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Family Souvenirs from 1962 Vacation Find a Home at the American Library Association Archive

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In May of 1962, a family of three took a two-week road trip through the Pacific Northwest.  Nearly 50 years later, some of their vacation souvenirs have made their way to the American Library Association (ALA) Archive at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).

The souvenirs are printouts from a UNIVAC computer displayed at ALA's Library 21 exhibit at the Century 21 Exposition (the 1962 Seattle World's Fair). They were rescued from a scrapbook discovered by the owner of Bequeathed Blog, who shared them with the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (a division of ALA).
 
Bequeathed Blog offers stories and history about small but culturally relevant vintage ephemera.  According to the blog, these are items that have “survived beyond their intended lifecycle, been used, discarded” and are now salvaged because they are believed worth saving.
 
 
Univac print out from Library 21 exhibit at 1962 Seattle World's FairAfter receiving the computer printouts, ALA contacted Chris Prom, assistant university archivist at UIUC, to ask if they should be added to the historical documentation of the association housed at the UIUC archive. Although the archive already contained some examples of the UNIVAC printouts, Prom was happy to add these to the archive.

The scrapbook containing printouts also included an “Oregon Cool Green Vacationland Tour” booklet and a placemat from the (now defunct) Pixie Kitchen Restaurant. These items are still available for adoption, if any of our readers are interested.

View all 5 UNIVAC print outs on our Flickr page.

 

About the Library 21 Exhibit

The Library 21 exhibit, designed primarily to envision the role of technology in libraries of the future, featured a state-of the-art Sperry-Rand UNIVAC Solid State 90 computer programmed to print out a portion of electronically stored text entered from a printed reference book.  A photo of the computer at the Library 21 exhibit is available at The University of Washington Library.
 
The exhibit also featured more traditional library services like “Children's World,” which housed 2,000 books from all over the world, and the “Ready Reference Center,” with more than 700 reference titles and a Xerox 914 copier. The UNIVAC computer, however, was the star of the exhibition.
 
Critics from within the library community like Jessica Melton, a library science professor at Western Reserve University, referred to the exhibit as a “grotesque novelty” and observed that “thoughtful people must have wondered why they were standing in line for 30 minutes to get a printout of a quotation (or sometimes part of a quotation) from “Great Books of the Western World,” when in two seconds they could have turned to the index on the shelf across the barrier 10 feet away in the browsing section of the library, pulled the proper volume of the shelf, and then read the whole passage in context sitting down comfortably.” 1
 
While the designers of the exhibition might have gotten some of the details wrong, they did accurately predict the critical role that technology would play in the library of the future. Like many exhibits at the fair, Library 21 displayed an unfailing optimism about ability of technology to single-handedly accomplish all tasks and solve all problems.  Fifty years later, the key role librarians play in creating metadata for information retrieval and as educators and facilitators is much more apparent.
 

Basic Tips for Paper Preservation

  • It is best to store paper items flat, rather than folding and unfolding, which can lead to creases and tears.
  • Do not use tape, glue, paper clips, or staples on valuable papers. The damage caused by these items over time is difficult, if not impossible, to repair.
  • Any paper products in physical contact with valuable documents should be plain white and acid-free. Store paper materials in dark, cool, relatively dry locations. Aim for 35% relative humidity and below 72° F.
  • UV radiation, which is emitted by the sun and fluorescent bulbs, is particularly damaging to paper items. Store away from the light as much as possible to avoid fading and/or yellowing.
  • If framing, request that the framer use starch paste hinges and acid-free mats, and make sure that the document is not touching the glass in the frame. If the framed document is to be displayed, conservation glass that filters most harmful UV light is available from better framers.

 More detailed information about preserving paper is available on our Preservation Resources page.

 

1 Downey, Greg (2007). The Librarian and the Univac: Automation and Labor at the 1962 Seattle World's Fair. In Knowledge workers in the information society (pp37-51). Lanham: Lexington Books.

 

 
 

 

 

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