Let's Bring Back...

The book is organized alphabetically like an encyclopedia of the past. It was a fun read for those five or ten minutes I have had lately as I could read five or six entries at a sitting.

If you're not from the NYC area, the predominance of Big Apple-centric listings may leave you a little bored. Yes, NYC was probably a wonderful place to have lived during this or that heyday but I think there are lots of universal “back in the day” items that could have been listed. At least the book could have included a more geographically diverse collection of items. I'm sure other cities had amazing speakeasies, theaters and events that deserved to be mentioned as well. Overall the book was also very American-centric, which is fine but probably should have been noted in the introduction (maybe it was and I forgot but by the time I got to the end of the book the New York focus became particularly apparent). Maybe this is just the excuse needed for there to be a second volume? May I recommend World's Fairs and steno pads (heck, shorthand while we're at it) as items to include in the next addition?

Nitpicking aside, there were lots of things to enjoy in this book. I particularly enjoyed the tidbits from various contributors and the frequent mentions of Diana Vreeland who I'm so intrigued by that I may read her biography now. Let's Bring Back certainly made me think that there are things that have vanished from our society for no good reason. Sure, the telegraph is outdated and not as relevant since we now have portable, pocketable telegraphs known as cell phones but why don't people get dressed up for church on Sundays anymore and what happened to manners?