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34th out of 81 books
—
14 voters
Let's Bring Back: An Encyclopedia of Forgotten-Yet-Delightful, Chic, Useful, Curious, and Otherwise Commendable Things from Times Gone By
The Huffington Post's "Let's Bring Back..." columnist, Lesley M. M. Blume, invites you to consider whatever happened to cuckoo clocks? Or bed curtains? Why do we have so many "friends" but have done away with the much more useful word "acquaintance"? All of these things, plus hot toddies, riddles, proverbs, corsets, calling cards, and many more, are due for a revival. Thro...more
Hardcover, 256 pages
Published
September 29th 2010
by Chronicle Books
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Quite good. It seems to be mostly for women, but it has good benefits for men also. Such as telling the ladies that they look prettier in a nice dress than dungarees! There is quite a bit of useful information on artful living from this book. It is a small encylopedia so there is not much information about each subject but it is still thought provoking! Ms. Blume also encourages ladies to have a more womanly figure. I forget who she mentioned(though I prefer ladies a bit thicker than that. They...more
From my book review blog Rundpinne.....
Let’s Bring Back: An Encyclopedia of Forgotten-Yet-Delightful, Chic, Useful, Curious, and Otherwise Commendable Things from Times Gone By by Lesley M.M. Blume is a delightful, witty, intriguing and educational book written from A-Z about topics ranging from Ambrosia (with recipe), to Midnight Birthday Parties, from the Gilded Age, and the Stork Club (which was “the” speakeasy in New York) and many other topics long since forgotten. Blume covers a very wide...more
Let’s Bring Back: An Encyclopedia of Forgotten-Yet-Delightful, Chic, Useful, Curious, and Otherwise Commendable Things from Times Gone By by Lesley M.M. Blume is a delightful, witty, intriguing and educational book written from A-Z about topics ranging from Ambrosia (with recipe), to Midnight Birthday Parties, from the Gilded Age, and the Stork Club (which was “the” speakeasy in New York) and many other topics long since forgotten. Blume covers a very wide...more
This delightful encyclopedia is a wonderful collection of things from bygone times which the author, Lesley Blume believes we should bring back.
The entries range from Ambrosia to Mae West to Bing Crosby to Corsets to Doorbell Pulls to Opera Capes and beyond.
As a quick disclaimer, there is some adult language included in the book. It's few and far between, but included nonetheless, so this book is not for children.
While I must admit I am too young to have grown up with most everything in this boo...more
The entries range from Ambrosia to Mae West to Bing Crosby to Corsets to Doorbell Pulls to Opera Capes and beyond.
As a quick disclaimer, there is some adult language included in the book. It's few and far between, but included nonetheless, so this book is not for children.
While I must admit I am too young to have grown up with most everything in this boo...more
OMFG, this book makes me uber-nostalgic for times I never lived through, experiences I never had, people I never knew, and objects I've never seen. It's a beautiful-looking book and provides a fascinating glimpse into past times, so it serves as a mini historical tour de force too. The overall premise of the book is what really captivated me and made me think though: times in the past weren't simpler than they are now, but they were certainly less hurried and less cluttered. People definitely pu...more
Mar 11, 2013
Relyn
added it
Recommends it for:
Everyone!
Recommended to Relyn by:
I adore this author.
Shelves:
2013-reread
Oh, I love this author. Not just her skills with the pen. Not just her writing. I love her. At least, I love her public persona. Click here and watch this really cool video for the book. It's wonderful. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg9Hbf...
I vote Lesley M.M. Blume as the living author I'd most like to meet. OK, she ties with Sherman Alexie.
I vote Lesley M.M. Blume as the living author I'd most like to meet. OK, she ties with Sherman Alexie.
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Let's Bring Back: An Encyclopedia of Forgotten-Yet-Delightful, Chic, Useful, Curious and Otherwise Commendable Things from Times Gone By by Lesley M. M. Blume
Chronicle Books, 2010
I spotted this volume on one of my meanders through the library shelves, with no one particular book in mind, just the rather vague intention of wanting to bring home the first book that called out to me. There it was, its cover daintily illustrated, its attached pale green ribbon bookmark pristine and quaint. I have to...more
Chronicle Books, 2010
I spotted this volume on one of my meanders through the library shelves, with no one particular book in mind, just the rather vague intention of wanting to bring home the first book that called out to me. There it was, its cover daintily illustrated, its attached pale green ribbon bookmark pristine and quaint. I have to...more
Beautiful to look through, and at times charming with its nostalgia.
Although that nostalgia does rely on Blume currently living in a world where Americans supposedly shower twice per day and change homes every three-to-five years, among other things. I don't know what world she comes from, but it sure as hell ain't the same one where I or my parents reside.
As a result, at times annoying with its get-off-my-lawn contempt for the *scoff* modern age.
And for a collection which decries electronic boo...more
Although that nostalgia does rely on Blume currently living in a world where Americans supposedly shower twice per day and change homes every three-to-five years, among other things. I don't know what world she comes from, but it sure as hell ain't the same one where I or my parents reside.
As a result, at times annoying with its get-off-my-lawn contempt for the *scoff* modern age.
And for a collection which decries electronic boo...more
I picked this up totally judging it by the cover (the thing you aren't supposed to do) but was pleasantly surprised anyway. It's set up in a dictionary style sort of way with different descriptions of items/ideas/people/places that should be "brought back" into modern times. I'm a sucker for nostalgia/vintage/retro memorabilia and this book honors all of that. Let's bring back double features, playing cards, courtship, vanity tables, and picnics in graveyards!
This book gives a brief history on o...more
This book gives a brief history on o...more
Dec 25, 2012
Gloriavirtutisumbra
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
nonfiction-old-and-new,
goofy-self-help-more
This was charming, gratuitous, occasionally naughty, and clever. I am debating cultivating an idea or two from it for the new year... maybe adopting Florida water on occasion, or evening strolls... One slight embarrassment for me was i had no idea many of the phrases bandied about in my house are on vocabulary extinction listings. We've always said 'bees knees' 'gung ho' and 'hi-jinks', not every day but they are regularly used descriptive phrases in my family. Might be a Midwestern thing. Every...more
So much fun! This is a perfect "bathroom book" - if you read in there like I do. (too much information?) The author writes a column for a newspaper extolling the wonders of some things that have passed out of our culture. It's a random list of things she would like to see come back - from barbershop shaves (relaxing and dangerous at the same time), to femme fatales (because she's tired of the vapid girl-next-door stars of today), to pink suits for men (I totally have to disagree on this one). I...more
I loved the premise of Let's Bring Back, which is a little encyclopedia of things that have fallen out of use/fashion that the author thinks we should bring back. I am a rather nostalgic person and I think there are lots of things that I wish would come back. The book itself is really cute, a vintage design with a bookmark, but I only got through a few letters of the alphabet when I decided that I couldn't take any more of the foul language. It is really too bad because this could have been a ve...more
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A fun book of one-paragraph or so long listings of neat "retro" things and bigger than life personalities of yesteryear. More suited as something you read in line at a bank or on short transit commutes (or even the bathroom). The brevity of the entries meant I post-it-noted all the pages with references I want to pursue in greater detail. Thus a good book to discover fun things about history. Most of the entries are about twentieth century things and people, though there is a smattering of Victo...more
A simple but fun premise: let's talk about all the things from days gone past that we should bring back! It sounds like fun for someone like me who loves all things old-fashioned (I often imagine that it would be fun to live in a different time).
There are lots of fun and fascinating things listed, from garden parties to trousseaux, as well as plenty of things and people I have never heard of.
My only problem is that the author isn't really my kindred spirit. She loves naughtiness and I prefer s...more
There are lots of fun and fascinating things listed, from garden parties to trousseaux, as well as plenty of things and people I have never heard of.
My only problem is that the author isn't really my kindred spirit. She loves naughtiness and I prefer s...more
Looking at the entries one by one, some are very interesting. Reading this book cover to cover is a chore. It’s weird too because I’m not sure of the best readership for this book. Some of the items and activities actually still exist. (Girl Scout cookies, heavy weight boxing, etc.) Some I remember from childhood (white gloves, middies, etc.) (that was kind of fun) and some are older than that, though many can be found today in some little part of the world. (gaslit streetlamps, and many others)...more
5 likes · like · see review
The book is organized alphabetically like an encyclopedia of the past. It was a fun read for those five or ten minutes I have had lately as I could read five or six entries at a sitting.
If you're not from the NYC area, the predominance of Big Apple-centric listings may leave you a little bored. Yes, NYC was probably a wonderful place to have lived during this or that heyday but I think there are lots of universal "back in the day" items that could have been listed. At least the book could have i...more
If you're not from the NYC area, the predominance of Big Apple-centric listings may leave you a little bored. Yes, NYC was probably a wonderful place to have lived during this or that heyday but I think there are lots of universal "back in the day" items that could have been listed. At least the book could have i...more
Oct 18, 2012
Elizabeth
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommended to Elizabeth by:
Michael
Shelves:
domesticity
I should have written this review much closer to finishing Let’s Bring Back – sometime in July – as I would have been able to share more delightful specifics. The book is a celebration of nostalgia, of the manners and customs of a better time.
One aspect of the book that I loved was the broad definition of ‘a better time’. In skimming the book together, Mom and I both found aspects of our childhoods – hers from the 50s, mine from the 80s. My grandma, born in 1918, could have done the same. There...more
One aspect of the book that I loved was the broad definition of ‘a better time’. In skimming the book together, Mom and I both found aspects of our childhoods – hers from the 50s, mine from the 80s. My grandma, born in 1918, could have done the same. There...more
Lesley Blume's book is a thoroughly enjoyable encyclopedia of "commendable things from times gone by" that will delight
any reader. While certainly not a Luddite or anyone who yearns for a time before our modern amenities, I was reminded of some things from my childhood and others that my grandmother told me - white gloves, calling cards, Minton's, notions departments in department stores and my personal favorite...quiet voices in public. This book was a Christmas present, and I love it and will...more
any reader. While certainly not a Luddite or anyone who yearns for a time before our modern amenities, I was reminded of some things from my childhood and others that my grandmother told me - white gloves, calling cards, Minton's, notions departments in department stores and my personal favorite...quiet voices in public. This book was a Christmas present, and I love it and will...more
Jul 01, 2012
Derek
added it
A thoroughly enjoyable book. It is the sort of book that is perfect for light reading, going over a few entries at a time. Some of the entries are clearly meant to be humorous. Some are genuinely entertaining illicit ing further research (Inenjoyed the mini-biographies). The most enjoyable part of this book was the joy I received when I found something I remembered or had heard about. Brought back great memories and imaginings of times gone by.
This book is basically an encyclopedia of all things old fashioned, glamourous, and sophisticated that have long been forgotten. As someone with an old soul, I really enjoyed reading entries about archaic facets of society. I only wish the entries were longer. Regardless, it was an enjoyable look into the past, and Blume mentions parts of Manhattan which still sustain aspects of the past (like a speakeasy cellar).
This book was given to me as a gift. While the title seemed hokey (a word Ms. Lesley M.M. Blume would most likely approve of), I was pleasantly surprised by this charming stroll through yesteryear. Ms. Blume's dictionary of nostalgia proves that "progress" has NOT enriched our quality of life. Notable mentions: Carol Burnett, Donyale Luna, and my personal favorite...poison (Let's DO bring it back).
Aug 03, 2012
Sara
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone who loves things of the past
Recommended to Sara by:
Country Living magazine
This book is awesome! A wonderful collection of thing of our past that are odd, simple, wholesome, delightful, greatly missed and dismissed, funny and splendid. I enjoyed reading it in little bits, like petit fours, just a nibble here and there. It's better to savor it that way.
Some inspiring things from this book that I will either make or have made, tried or will try I have tried, or will try are;
Milk toast pg 145
Homemade Mayonnaise pg 142
Indian Pudding pg 117
Tutti Frutti Ice Cream pg 22...more
Some inspiring things from this book that I will either make or have made, tried or will try I have tried, or will try are;
Milk toast pg 145
Homemade Mayonnaise pg 142
Indian Pudding pg 117
Tutti Frutti Ice Cream pg 22...more
Although a lot of the suggestions are rather impractical, if you're in a fanciful mood...
Some of the things of yesteryear that I wish would be revived:
Bandstands
Cloaks
Driving gloves
"Kerfuffle"
Brow-paper-&-twine-wrapped packages
Cobblestone streets
Family crests
Clippings albums
Aging naturally
Discussion societies
Haystacks
The intelligent insult
Jukeboxes
"Persnickety"
Masquerade balls
Porcelain skin
"Frippery"
Messages in bottles
"Groovy"
Some of the things of yesteryear that I wish would be revived:
Bandstands
Cloaks
Driving gloves
"Kerfuffle"
Brow-paper-&-twine-wrapped packages
Cobblestone streets
Family crests
Clippings albums
Aging naturally
Discussion societies
Haystacks
The intelligent insult
Jukeboxes
"Persnickety"
Masquerade balls
Porcelain skin
"Frippery"
Messages in bottles
"Groovy"
This is a fun quick book. It is about stuff that is no longer considered modern or is in danger of not being considered modern. It is arranged alphabetically and contains people, places, words, and objects. There were a huge amount of things I had never heard of, and a few I didn't care about, but overall, I enjoyed this book.
Fun read about things like calling glasses "spectacles" and old speakeasies in NYC that we should start using again. This is a great read if you have five minutes to kill and want to read something. The book is arranged alphbetically like a dictionary and each entry is no longer than a paragraph or two.
Really a 3.5 rating.
Pros: old-timey recipes, interesting persons included with short biographies, brought back some memories
Cons: not very many pictures (had to do a lot of googling on my own), some of the items were supposed to be self-explainatory, but I didn't get why it was so great.
Pros: old-timey recipes, interesting persons included with short biographies, brought back some memories
Cons: not very many pictures (had to do a lot of googling on my own), some of the items were supposed to be self-explainatory, but I didn't get why it was so great.
Cute, fun read. I actually used the word persnickety in a conversation the other day. The hard part about this book is most of what she wants to bring back are dead people. No one will ever be like them again (Dorothy Parker for example: did you know her ashes sat her her lawyers office for 15 years before someone claimed them!), and they're just plain dead.
What a fun book! I found myself agreeing with so many of Blume's suggestions on what to bring back (hats, courtship, butler's pantries, imperfect smiles, automats, attention spans) and laughing at others. An enjoyable read for the die-hard nostalgists out there.
I am currently reading this book for the fourth time. I am a hopeless nostalgist and this book perfectly showcases many of the people, things, and customs that i wish were still around, as well as pointing out a few that i hadn't heard of.
Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! Great if you feel like an old soul, and even if you are a thoroughly modern person it's interesting, funny, and full of tons of useful random info. My favorite non-fiction book to date.
I absolutely loved this book, and think I will look to buy it. This book chronicles interesting and amazing things from bygone eras, and most items described here would make our modern lives more complete.
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