Welcome to Retell Seller, an ephemera podcast where I uncover forgotten stories and the ephemera people leave behind. I’m Angie, a reseller of 10 years, and I’ll share one of those snippets with you. Let’s see what today’s find has to say
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Have you ever heard of the publication Bits and Pieces? I had not until I looked up the six little booklets I’d picked up at the estate sale where I purchased the infamous hatbox I keep pulling from. Although I do remember these were not in the box.
The series was published by the Economics Press Inc. monthly from 1968 when it was first commercially used and in 2001, Lawrence Ragan Communications Inc. purchased it and it’s still being offered today via subscription.
Its tagline now says, “Bits and Pieces, the magazine that motivates the world.” They’re focused on professional development within businesses using anecdotes, quotes, short stories and more to motivate and inspire.
I even found a PDF showing it was incorporated into educational materials, including the University of Illinois in the 1980s, where they brought in short snippets from Bits and Pieces and incorporated it into the curriculum for various departments from the ag division to industrial arts.
Of the ones I have, they’re pastel in colors. They’re blue, orange, green, and each booklet’s cover says, “Bits and Pieces, a monthly mixture of horse sense and common sense about working with people.”
It then lists the overall topics of the issues. Each has 24 pages filled with advice. Some are funny,
some are things we’ve all heard before. Others are kind of outdated, uh, perhaps questionable by today’s standards, and others are still spot on.
I’ll read a couple from each booklet and I’ll also share a few more pages of these on the blog over at retellseller.com. That’s R-E-T-E-L-Lseller.com, as well as YouTube.
So here’s a few from the 1975 booklet.
#1: The trouble with being a leader today is that you can’t be sure whether people are following you or chasing you.
#2: It is not in doing what you like, but in liking what you do that is the secret of happiness. And this one I found interesting because this is exactly what I said in my episode about Ella Wheeler Wilcox, so I’ll leave a link in the show notes to the episode if you wanna check that out.
#3: You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him.
#4: Many can argue, not many converse.
#5: Decision is a sharp knife that cuts clean and straight. Indecision, a dull one that hacks and tears and leaves ragged edges behind.
The next handful is from 1976 and this was underlined already by someone. Uh, and I actually learned of this a long time ago, and this is why I arrive early to appointments.
Uh, but this will be #6: People who are late are disrespectful of the importance of others and the value of their time, whether they intend to be or not.
#7: A popular novelist was recently asked his formula for success. Replied the novelist, “I always start with a clean sheet of paper and a dirty mind.”
#8: Funny how a dollar can look so big when you’re spending it and so small when you’re saving it.
#9: Loneliness is not being alone, for then ministering spirits come to soothe and bless. Loneliness is to endure the presence of one who does not understand.
#10: What do we live for if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?
#11: Being a woman is a terribly difficult trade since it consists principally of dealing with men. And that was apparently said by a guy named Joseph Conrad.
Now, I’ve not worked for a company in a full-time capacity in years. I got my first job in high school working at a dry cleaners, and I worked there from 15 to 21. Then I left for college and went on to working in photo studios where I would go to schools and take their school portraits. I’d take pictures at their dances, their sporting events.
I did go to a temp agency at one point and I was just looking for temporary work, and the lady who interviewed me said, “Well, do you wanna work here?” And I said, “Well, I’d be willing to learn.” And so I was hired on the spot, and I worked there for a good five years, I believe. Uh, I would do the orientations and the hiring. I would also have to do drug testing, and that was fun.
I worked for the public school system where I was the one who would organize summer school, and I was also the homeless liaison, so if a family was in need of supplies, whether personal or school, then I would be able to help with those things. And anything above and beyond that, I would work with our county office, and they would be able to get them more help.
My last full-time jobs were secretarial positions at the school district still in which I moved up eventually, and then I moved for the last time out of the school district and went to the college level working with medical students preparing their schedules and their simulation trainings.
And since I moved away from those jobs, I’ve worked multiple part-time jobs at the same time, most recently a front desk job at a therapist office, and I worked there for almost 10 years I’ve worked on a farm. I worked a short time at a T-shirt company, and of course, my own little reselling business, and now the podcast.
I like to work. I like to get things done, and even if we’re not talking about a job, I strongly believe in the quote earlier that said, “What do we live for if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?” I’m not even talking about some grand scale. I’m talking about a small workplace, your surroundings, a neighbor maybe.
Now, I’m not some can’t we all just get along kind of person because I wasn’t raised that way, but I do believe we can stop making things so damn difficult for each other.
Thank you for joining me as I shared a snippet of the past. I’d love to know if it connected with you in some way. Did it spark a memory or make you see something differently? If so, consider sharing it. Be sure to check out the show notes for additional info, links, and ways to connect. It’s not nostalgia, it’s human. Until next time, may you find something worth holding onto
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pinny please
