Chalk To Czechoslovakia

Written By: William  Frohlich

 

That Christmas, I also got a book… as usual.  As I unwrapped it, I could see it had a shinny cover, but was a much larger size than anything I had seen from March Twain.  The cover was a bit mysterious with a variety of illustrations…  a chemist… a piece of chalk… a compass… a crab… a grandfather clock.

 

It was one volume of “The Golden Book Encyclopedia”… just one.  And not even volume one!  Was this the start of a set?  Where were the rest?  At this rate, it would take the next 16 years for me to get the complete set one volume at a time.  “Maybe mom ordered the rest and they would arrive some time soon by mail,” I thought.

 

The book I held in my hands was “Book 4: Chalk toCzechoslovakia.”  That was it: one card pulled from the middle of the deck.  The good news was I didn’t have to read it as I quickly learned what reference books were all about.  I would have to hope any report I would be assigned in school after Christmas would fall within this part of the letter “C” in the alphabet.  If my assignment were about “California,” I would be out of luck.

 

That book haunted me for years.  When I moved away to college, I took it with me for safekeeping.  Unfortunately, I lost it somewhere along the way in all the moves to different apartments.

 

After I got married, I told my wife about it.  She suggested I look for a copy in garage sales to replace what had been so dear to me.  At least I could have a copy again on my bookshelf.  So, I embarked on a quest to find another copy.  I visited every moving sale and thrift store I came across.  At times, I would find a few volumes from the Golden Book set, but not “Book 4: Chalk toCzechoslovakia.”

 

I kept hunting, forcing my wife to stop at tag sales and used bookstores.  She soon was sorry she ever suggested this mission.  Then, I began to find a copy here and there and started to collect them.  What for?  … I wasn’t sure.  Was I trying to reconnect with my childhood through a book that I regretted getting as a Christmas president in the first place?  I didn’t know what was compelling me.  Once, I haggled with a homeowner who was selling all his stuff to move to Florida.  He had a complete set of The Golden Book Encyclopedia from 1959 (the only year it was produced).  The price he had on it was $10.  I said, “But, all I want is Book4.”

 

He said, “I can’t sell you just one volume… That would make the rest of the set worthless.”  He wouldn’t budge on the price.  So, I handed him the ten bucks, pulled Book 4 from the group, and dropped the rest in his trashcan as I headed for my car.

 

The Christmases came and went, and friends and family would find copies of “Book 4: Chalk toCzechoslovakia” and buy them for me as Christmas presents.  It became a longstanding family joke.  I guess I amassed the largest collection of Book 4s in the world.  The running joke never seemed to end.

 

One day, while browsing through a rummage sale in a church basement in Bridgehampton, I found what would have to be my last Book 4.  I had to kick this habit.  It was part of a group, five volumes from the set, each with a sticker price of 25 cents.

 

I wasn’t going to buy it.  I was done.  I already had a complete set, so to speak, 16 copies of “Chalk toCzechoslovakia.”  But, it is near impossible for me to walk away from a Book 4.  I decided this had to be my last one.  I gave the attendant the quarter, and walked out into the bright sunshine of a very hot summer day.

 

I got into my car and put the Book 4 on the seat next to me.  Before starting the car, I reached over and caressed the book.