January 9, 2018 Vintage Journals from Domestic Papers

The Liberty Gazette

January 9, 2018

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: Lee Steiner has a business and sells her products on the popular internet marketplace, Etsy. We met Lee at a Houston Writers House meeting when she presented her unique creations and immersed us in her passion for the past. Lee’s company, Domestic Papers, blends her lifelong love of books, paper, art, and antique ephemera into a fun mix of vintage vibe handmade books.

From her fascinating talk and a thorough look through her books, we were absorbed in her story. Lee finds trashed books no one wants and gives them a second life by creating journals for writers, artists, travelers, moms, teachers, and anyone who likes to draw or jot down their thoughts and ideas.

Recreating the books is the journey she loves. Her zeal ignites an audience of writers and artists. She’s learned the old ways of bookbinding and her results are stunning, adorable, and lovely. You can trace the history of every book she turns from old to new in her studio back to its beginning perhaps centuries ago, in lands far away.

Lee is in the Houston area, but you can easily see and buy her vintage and antique rebirths on Etsy.  As you browse her shop, you’ll see many of the books have a fascinating history to boast, thanks many times to old and interesting photos, postcards, maps, and general miscellany she collects when she travels.

And yes, there’s an airplane in this story.

After Lee’s intriguing show, Mike and I wandered up to peruse the offerings. We were met with journals of great variety in both form and function and were impressed with her artistic skill, imagination, and weaving things she loves into a business.

As I stood at one end of the table, a friend showed me a green book with gold lettering and the silhouette of an airplane in old fabric covering typical of hardbacks decades ago. The binding is beautifully re-stitched in ancient fashion and several pages from the original book have been salvaged. Between them are blank pages and graph paper. This had been Francis Pope and Arthur Otis’s book, “Elements of Aeronautics,” published by World Book in 1941.

Originally 660 pages, it served as a textbook for an introductory course in aeronautics at the high school level. Library card pockets are still on the inside of both front and back covers, but affixed to each pocket’s space where the due date would be stamped is a photo cut from the original book. Boeings and Douglases are sprinkled throughout the little journal, and Lee even rescued a page of instructions on how to figure a wind triangle. Patti Atkins can appreciate that.

Mike found a map-themed journal to take on our next trip. It will be perfect for jotting down sights and experiences in the moment.

With Lee’s books, you can continue a tale she’s reincarnated, but the rest of its story is up to you.

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