you would like to . . . but why would you? (I'm doing the work for you). That section will be called Back of the Stacks. Ridic Fic - adult and young adult fiction that's been published in . . . well, let's not give it a time period, but things that are so ridiculous that you can't believe someone actually took a chance and published it. And Cavalcade of Comics. Golden Age comics are in the public domain now and there's some really interesting and some doozies out there! So we will delightfully spork some of those over the course of this podcast.
So come back, back, to that dark corner and join me . . . in the Forgotten Library . . . coming soon to a podcast aggregator near you.