Schooldays Autograph Books

A personal 51-year-old schooldays autograph book

Recently during the Chinese New Year spring-cleaning at home, I came across my 1962 schooldays autograph book which retrived nostalgic memories of classmates whom I have not contacted for 5 decades.

The antique autograph book (4.5" x 6.0") which I bought at a bookshop in Havelock Road, Singapore about 51 years ago was almost forgotten.  As shown in the above photo, the embossed metal word "AUTOGRAPHS" is now rusty and the back and front covers of artificial tiger-fur design of velvet is a bit of wear and tear.  There are 45 colored pages in good condition.

The photos of some autographs are shown on this blog. 

The first page of  introduction to friends to sign in my autograph book. "F.R.A.N.C.E" is an acronym for "Friends Remain And Never Can End".  Lost and found cut-out photo of my young schooldays.

An autograph written to myself in 1962.  My favorite quotation.

 

Former classmate Steven Sim

Former classmate Jeffrey Liew

Former classmate Tony Lim Lam Heng

At this day and age with popularity of Facebook, I believe that schooldays autograph books which we used to sign for schoolmates before leaving schools for memories of friends in school have gone out of fashion.

I was inspired by Mr. Lee Kip Lee's book "AMBER SANDS - ; A Boyhood Memoir" on memories of autograph:

"...because he was continually learning the usage of English words, Pa wrote beautifully.  I still cherish the valuable words of wisdom he wrote when he signed my autograph book.  They were: "Do good by stealth and blush find it fame", "Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive", and "Courtesy costs nothing".  These sagacious quotations were in stark contrast to such puerile outpouring normally embellishing a young boy's autograph book at "The sky is blue, the sea is deep, I think of you I cannot sleep".

Long, long ago before our popular home-bred  TV and movie stars were groomed by SBC and MediaCorp in Singapore, there were many entertainers, TV and movie celebrities from America, Britain, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other countries were mobbed by local fans for autographs whenever they made personal appearances in public.  I was never an autograph hunter who mobbed and chase after them for these autographs.

Some of these archived photos are posted on this blog, with courtesy of the National Archives of Singapore for us to share.

Hong Kong film star Chan Poh Chu mobbed at Singapore Airport on 14 July, 1968

Elizabeth Taylor in Singapore on 12 November, 1957

British singer Cliff Richard signing autograph for fans in Singapore, 15 November, 1961

British actress Hayley Mills in Singapore on 7 November, 1962

British singer Pat Boone in Singapore on 18 August, 1970

British TV actor Roger Moore of  "The Saint" in Singapore on 28 May, 1969

Hong Kong Cantonese actress Pak Suet Sin in Singapore on 27 September, 1968

Hong Kong Cantonese actress Yam Kim Fei in Singapore on 17 September, 1968

If you have forgotten about your schooldays autograph books and stored somewhere, please find them to revive the fond nostalgic collective memories for contribution to share at the Singapore Memory Portal to add our favorite memories to enjoy.