People say that entire worlds can fit inside a book, no matter how tiny it is. Books give us fearless heroes, relatable stories, and transport us to lands unknown. But books can also carry stories as physical conduits: stories of their readers' past.
There's an online community that shares the odd and delightful things readers find inside their old books. The subreddit, aptly titled r/ForgottenBookmarks, is all about the quirky and sometimes strange things people use as bookmarks, forgetting them only for its next reader to find many years later.
Bored Panda reached out to the creator and the moderator of the community, u/unmoderated, and they kindly agreed to give us a little backstory about the subreddit. Read our conversation below!
More info: Reddit
#1 Found A Lincoln Campaign Ribbon In An Old Book At An Antique Store!
Image credits: nhgaudreau
#2 Found In A Bible From 1895, “Ain’t I A Peach? Ha, Ha”
Image credits: reddit.com
#3 Homemade Bookmark Found In A Library Book: “Was I Ever Happier..”
Image credits: Ekdotos
The story of r/ForgottenBookmarks is quite an interesting one. Created in 2008 by the Redditor u/unmoderated, it was an extension of the blog they started in 2007. "I was the manager at my family's used and rare bookshop and always thought these finds were interesting," u/unmoderated tells Bored Panda.
"I shared a few with friends and decided to just make a simple Blogspot so I wouldn't have to send out emails," they add. Thus, the Forgotten Bookmarks blog was born. Throughout the years, that it was active, the Redditor posted many personal, funny, heartbreaking, and weird things they've found in the old books at their family's store.
#4 Forgotten Bookmarks - Library Edition
Image credits: Spicy-Rigatoni
#5 This "Bookmark" I Found In An Old Shakspeare Book Is A Voting Ticket From The Civil War
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#6 Found Inside A Copy Of The Sirens Of Titan At The Goodwill Bins
Image credits: JesusHoratioChrist
Although the blog and other social media accounts for Forgotten Bookmarks aren't active anymore, in its heyday, it was quite popular. "The blog and the Twitter account ended up getting some traction and led to two books published by Penguin in 2011 and 2012," the creator tells us.
Indeed, you can even buy the two books today. The first one is a collection of similar things to this list, and it's titled Forgotten Bookmarks: A Bookseller's Collection of Odd Things Lost Between The Pages. The second one is a book of recipes: Handwritten Recipes: A Bookseller's Collection of Curious and Wonderful Recipes Forgotten Between the Pages.
#7 Actual (Home-Made) Bookmark I Found In An Antique Book
Image credits: Dry-Impression-2403
#8 Found 20 Million German Mark In A Book From 1923. Time To Retire
Image credits: InternationalFrend
#9 Found In A Book Of Poetry Purchased In Used Bookstore. The Back Of The Photo Has "1 Year Old" And "1999" Written On It. I Hope This Now 25-Year-Old Is A Happy Reader
Image credits: mriver24
As far as the subreddit goes, u/unmoderated doesn't have much time to partake in making sure things are running smoothly there. "I wish I could take some of the credit for the subreddit, but I'm probably the worst moderator on Reddit," they quip. "I created it many years back to pair with my blog forgottenbookmarks.com and never really spent much time on it."
#10 Cool Vintage Bookmark I Found
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#11 Inside A 150 Year Old Book I Found A 4-Leaf Clover Dated June 17, 1923
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#12 From A 1955 Copy Of The Idiot By Dostoyevsky
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Life got in the way for the Redditor to continue posting on the blog and its social media accounts, too. "I took over the bookstore in 2016, and between that and having a young child and then the 2020 stuff, I have more or less stepped away," they clarify. Well, the good news is that r/ForgottenBookmarks seems to be doing quite well on its own, having over 76k members and several new posts daily.
#13 Found In A Second Hand Birdwatchers Book
Image credits: reddit.com
#14 I Was Told To Post This Here. Found In A Book I Bought
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#15 1950 Five Dollar Bill In A 1935 Cookbook
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When we ask u/unmoderated whether forgotten bookmarks sometimes might get put between the book pages on purpose, they're doubtful. "I always go with the assumption that the bookmarks were forgotten. The only items I think might have been left on purpose were leaves and flowers to be pressed," the Redditor says.
#16 News Article From 1997 Found Inside An Old Religious Book. I Wonder Who Put It There
Image credits: NeedsMoreTuba
#17 My Favorite Kind Of Bookmark
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#18 Found Someone’s 116 Year Old Travel Itinerary Tucked In An Antique Guidebook To Paris
Image credits: LickNux
There was one curious object that u/unmoderated still remembers finding in a book to this day. "It was not a forgotten bookmark, but I did find a 'baby book,' one of those little decorative keepsakes where you fill in a baby's height and weight, when they walked for the first time, etc. It was all filled out until the baby was two years old or so, [with] lots of photos inside."
"Keep in mind, the birth date listed was from the 1950s or so, had the full name – but all of my internet sleuthing skills and even a ton of help from Twitter weren't enough to find the person or any family," the Redditor adds.
#19 Tiny Feather In An 1888 Danish Proedikener Ober Evangelierne
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#20 The Most Random (And Terrifying) Bookmarks Found At My Library Recently
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#21 Found In A Book Of Decorative Painted Finishes
Image credits: Beginning_Ad_914
If you thought that the end for print books was nigh and nobody reads them anymore, think again! 2024 saw an increase in sales: 782.7 million books were sold in 2024, compared to 778.3 million in 2023. While the peak of print book sales was in 2021 with 839.7 million units sold, recent sale numbers are still better than those before the pandemic.
#22 Amy Winehouse Ticket From 2007 Found In A Second Hand Book I Bought Today
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#23 Found In A Used Book I Bought Online
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#24 New Favourite Bookmark
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The demand for print books is growing so much that Barnes & Noble even opened 60 stores all across the U.S. in 2024. That's their biggest number of new bookstores since 2007. And don't worry, corporation haters, independent bookstores are actually thriving as well. According to the American Booksellers Association, there were 2,433 indie bookstores in 2024, with 190 projected to open in the next two years.
#25 Julie’s Wedding (2/18/1992) - Found In A Copy Of “You Suck” By Christopher Moore
Image credits: Falkaane
#26 Found This In A Book A Couple Years Ago…she’s Been On My Fridge Ever Since (I’ve Stopped Noticing LOL She’s A Part Of My World Now)
Image credits: jennyskywalker
#27 I Used To Work In Libraries
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The president of the ABA says that there are many different reasons people are opening up new bookstores. Some are opposing bans, others are championing diversity, while others are just looking for a career change after the pandemic. "Some are opening to give back to their community. And some still just love books," she told Associated Press.
#28 A Beautiful Polaroid Of Eggs
Image credits: Medusas-Snakes
#29 Lock Of Hair From 1879 “From A Friend” Found In A Book About The Meaning Of Flowers
Image credits: DoLetThePigeon
#30 The Bookmarker I Found In My Old Les Mis Set Is Over 100 Years Old
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What do you use to mark your place in a book, Pandas? A receipt, a metro card, a sticky note, a leaf, a nacho chip? Or, perhaps, an actual bookmark designed for that very purpose? Whatever it is, at least it's a sign that people are still reading print books! Share the strangest things you've found in vintage books, and while you're here, check out the books that are so strange you have to read them to believe they're real!
#31 Found This Glasgow Tram Ticket In A 4th Edition (1923) Of The Great White South
Image credits: DrZurn
#32 I’ll Admit I Cried
Image credits: LightsLux
#33 Vintage Cool-Whip Lid Found In A 1971 Printing Of The Joy Of Cooking
Image credits: Goatdown
#34 A Laminated Harry Potter Valentine Card From "Bella & Edward"
Image credits: unklethan
#35 Found In A Thrift Store Book On Stamps. Does Anyone Know What These Are?
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#36 Coupon Expired In 1990 - Restaurant Still Around Today!
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#37 Weird Al Concert Ticket Used To Bookmark A Harry Potter Book. Pretty Good Summary Of Who I Was A Decade Ago
Image credits: YellowFlickerBeat
#38 Leg
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#39 Found This Receipt From 1985 In This Cookbook At My Local Thrift!
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#40 Receipt Circa 1930s
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#41 Kind Of Awkward When You Find A Love Letter In A Used Book You Bought
Image credits: LightsLux
#42 Found In A Library Book
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#43 Found This In A Copy Of The Catcher In The Rye A Couple Years Ago. When Folded, The Outside Looks Like A $20 Bill
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#44 Bookmark Found In A Free Book
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#45 Newspaper Clipping About The Atomic Bomb In My Thrifted Copy Of Flowers In The Attic
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#46 Treasure At The Town Dump: A Forgotten Bookmark Brings A Final Reminder From My Dad
Image credits: Competitive-Jelly306
#47 A Tamarack Twig From The 1860s In An Old Dictionary
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#48 Found In A Extremely Old Book I Bought At A Antique Store
Image credits: reddit.com
#49 A Little Surprise
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#50 An Old Negative And A Brazilian Bus Ticket
Image credits: hi_im_kai101
