There it was, on the bottom of one of several dusty boxes I had left at my parent’s home: too bulky to take with me to college, to precious to throw away. Eventually, with an apartment of my own, and knowing my folks had plans for my old room, I dutifully collected all my things. It took me another year to actually go through it all, but that’s another story. What did I find in that box? It was my old high school yearbook. I flipped it open and looked through the photos. Memories flooded back. Wow, my chemistry professor! How I adored her! Then there was that Social Studies teacher, who sent me to detention because I didn’t have my notebook with me. The nerve! And oh, the other students- how young we looked. And the signatures, the little messages of encouragement: you’ll make it big, keep up the good work, I’ll never have another study-mate like you!

Fascination with one’s own past is easy to understand, and a yearbook is a testament to all the hard work we did at school, friendships won and lost, dreams still to be realized. But why would anyone want to collect yearbooks - other people’s old yearbooks? Perhaps the greatest motivation is the cult of celebrity that’s rampant though our culture. We all know what Julia Roberts looks like now, but what did she look like in high school? Did Nicholas Cage go to his senior prom? Was George Clooney a member of the drama club? To see photos of the famous (or infamous) at a time in their lives prior to when they made their social imprint is strangely fascinating.

We’ve all experienced the vulnerability, cockiness and innocence that’s part and parcel of the schooldays experience. Finding Goldie Hawn, Bill Clinton, or Dave Letterman, stare out from a page, with an unformed look, so less self-assured then we are used to seeing, provides us with an odd connection to them, and thus to celebrity itself. They were unknown once, and so, it follows logically, (if perhaps subconsciously) that we too, may somehow, sometime in the future, share in fame and fortune as well.

Of course, there are other reasons to collect yearbooks. They provide historical and genealogical information. It is, after all, an historical treasure trove, with a wealth of information on school influences and activities, one that hints at or blatantly reveals relationships, and ultimately, one that can provide a deep insight into a particular day and age. Wouldn’t it be nice to have one from Ben Franklin’s time?

But in fact the age, or condition of a yearbook has much less bearing on its value than who might be in it. And of course, the more yearbooks you collect, the greater chance that in one of them, perhaps with a different name, and certainly with a younger face, lurks somebody that has become (or will be) unbearably, deliciously famous. Maybe it’s even you.

Alana Morgaine
Alana’s Books And Magazines
Our Yearbooks