Scatter Brained

C H A P T E R   8

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214
S C A T T E R B R A I N E D
SCISSORS
Th
 e  fi rst modern scrapbooks were called “commonplace 
books” and started showing up in the early 18th century. A 
luxury of the rich, commonplace books gathered together 
clipped newspaper articles, favorite quotations, small por-
traits, and locks of hair from friends. Oddly enough, among 
the most famous fans of commonplace books was Th
 omas 
Jeff erson, and while there’s no evidence he ever did so, we 
can’t help but imagine Tom timidly asking Hancock, Wash-
ington, and Franklin if he might snip off  a couple of locks for 
his special little book. Th
  ese days, scrapbooks have played a 
key role, perhaps second only to knitting, in the crafting re-
naissance of the new millennium. No fewer than seven mag-
azines currently cater to the scrapbooking market—including 
a bimonthly that employs the age-old trick of swapping 
c
 
with 
k
 to cute-ify itself: 
PaperKuts.
Known to Be a Scrapbooker:
  Th
  e aforementioned Jeff er-
son,  Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  and  Mark  Twain,  who  devoted 
many of his Sundays to scrapbooking and invented a self-
pasting scrapbook. When he wasn’t scrapbooking, Twain was 
busy being America’s greatest comedian, as we’ll soon 
see. . . .

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from
ALL’S WELL
PETS OR MEAT?
GREEK LIFE
CREATIONISTS
TIME TR AVEL
FA MOUS DUELS
LESSER-KNOWN CIVIL RIGHTS FIGURES
HOW TO SPOT A FAKE
RECENT FEUDS IN LITER ATURE
SECOND-TO-L ASTS
to
ENDS WELL

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