Today I stopped by an antique store that I haven’t been to for ages and ages. (My law office, when I was a solo practitioner, was across the street from it, and going there was my postprandial entertainment when I was pregnant and trying not to fall asleep at my desk.)

And some days, I just had a feeling that there would be something cool and new, and I’d go look. Today I was nearby, and I had that feeling. And I lucked out: I found an antique Federal Bullseye mirror for a crazy low price. And by crazy low, I mean that even being stressed for money I couldn’t pass it up — like half a tank of gas inexpensive. (Excuse my enthusiasm, but I love these mirrors and now I have two! This one has the 13 balls around the mirror, for the original 13 colonies.)

But that’s not the real story. In one of the rooms, I found the oddest thing: this very patriotic-looking scrapbook.

Inside is all the PR put out by Columbia Aircraft Industries, circa 1944. What makes the thing fun and a little mysterious? Along with the official photos (and some unofficial photos), newsletters, and press, there was a huge bag of clippings, newspaper and otherwise, that never made it into the scrapbook, including what happened to various functionaries of the company later on. I’d never heard of the company before today, but I suspect I’ll have fun reading up on it.