Found a 1973 grocery list tucked in a cookbook vs a pressed flower in a novel

I picked up a used copy of 'The Joy of Cooking' at a yard sale in Tulsa last weekend and a yellowed piece of paper fell out. It was a grocery list dated March 1973 with things like 'hamburger $0.79/lb' and 'loaf of bread - 25 cents'. Then, in a copy of 'To Kill a Mockingbird', I found a perfect, dried violet. The list felt like a direct window into someone's real day, while the flower was just pretty. The specific details on that list, with prices and dates, made me imagine the person's life way more than the anonymous flower ever could. Which kind of find do you guys think tells a better story, the practical everyday stuff or the sentimental keepsakes?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_eric9d agoMost Upvoted

What about the stuff that wasn't meant to be saved? The grocery list is a real record, but the flower is just a bookmark someone forgot. The list tells you what they needed, the flower only tells you they stopped reading on that page.

rileyb618d ago

Keep both. Scan the list for your records, then press the flower in the same book. The dried flower becomes part of the book's history, and you still have the digital list. Lets you hold onto the feeling without losing the info.

carter.gavin2d ago

Ever wonder if the person who left the flower even remembers it? The list was a tool. The flower was a feeling. Which one feels more honest to you?