A LOVE LETTER TO AUTOGRAPH BOOKS

Rediscover crooked handwriting, silly rhymes, and perfect memories of schooldays gone by

- BY MICHAEL GUZDER | Special to Gulf News

Before emojis and Instagram, friendships were written in ink. Remember the thrill of flipping open an autograph book and discovering your friends' scribbles, doodles, and secret messages waiting inside? That little notebook was more than paper and ink — it was a time capsule, capturing laughter, secrets, and the everyday drama of school life long before social media existed.

If you are still a pimpled teen, you may not even know what one is. No, it wasn’t Instagram’s ancestor or a prehistoric iPad. It was a small, brightly bound notebook that became a treasure chest of memories — filled with signatures, notes, and doodles that were ambitious, if not exactly artistic.