Retro Future Electrics

A page about retro electronics, from the introduction of electricity until 1970-something. We refit old gadgets with new tech, and wonder at the makers who came before us.

Reading old books is talking with the dead

Here are RFE, we also like all things Retro, even if they aren’t about the future or electronics. Today this book arrived in the RFE mailbox:

TheCompleteBBQCookbook

The Complete Barbecue Book by John and Marie Roberson. (Available from Amazon for US$4 : The Complete BBQ Book Amazon Link ) It occured to me on reading that the copyright date for this book is 1951, 65 years away from 2016. I searched for John and Marie Roberson and all I could find were references to this book, so I assume they wrote nothing else, and that they were married. It’s more than likely that they aren’t alive anymore today, I don’t mean that to sound Macabre, but rather it’s a celebration of the human condition. Even though they aren’t around, I’m gaining their knowledge that was written down. This is 291 page book, it has a ton of recipes and tips, and I’m learning a decent amount from their tips.

It just gave me a sense of wonder, as it often does looking at old things, and reading old writings. This is what makes us uniquely human, I can read in the words of our distant relatives their own thoughts, in their own words.  I can only hope that someone in the future will read the words here on RFE, and think “Wow, 2016 views of 1960’s future tech was cool” …. or something like that.

-CTP

 

 

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