Category Archives: Arts & Culture

Telling History: Wish Books

‘Twas a time before Amazon and all through fall, American children feverishly devoured every page of newly arrived Sears, JCPenney, and Montgomery Ward Christmas catalogs. These proverbial “wish books” – the childhood vernacular for all three rival catalogs – precipitated a cherished Christmastime ritual in the pre-internet world. In the rhythm of postwar childhood, the arrival of Wish Book catalogues by mail weeks before Halloween heralded the unofficial start to the most wonderful time of the year.So, make a list and check it twice. I’m Joel Rhodes “Telling History.”Comparatively speaking, the acquisition of toys was not an everyday occurrence for most of the twentieth century. Outside of birthdays and Christmas, receiving toys as gifts remained rare, meaning American children just had fewer of them. These basic realities tended to heighten the sense of anticipation during the holiday season to a fever pitch when the Sears, Penney’s, and Ward’s “Wish Books” showed up in your mailbox.The catalogues were endlessly poured over for hours on end, marked up by colored pens, with pages dog-eared as young readers tabulated lists, formulated request strategies, and offered hopeful hints; truly an ancient and primitive ancestor of your Amazon shopping cart. Not unlike a test, you had to really study these magical “textbooks” long and hard to compile your wish list; a lengthy inventory ostensibly meant for Santa, but in truth for parents and grandparents.Because parents were so heavily integrated into the buying process in the Wish Book era, the toys children actually received commonly reflected traditional parental desires to prepare kids for adult career roles. Understanding play to be the work of children, which makes toys their tools, parents chose age-specific, and gender differentiated toys: Erector and Gilbert Chemistry Sets for boys, Easy-Bake Ovens and Chatty Cathy dolls going to girls. Many postwar toys were deliberately marketed to promote continuity in play between father and son, mother and daughter.Together, with the relative scarcity of toys and generational bonding, the centrality of Wish Books to gift-giving lent a romanticized and timeless feel to the catalogues.But they have a history, and it’s relatively brief. Although kids collectively referred to all three seasonal catalogues as wish books, Sears was the real McCoy. Already a staple in American households, the Sears “Big Book” debuted a separate Christmas shopping edition in 1933. Over the next generation, as this Christmas Big Book became a holiday tradition, customers themselves renamed it the “Book of Wishes,” and eventually just “Wish Book.” Sears made that iconic name official in 1968, thereafter featuring festive children, Christmas trees, and Santa Claus on the covers. The massive 1968 Wish Book topped 600 pages. But while nostalgia tempts us to remember nothing but the spell-binding toys, adorable clothes, and thrilling gadgets inside, almost two-thirds of the contents promoted boring stuff only a grownup would want.JC Penney’s offered their own Big Book for Christmas in 1963, but the Montgomery Ward Christmas catalogues are every bit as old as Sears. In fact, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer flew off Montgomery Ward pages in 1939, an inspired creation of the retailer’s advertising department trying to keep pace with Sears… and while Montgomery Ward is gone, Rudolph went down in history and so forth.Eventually, the internet finished off all three. After several brief – and diminished – virtual re-imaginings in the early twenty-first century, the last true Sears Wish Book dropped online in 2011. 

These Jewish Books Make the Perfect Hanukkah Gifts for Everyone In Your Life

Needs some last-minute Hanukkah gifts? One thing it’s definitely not too late to snag is a book — especially if you pay a visit or call your local bookstore. And because Hanukkah coincides with winter break this year, you may need Jewish books to fill you or your kids’ time (if you are home with the children, here’s hoping they spend as much time possible reading and as little time as possible telling you they’re bored).
We’ve assembled a list of Jewish books that make great gifts for every type of person you know.

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For the Jewish toddler or baby in your life:

A love-infused book full of Yiddish words you can use with your littles.

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The most important thing to introduce toddlers to is, in my humble and hungry opinion, Jewish food, and this book has an adorable variety of cartoon staples of Jewish cuisine from across the world.

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For the kids who love animals, real or imagined:

Forget a puppy for Hanukkah, who doesn’t want a dragon for Hanukkah? And who doesn’t want their kids’ favorite mythical creature in a magical book about the Festival of Lights?

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This cute tale of hospitality gone wrong, when a well-meaning bear makes a mess of one family’s home during Hanukkah, is filled with delightful snowscapes and dreidels and menorahs galore.

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For anyone looking to share the concept of tikkun olam with kids in a way that really hits home:

In this book, the words and illustrations work in tandem to tell a story of what tikkun olam, the Jewish concept of fixing the world, really is — calling out when we see something broken or wrong and using our voice and community to make a change.

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For anyone looking to be inspired by amazing Jewish women:

A collection of stories of incredible Jewish women from history, illustrated by amazing Jewish illustrators from across the world.

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For kids who will delight in how diverse our people are:

Another great book about Jews who have changed history, from Tracee Ellis Ross and Victor “Young” Perez to Doña Gracia Nasi. It serves as an important reminder that there is no one way to look or be Jewish.

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For Jewish middle grade readers looking for their own “Parent Trap”:

When two adopted teens meet at a holiday pageant tryout, they bond over their joint fascination with their family holidays, and decide to switch homes to see the magic they’ve been missing.

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For young teens looking for a Jewish spy story with an awesome hero:

The second part of this WWII duology for teens is coming out next year and it’s the kind of tale that is actually written for young people, focusing on Max Bergfeld, a young German Jewish teen who doesn’t want to leave his homeland for London and makes a plan to go back — as an English spy. This magical tale features his two travel companions — a kobold and a dybbuk named Berg and Stein.

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For young ones ready for a fresh take on Anne Frank’s story:

This lyrical and poignant retelling of Anne Frank’s story by “Practical Magic” author Alice Hoffman is really special.

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For young adults with strong convictions:

This is Blum’s second young adult novel with an Orthodox Jewish main character, and in this one, our heroine, Yoyo Gold, finds a way to follow her truth in the age of social media.

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For young adults who love romance and the stars:

This romantic and witty young adult novel by Hannah Reynolds is an enemies-to-lovers tale set in Nantucket. It centers a confident and wonderful heroine, Jordan, who is fascinated with the stars and looking to reconnect with her father over a summer on the island. Most of all, she’s sworn off boys for the city, until her father’s research assistant tests that resolve.

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For anyone looking for a cozy, caffeinated and very relatable Hanukkah romance:

Enemies to lovers! Lots of delicious lattes! Hanukkah coziness! Jewish family! A story of Jewish love! A tale that really gets at what being the token Jew in town is all about! This book has it all.

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For anyone looking for suspenseful and deep fiction you can’t put down:

This novel about Eddie Asher, who ends up in a mental hospital after he may or may not have killed his brother’s fiancé is unputdownable. The masterful prose and plot full of twists and turns will have you captivated. It’s also a fascinating exploration of race and identity, including Jewish identity.

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For anyone looking for the Jewish “All Fours”:

This very sexy and surprisingly resonant novel about a 36-year-old filmmaker who falls for her older boss is what you need to fill that Miranda July-shaped hole in your heart.

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For the Jewish “Bridgerton” fan:

This steamy Snow White inspired and deeply Jewish regency romance is perfect for anyone looking to escape to a different time and place this holiday season.

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For anyone looking for more clarity on October 7:

This book by acclaimed Israeli journalist Lee Yaron tells 100 human stories from the day that changed Jewish history forever.

Buy Now

Lior Zaltzman

Lior Zaltzman is the deputy managing editor of Kveller.

Kamala Harris Made A Historic Run For President: New Book Captures Her Groundbreaking Journey Through Photos

Getty Images The 107-day campaign of Kamala Harris for President of the United States was more than a political run—it was a seismic moment in American history. Though the race didn’t end in victory, Harris broke barriers with relentless determination, historic milestones and a message of joy that inspired many. In their new book, KAMALA:…

Book Bans Librarians

FILE – Nate Coulter, executive director of the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS), looks at a book in the main branch of the public library in downtown Little Rock, Ark., May 23, 2023. An increasing number of conservative states are pushing for measures making it easier to ban or restrict access to books.

‘Everything is holy. Live accordingly’: David Spencer, Helena’s ‘Book Man,’ gets loving farewell at Holter Museum of Art

David Spencer’s favorite words were synchronicity and alchemy.Synchronicity, coined by analytical psychiatrist Carl Jung, described the happenstance way all humans and concepts were connected.Alchemy, to Spencer, was the magic of life.

David Spencer

Photo provided

Dry-witted and endlessly curious, Spencer spent decades turning heads in downtown Helena, shuffling from the library to the brewery with two heavy bags of books.He’d pull anyone he could into a conversation.Everyone had something to teach him, he believed, and he could spin their beings into a grander web of connections, linking their lives to a book he’d read six years ago and linking that book to a wonderful other friend.Maybe he’d find some humor in his would-be retirement party becoming a celebration of life, friend Marisa Diaz-Waian said. It was two of his favorite things, she said: ironic and filled with people he knew.

People are also reading…

People peruse through a small selection of David Spencer’s books during a memorial service for him at the Holter Museum of Art on Dec. 20.

THOM BRIDGE, Independent Record

On Friday, more than 200 people collected inside the Holter Museum of Art to celebrate Spencer, Helena’s “Book Man.”The day was meant to be a retirement party, but after his death Nov. 13, it was repurposed as a celebration of life.Wine and appetizers were served while attendees pored over the literally thousands of books left behind in his collection. They were encouraged to take home whatever spoke to them.When friends told stories about fond moments and misadventures, attendees packed into corners of the room, some sitting on the ground and spilling out into the hall when seating ran out.“Synchronicity,” Diaz-Waian said. “Everyone here, he touched.”Life in HelenaSpencer was born Feb. 11, 1948, in Twin Falls, Idaho, and attended the University of Oregon. He dropped out around 1968 and traveled to Europe to study at the University of Vienna, Austria.There, he spent nine years roaming the continent, connecting with mysticism and feeding his curious mind.He’d always been fascinated by the way people were ever-linked, Diaz-Waian said, but he came back to America a changed man.“Instead of him embodying his love of learning, it embodied him,” she said, who wrote his obituary. “Light flowed through him.”

Marisa Diaz-Waian, executive director of Merlin CCC, speaks at a memorial service for David Spencer at the Holter Museum of Art on Dec. 20.

THOM BRIDGE, Independent Record

He married Jacqueline Stella Mercenier in 1977 and lived in Golden Age Mine, then Twin Falls, serving as a librarian from 1981-1985.In 1985, he and his wife moved to Marysville, Montana, and in 1987, they divorced. Spencer found himself in Helena soon after.And thus the notoriety of Helena’s “Book Man,” also known as the “Book Guy,” spread. When he wasn’t haunting the Holter as its volunteer, store assistant and historian, Spencer was talking books or shoveling someone’s sidewalk.Cutting chats short was one of the few things he could be disappointed by, attendees recalled. All people had the power to reach these depths in each other. He knew that one day, the uninterested would discover that magic.A quick talk could quickly stretch 15, 30, 45 minutes, always ending in at least one book recommendation. His obituary and friends used the following words to describe these talks: “magnificent, unique, absurd, intense, playful, serious, bewildering … and delightfully quirky.”Moments of careSpencer was known for his encyclopedic knowledge, but the most common stories people recited Friday dwelled on how he used it as a form of care.Librarian Sara Glatz met Spencer at Aunt Bonnie’s Books and Gifts.

Christina Barbachano, executive director of the Holter Museum of Art, speaks at a memorial ceremony for David Spencer at the museum on Dec. 20.

THOM BRIDGE, Independent Record

The store was one of his favorites, and they’d grown used to crossing paths and exchanging literary loves. Spencer loved to recommend books and discuss the overarching themes he’d discovered. Though Glatz didn’t recommend books often, Spencer always returned having read them.But one day, Glatz was overwhelmed. She’d been struggling with family issues, she said, and Spencer wanted to know how to help.Something he said, in his cryptic but thoughtful language, made her burst into tears in the middle of the shop. He listened to her, and when she was done, he quietly recommended a book.Years later, she still has that book. He was right, Glatz said. It had what she needed.To Spencer, there was a sort of magic in the mundane, Holter Executive Director Christina Barbachano said.

People peruse through a small selection of David Spencer’s books during a memorial service for him at the Holter Museum of Art on Dec. 20.

THOM BRIDGE, Independent Record

He’d said he was transformed by the people he’d met, and that all people transform each other, Barbachano remembered. It’s one of the things he loved most about the world.Barbachano, a co-worker and a friend, spoke with him in his final hours.They were in his apartment, which was a trove of over 25,000 books stacked floor to ceiling. The books may have appeared unorganized to a newcomer, but he saw a careful filing system of ideas, authors and connections.“This is quite a production, isn’t it?” Spencer said through labored breathing.“You always liked to make a grand entrance,” Barbachano replied with a smile. She thought of his last days in work and how he’d only been able to carry two books instead of his usual 20.“You know you are loved, right?”“I’m not afraid, so you don’t need to worry,” he replied. “I’ll be there for my shift on Friday.”

Years ago, David Spencer wrote on a napkin what he’d want people to know about him when he died. He was known for using shorthand when he wrote.

Courtesy, Marisa Diaz-Waian

Barbachano laughed, and he laughed, too.“You and I both know you won’t be there,” she said.They chatted a little longer, and he declined the tea and water she offered. Before she left, she gave him a kiss on the forehead.

A tribute was set up Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, at the Gold Bar for David “Book Guy” Spencer.

Phil Drake, Independent Record

“I love you,” she said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”The next morning, she knew he had died before she entered his apartment.She found him dead as he lived: eyes wide open, big smile across his face and surrounded by his books. Whatever he saw in death, he was excited to discover it, she said.What comes nextThe Holter Museum of Art put a call to Helena artists to honor Spencer’s legacy.Local artists are asked to create work using Spencer’s collection of books to be auctioned at a live auction in May. The theme is “Metamorphosis,” an echo of Spencer’s approach to life.The rest of Spencer’s books will be sold in the Holter’s Wiegand Creativity Center, which would be temporarily titled the David Spencer Bookstore & Atheneum. A logo of his likeness has been printed onto tote bags that go toward paying for his final affairs.It’s a strange process to handle his death, Diaz-Waian said, but it’s been one she’s been glad to bear.Death was just another discovery, Diaz-Waian said. As a close friend, she knew he wasn’t afraid.But she also knows how happy he’d be to see a room full of his friends, to see his books in the hands of so many people.“‘Everything is holy,’” she recited from Spencer’s writing. “‘Live accordingly. Be happy.’ … He’s in his cosmic library now, happy.”

David Spencer

Holter Museum of Art

Christine Compton is a reporter for the Helena Independent Record.

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Cambridge native Elijah Wald wrote the book that inspired ‘A Complete Unknown.’ Here’s what he thinks of the film.

Books

“It’s not historically accurate, but it’s poetically accurate,” says Wald of the new Bob Dylan biopic. 

Elle Fanning and Timothée Chalamet in “A Complete Unknown.” Searchlight Pictures

Here’s why the new Dylan biopic may be just what Bob needs

Earlier this month, Cambridge native Elijah Wald got an email so surprising, he’s at a loss for words.A friend emailed him a screenshot of Bob Dylan’s Dec. 4 tweet:“There’s a movie about me opening soon called A Complete Unknown (what a title!)… The film’s taken from Elijah Wald’s Dylan Goes Electric – a book that came out in 2015. It’s a fantastic retelling of events from the early ‘60s that led up to the fiasco at Newport. After you’ve seen the movie read the book.”Advertisement:A Dylan endorsement must’ve been shocking, I say.“Yes,” Wald says, seemingly incredulous. “I don’t have anything to say beyond yes on that one.”That would be the shortest answer I’d get from Wald in our recent interview. For nearly two hours, the author of “Dylan Goes Electric!” (2015) on which “A Complete Unknown” is based, discussed Dylan, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Newport Folk and more ahead of the film’s Christmas Day release.Author Elijah Wald. Sandrine SheonWald, 65, a writer and musician, was raised on the Cambridge folk scene. “My much older half-brother didn’t give lessons, but showed Joan Baez some stuff on guitar. I mean, this was a tiny world.”Advertisement:This isn’t his first adaptation rodeo. The late, great Dave Van Ronk’s posthumous memoir, “Mayor of MacDougal Street,” written with Wald, inspired the Coen brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis.”Between that and “Unknown,” Wald says, “I feel like somebody who’s hit the lottery twice. I mean, considering the number of goddamn Dylan books?”As a Dylan devotee who’s been thinking about this movie for a while but hasn’t seen it yet, I had questions.Boston.com: You told me it was Dylan’s camp who optioned the book in 2016.Elijah Wald: Dylan was involved with this project before Chalamet or James Mangold. It started with the Dylan people. Honestly, I was puzzled, because why does Dylan need my book to tell a story of his life? But I was happy about it.[laughs] That is classic puzzling Dylan. So what happened in 2016? You got a call?I forget whether it was a call or an email, but yeah, from Jeff Rosen, his manager. They asked to option the book. I said, “Talk to my agent.” My agent worked out terms. They paid us some money. Eventually I saw on the internet that the film was actually happening. I have not been involved with the filmmaking process in any way. I just got to see an advanced screening. I will be going to the premiere. They’ve been good about credit; they’ve been good about payment. But I haven’t been involved in the process.What did you think of the screening?I think it’s a really good movie. My pull-quote is: It’s not historically accurate, but it’s poetically accurate. And I really do believe that — that’s not just me being a smart-ass. I’d expected there would be things that would bother me because [Mangold] was diverging from the real history. But what happened was he diverged so completely that I got caught up in the story. Advertisement:There were a bunch of tiny details that were not exactly what happened, but were so [poetically] right that I came away very much enjoying it. Like the whole myth about Pete Seeger with the axe [at Newport Folk]. They handled it very intelligently. They do not show Pete Seeger picking up an axe, thank God, since he didn’t. They do make a nod toward his irritation and the fact that there were axes around, which is real. I love that when he’s getting irritated and wanting to shut things down, the person who stops him is his wife, Toshi, which is exactly how I heard the story from their daughter.They really worked at getting the [essence of the] characters right. For example: The morning after Newport Folk, there’s a scene of Dylan riding away on his motorcycle past the field where Pete Seeger is helping put away the folding chairs. I’m pretty sure Dylan didn’t have a motorcycle at Newport and Seeger didn’t get up that morning and help put away chairs – but that’s very much who they were.True. Symbolically, it represents their characters well.I’m sure there are people who will be bothered by that, but I’m not one of them. I thought that was a smart way of summing up what I took a lot of pages to explain.  I have a story like that about Seeger in the book.What’s your story?I was at a political singers’ weekend retreat somewhere up the Hudson,  full of well-known lefty folk singers. Pete showed up to lunch one day and was asked to say a few words. As I remember it, his entire speech was, “This is a wonderful event. I wish I could’ve been with you all weekend, but unfortunately, I just have a couple of hours, so if anybody wants to talk with me, I’ll be back in the kitchen doing dishes.”[laughs] That’s a perfect Seeger anecdote.If Boston people want to be crabby about this movie, it moves a bunch of people from the Boston scene to New York. [Former Belmont resident] Baez is around Greenwich Village, which Baez avoided like the plague. Bobby Neuwirth is in the Village. So, from a Boston point of view: “Hey, what about us?” But from a cinematic point of view, it’s a lot simpler.Advertisement:And musically, Chalamet can really play this stuff.  A lot of people I knew hated “Inside Llewyn Davis.” My position is, if they get the music right, I’ll forgive an awful lot else.  Not only did they get the music right, but also the relationships with women. He’s around strong women, he’s an asshole, they tell him so, they leave. They’re sad about it, he’s sad about it, but this is who everybody is.  Suze Rotolo … is the one person in the movie they give a fake name to, apparently something Dylan requested.Do you know why?For her privacy, which — I don’t understand the logic. I mean, she’s dead, and what privacy? We all know this Russo character is Suze Rotolo. They actually add scenes with her that didn’t happen. My big worry was they would make her the pretty girl-next-door who Dylan leaves for the mysterious Joan Baez. And they don’t at all. They make her a thoroughly strong character.  I knew Suze, so that mattered to me.Overall, they made a movie rather than doing history. But I’m happy with the movie.For hardcore Dylan fans nervous to see this, what do you think we’re going to think?In terms of the music, I think everybody’s going to be blown away. Anybody who isn’t blown away, is going to have to explain to me why. The range of Dylan songs he plays bits of is off the charts. Like what?“All Over You,” which I would have bet anything was not going to be in this movie. And goddamn it, he sings a bit of that.That’s awesome. What about the storyline?Anybody who wants the facts to be straight is going to be irritated as hell. [laughs]From beginning to end — literally. [rattles off inaccuracies] But the basic idea — the narrative of Dylan coming in, becoming part of Pete Seeger’s world, then diverging from it — that’s exactly how I frame the story. Their story makes that relationship more personal than it was in real life — which, if you’re going to make a movie, makes perfect sense. Do you know how involved Dylan was with this movie?My impression is that his contact has been limited to talking with James Mangold. I assume he’s met Chalamet, but I don’t know that. I know Elle Fanning gave an interview that suggests that she did not ever meet him.Do you know if Dylan will be at the premiere?I can say with absolute certainty that he’s not going to be there.I didn’t think he would, but I thought maybe he’d pull a Dylan and surprise people.Well, I mean, so I shouldn’t say anything with absolute certainty.[laughs]But I’m assuming he will not be there. There’s going to be a premiere in New York and one in L.A. If he was going to do either, I would expect him to do L.A.What do you think of the Oscar buzz?I have no idea.  I think it’s an absolutely terrific performance. But the part that I’m blown away by is the musical side, not the acting side. But there’s not a lot of high drama. It’s the alienation — it’s a guy playing things pretty close to the vest and not saying a lot. In that sense, I think, pretty goddamn true to the character. You’re not seeing him break down and cry over anything. As he gets more alienated, he just wears his sunglasses. [laughs] That is true to life. Dylan tweeted about your book. Did he really read it?I asked at one point whether Dylan had read it, and Jeff Rosen’s response was, “Bob doesn’t read Dylan books.”The cover of “Dylan Goes Electric” by Elijah Wald. File Photo[laughs] Classic. Your book is about Newport ’65, and what’s interesting is everyone I interview who was at Newport or played at Newport has a different story. But to believe in the booing, as you say, is key.I do make a big thing of this in the book: the booing was absolutely essential to Dylan’s myth, because his fans booing was proof that he was not selling out to become a rock star.True. It’s such an essential part of the myth for us to see that finger-up Dylan.Dylan wanted to do everything on his own terms. It’s not a simple story. Advertisement:Interview has been edited and condensed.  Lauren Daley is a freelance writer. She can be reached at [email protected]. She tweets @laurendaley1, and Instagrams at @laurendaley1. Read more stories on Facebook here.

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