FIVE MILLION DIARIES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 76, Issue 107, 9 May 1933, Page 9

FIVE MILLION DIARIES

WHAT HAPPENS TO THEM. FEW PEOPLE LIKE PEPYS. Hundreds of thousands of people throughout the country start keeping diaries on every New Year's Day. And a week later, probably, hundreds ot thousands have grown tired of the task and will forget all about it. Five million diaries were sold in England dur ing tho last few months of 1932. Who uses them? A diary manufacturer was able to solve the'problem. “Nobody really uses a diary for tho purpose for which

it was originally intended,” he said in an interview. “They are mostly used nowadays as books of reference and engagement calendars. “Boy Scouts, strangely enough, are the most prolific users of diaries. From us alone they buy 200,000 a year. Business men come next, but they favour the specialised type of diary—the tyi« that contains information applical *■ to their particular trade. I doubt, if there are any modern Popys to-day who portray so carefully the incidents of everyday life. People are too busy to do that sort of thing. “I believe Mr. Winston Churchill keeps a private diary, which may some day see daylight, and the same applies to a few famous people. But the habit is dying; it is a pity. Some diaries, which have been properly kept, arc invaluable as historical records, as for instance, the diaries of Irving Stone, Queen Victorin, and Arnold Bennett.’’