La Vérité

I’ve been trying to write “something” lately, with some success. Starting a book is intimidating, writing various tidbits that could one day be part of a book is less so. Regardless, I have lots of time on my hands now that the snow has arrived. I still go out hunting, but not as often as I would if the weather were nicer. As usual, getting my brain into “focus” mode is the biggest challenge.

Here’s some stuff from a couple months ago. I was saving it for the book, but then I realized the trash wasn’t really book-worthy, just the story surrounding it.

I saved a whole bunch of cute antique pictures from the bags on the right. Only one was an original painting (bottom left), but regardless they are good for decor.

I also saved a cool collection of Magic Lantern slides. I’ve found (relatively) newer ones before, but these are printed on glass and look much older. I think they could be from the late 1800s. I doubt they are super valuable, but I do have a bunch of them and they’re interesting regardless.

Otherwise, the recycling provided some interesting old newspapers. Most unusual might be the old Communist publications from the 30s. “La Vérité” (The Truth) was started by Leon Trotsky way back when he was still alive. “Le Journal de Moscou” looks like Soviet propaganda (one is marked with a “Friends of the Soviet Union” stamp, which was apparently located downtown), and I wasn’t able to figure out much about the other ones other than that they were left-ish. I like finding uncommon things, no matter which direction they lean so I enjoyed finding these. I do wonder if the Vérités could have some value, they appear to be hard to find.

I kept an eye on that spot, but my only other noteworthy find (a few weeks later) was this shield-type thing, which I think might have been the coat of arms version of the 1926 La Presse Canadian flag design contest winner. It had a really long string on the back, so it might have been hung from the actual rafters at some point. Regardless, another rare item by the looks of things, although only folks with an interest in Vexillology will care.