If you were a teenager in the ’50s, you probably had an autograph book. It was a 4-by-6-inch leather booklet, the cover reading “Autographs” printed in gold, with blank pages inside. In this booklet, which girls mainly kept, we’d ask our friends and family to sign. Some added a silly verse, such as, “Some write for pleasure, Some write for fame, But all I can do, Is write my name.” Others might write a personal note, like, “To my best friend, ever!”
Today, there are many collectors of these autograph books. Some of my friends saved their autograph books, but alas, I never saved mine. Yet, I wanted to know where and how these autographs books began.
Autograph books originated in central Europe in the mid-16th century. There was a craze, among students graduating from a university to have their Bibles signed by their classmates, as well as the faculty.
Eventually this craze expanded, not just to signatures, but poetry, drawings and messages. Thus, the publishers of the Bibles started adding extra blank sheets. Soon, publishers expanded into decorated books with blank pages.
These books were kept for sentimental reasons by the students. They were even able to use the signatures and messages as a form of their academic credentials.
The first autograph books found came from Germany and Dutch cultures in the mid-16th century. The German album Amicorum (book of friends) or stammbuch (friendship book) is the precursor of our modern autograph book.
These albums were all different but mainly consisted of verses in Latin, Greek or Hebrew at the top, a greeting and at times a heraldic shield. Some albums contained drawings, embroidery, locks of hair or pressed flowers.
By the late 17th century, the albums waned with the academic community. A century later, these books rebounded with the middle class.
German immigrants brought the tradition of autograph books to American in the late 18th century. They were popular until the Civil War with both cultures. Incidentally, they are still used by German school girls and known as poesiealben.
What happened to autograph books? A Boston photographer, George Warren, advanced photo technology by creating images from one photo. He cleverly sold many prints to students and encouraged them to share with other students. Eventually, the students had these photos bound and made into what was called a yearbook.
Autograph books did bounce back again from 1914 to the 1920s and again in the 1950s when I was a teenager. We had both yearbooks and autograph books.
My friend, Faye, saved her autograph books from the ’50s. Here are some verses I copied from her books:
“Yours until the foot of Mt. Penn gets corns.”
“Roses are red, Violets are blue, Sugar is sweet, And so are you.”
“Some write for pleasure, Some write for fame, But I wrote simply, To sign my name.”
“By hook or by crook, I’ll be last in the book.”
“Remember little ‘m’, Remember little ‘e,’ Put them together and remember little me.”
“Good, better, best – Never let it rest, Until your good is better, And your better is best.”
“Yours till Niagara falls.””Yours till the board walks.”
“Yours till the cake walks.””Yours till the kitchen sinks.”
They’ve made a comeback!Nowadays, Disney World sells a variety of autograph books. In a different form, I see them at viewings and weddings. We’ve had little booklets on a table at bed and breakfast inns where you tell the host how wonderful, or not, the visit was.
“Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, Sugar is Sweet, And so are my readers!”
Carole Christman Koch grew up in Berks County and has been published in numerous publications. She has a passion for writing and has many stories from growing up on a farm to raising children to humorous stories about her and her husband to everyday stories to season stories and more.
