Greetings Ed!   
      
    RW>> I also have my 1st ever Amateur Radio Handbook from 1964, but   
    RW>> it is too fragile to handle these days without damaging the so   
    RW>> often referred to antenna information pages I used back then.   
      
    EV> The 1957 Handbook that someone gave me (in 1961) is still all   
    EV> together.   
      
    EV> My 1960 Handbook (which was the first I ever bought) has fell apart.   
    EV> It is hard to handle and even though I don't read it very often,   
      
   I think that is the problem with my 64 ARHB...it was handled a great deal   
   in the coming years as we used it as a reference for antenna building.   
      
    EV> it is still part of my library, and I keep it if ever I wanted to   
    EV> re-read an article or project in it, it's there for me to fumble   
    EV> with.   
      
   In 1977 I opted for the ARRL 'antenna handbook' rather than pay for a   
   bunch of things not required at the time.   
      
    EV> I'd guess the Company A.R.R.L chose to Print (and Bind) the   
    EV> 1960 Edition issue of the Handbook had used a 'less expensive' method   
    EV> of putting the sections of that Edition together.   
      
   That may be so. Have you looked in those books for the printers names? You   
   might also note that there is a difference in the books; one being a paper   
   binding and the other being a cloth binding. i.e my 1977 ARRL hand book is   
   paper bound and the suggested retail inside the cover says that it was   
   sold at $7.50, whiie the cloth bound edition cost $12.50...I would expect   
   that the cloth bound books would last a lot longer.   
      
    EV> The later Handbooks I have bought since 1964 all have been bound much   
    EV> better than that 1960 copy I got when I was in Norfolk, Virginia at   
    EV> Navy Radiomans School and was wanting to learn enough so I could get   
    EV> Commercial RadioTelephone and RadioTelegraph Licenses from the F.C.C.   
    EV> office in downtown Norfolk.   
      
   I think that (license) is the only reason I'd join the Navy back then.   
   I've wanted to get one of those for years, but never had the time to take   
   a course that would get me there.   
      
    EV> I took the F.C.C.'s tests and got 3rd Class Licenses for both of them   
    EV> before I finished School on the Base in May 1960.   
      
   Great.   
      
    EV> I never used the CW License, but I once was a Radio Dispatcher for   
    EV> the local government 'City Radio' station and showed my Third Class   
    EV> RadioTelephone License to the boss when he asked me to fill out a   
    EV> Form to get a Restricted RadioTelephone Permit, to show him I didn't   
    EV> need a 'Permit' because the 'License' I already owned gave me all the   
    EV> permission needed to be a Radio Dispatcher for the City.   
      
   You were right to do so. When/if the FCC were to inspect your station,   
   they wern't going to be looking for a city permit...   
      
    EV> He still had me fill out the 'Permit' Form just to keep me legal.   
      
   Yeah, that's called CYA...   
      
    EV> I did ask him a few months later to sign (Endorse) my License so I   
    EV> could get the F.C.C. to renew it for another Term.   
      
   Did he?   
      
      
       Have a day!   
      
            R\%/itt - K5RXT   
      
   --- GoldED+/W32 1.1.5-31012   
   --- D'Bridge 3.99   
    * Origin: HAM Radio, aka Amateur Radio. 804? Over! (1:387/22)