For as long as I can remember, I planned to buy a proper, sturdy, beautiful, glass-doored bookcase in which to display my treasures. Finally, last week my son, John, and I put together a quite nice cabinet from IKEA: 77 inches tall, 35 inches wide, 6 shelves, white wood, glass doors. It was a fun job because we're experienced in assembling furniture. The directions, I found, had no words, only diagrams. At first, I panicked but discovered the pictures were actually easier to understand than interpreting strange words used only by carpenters. It was suggested to attach the top of the cabinet to the wall, for safety. This was new to us, but easily accomplished and virtually invisible when viewed from either the front or side.
We brought down the entire NG collection from the recesses of the attic. Next, I sorted them into piles of decades, then years, in rows in the living room. A delightful discovery were 9 issues from 1949, 4 issues from 1929, 2 from 1928 and one from 1927!
Since I had previously pulled out many of the maps from various issues, while sorting, I pulled out the rest. These maps are treasures in themselves. I found some from places I had been - Germany, Italy - and set aside the one from Hawaii where I'll travel later this summer.
How to shelve the journals: upright? horizontal? I decided to start with the newest on the bottom shelf, placed horizontally, leaving very little clearance at the top and no room on the sides. For the other shelves, I wanted some visual interest, and alternated with horizontal and vertical stacks. On two shelves, I left a slight amount of space for my favorite blue and white pottery items.
The maps rest in a basket on the top of the cabinet. Later, I'll arrange them into decades and years like the journals.
So now I'm ready to go, ready to start with the oldest journal and rock my way through this wonderful world! Next blog: 1927!
So are the maps separate from the magazines? I remember all of the NG's as a kid but didn't know there were map books too.
ReplyDeleteYes, the maps are separate but enclosed when you get the magazines. They fold out to various large poster sizes. They are wonderful! I wish I had enough walls to open them out & hang them all! Then NG first offered the maps, there were several per year. Now I find them more frequently.
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