Books, but not a rant about ipads
I have a book on my shelf at home. It's green, about a thousand pages long, and quite old. It's called "The Handy Boys Book", and was printed in 1912. It contains hundreds of articles on various things of interest to Edwardian boys, including constructing balsa wood submarines, carpentry, making electric motors, flying kites, looking after pets and collecting moths. It has delightfully anachronistic warnings in it (example: "Do not spill nitric acid on your skin, as it tends to leave a nasty burn.") It smells of Old Book and all the measurements in it are not just non-metric, they are proudly Imperial.

Everything it talks about is solidly old school: tangible, existant, hand-made, cast iron, analogue technology. With the knowledge contained in this book one could have a decent stab at reconstructing society after the zombie apocalypse. Grab a Mrs. Beeton and you'd be set for tasty food and well-pressed sheets too.

The best bit wasn't written by some mustachioed old ex-Army major a hundred years go, though, but by a series of authors in pen: the flysheet has my name, my father's name, his father's name, my great grandfather's name and my great-great grandfather's name, together with the dates (usually 25th December) when the book was handed over from one Senior Scrumper to the next Junior in line.

It is this book more than anything else* which has made me realize I want to acquiesce to my wife's desire for kids.



*well, that, and the fact that I really hate condoms...
( Scrumper, Mon 8 Nov 2010, 19:12, 11 replies)

The make your own fireworks
Section is my favorite. The sort of tome that encouraged me to get into chemistry
(Sir Tainley Barking Ezekiel 23:20, Mon 8 Nov 2010, 19:45, closed)

This last week ...
... I taught a group of a dozen 6 to 11 year-olds to make fireworks.*

This sort of thing doesn't happen often enough these days, in my opinion. No wonder nobody goes into science any more!

I would love to find a copy of that book!

Edit - and a copy is in fact now mine at the bargain price of £7 inc P&P. Thanks Scrumper, Sir Tainley and all for the tips. Don't you just love e-bay!

Edit2 - a dislike of condoms and a desire for a son is a superb way to wind up with a large number of daughters! I have two and they are wonderful, however, so don't let that put you off.

*I did forgo the copper acetoarsenide on this occasion, however, girl that I am.
( Ugi , it's a game of give and cake, Tue 9 Nov 2010, 11:40, closed)

My grandfather had a similar book, which I now assume is in my father's posession
Fun things to do included making your own x-ray machine (seriously, using a second-hand x-ray tube) and x-raying your hand or small pets.
( le brian, Mon 8 Nov 2010, 20:04, closed)

Thats in there as well
OP mentions its a green book, my copy has a red cover. Grandad probably has the same book
(Sir Tainley Barking Ezekiel 23:20, Mon 8 Nov 2010, 20:09, closed)

i want a copy

( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Mon 8 Nov 2010, 20:17, closed)

Tenner on Fleabay
Will get you a copy in better nick than my copy.

They're not that rare, as they sold loads to proto-engineers and other practical minded boys who grew up to smoke pipes, wear waistcoats and who had sheds.
(Sir Tainley Barking Ezekiel 23:20, Mon 8 Nov 2010, 20:35, closed)

Spot on
A tenner did indeed just get me a copy on ebay. I love this QOTW, it's giving me LOADS of ideas!
( SteamedCleaner, Wed 10 Nov 2010, 12:56, closed)

I think my gramps left that behind when he died....

Will check and see....but from what I can tell he did use it quite a bit!
(Lip Up Fatty Fatty Reggae still loves BBQ food on, Mon 8 Nov 2010, 20:46, closed)

Probably reprinted a lot
I did a quick Google after I posted this and I saw a red edition printed quite a bit later than mine (in the twenties, I think). Mine's definitely green and the binding is original.

I remember the x-ray tube and the fireworks. Incredible stuff; nearly everything in that book would get today's Handy Boy a control order in record time. Personally I enjoyed the electrical stuff; the best thing I made was a morse code transmitter from meccano and D-cells (range: six feet; frequency: all of them.)

Nice that others have seen it too; obviously it was a popular book for a number of years.
( Scrumper, Mon 8 Nov 2010, 21:03, closed)

I have something similar
The Children's Encyclopedia by Arthur Mee, in the 1910 bound edition. It's full of useful facts and things to do, most of which involve a trip down to the chemist's shop to buy nitric acid or mercury or arsenic. Completely enchanting.
(Smale is stuffed, Tue 9 Nov 2010, 8:33, closed)

.
that's pretty cool.

We have two bronze statues that have been passed down for 4 generations, but as I'm the middle of 3 brothers, I suspect I'll miss out.
( Not Pineapple anymore, Tue 9 Nov 2010, 17:16, closed)