What did people ask the New York Public Library before they could search the Internet for made-up answers? The librarians have opened their file to reveal all.
When a question couldn’t be answered immediately, they would be filed away, because that’s what librarians do–they file junk. “Some are amusing (‘Is it possible to keep an octopus in a private home?’), while others are heartbreaking (‘Is it proper to go to Reno alone to get a divorce?’).”
Other questions include:
- Where can I rent a beagle for hunting (1963). We also had requests to rent a guillotine.
- Has the gun with which Oswald shot President Kennedy been returned to the family?
- Are Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates the same person?
I remember calling my local library to ask if they knew whether Sean Connery had died the day before. Someone in my workplace thought they had seen that, and we couldn’t get away with saying that it should be all over the news if it had happened, so since it isn’t, it didn’t. (via Prufrock)