Your Editor doesn't know how to build a better world today. Your Editor can't even build a better Post issue today, having the 'flu and being becalmed in the Internet Archives doldrums.

At first, the intention was to bring you a song about peace. But all the books with 'songs + peace' in the title ended with 'and war'. (Not kidding.) While browsing through collections of campaign songs for forgotten presidential candidates such as Millard Fillmore of no memory at all, I stumbled across a book of campaign songs for Lincoln in 1864. The songs are terrible, though they probably sold well during an election year. But it was the adverts that made this 10-cent volume a treasure trove.

We apologise in advance to our Superfrenchie for the description of French literature in this incredible ad. Emile Souvestre seems to have written a major dystopian novel about life in the year 3000, but this isn't it.

The advert's argument appears to be, 'Hey, take a chance! French novels can't all be as bad as we think!' We think the copywriter was having a really off day.

Dmitri Gheorgheni

01.05.17 Front Page

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