By JACK PALMER

palmer@crescent-news.com

For Sale: Vintage Scrapbook -- 1941 -- baby's birth and first year. Baby's name is Billy Arlen Mack from Defiance and Cecil, Ohio. The date of birth is February, 1941.

Bill Mack couldn't believe his eyes this past January when he gazed at the above advertisement on eBay.com, the Internet auction website.

"I had completely forgotten about it, but when I saw it I recognized it immediately," said the Defiance resident, a retired school administrator.

The scrapbook contained more than 40 "congratulations on the birth of baby" cards, a list of gifts received, receipts from the hospital, birth announcements from the Crescent-News and Cecil Cyclone, Easter cards, Christmas gift cards and first birthday cards.

In the middle of the book was a detailed and chronological diary of baby Billy Mack's first year of life.

"The pages were mostly torn or loose but the cards and paperwork were in good shape," said Mack. "My mother really put a lot of work into it. Plus, she kept everything."

Mack said he was notified that his childhood momento was on the popular Internet auction site by his first cousin, Susan Sweet.

"She is interested in antique items from Defiance and Paulding counties and just happened to see it," reported Mack. "Susie e-mailed the advertisement to me and Norm Cook (a Paulding attorney), who is another first cousin."

Mack immediately contacted the woman in Florida who advertised the book.

"She told me that she purchased the book at the Webster Flea Market in Webster, Fla., last October," said Mack. "But she also said she had just sold it to a woman from Rochester, N.Y., for $8 plus $5 for shipping and handling."

So Mack contacted the New York woman, Kathy Most.

"She collects vintage images to use in auction templates that she sells and uses for crafts," said Mack. "Once she found out it was my book, she agreed to send it to me after she scanned some of the cards."

By mid-March, Mack had possession of his baby book.

"The lady in New York didn't even want any money," he stated. "She said she was just happy to have been part of the book's extraordinary journey."

Mack, the son of the late Arlen and Helen Mack, was born in Defiance Hospital. The attending physician was Dr. George DeMuth, who had an office in Sherwood. Margaret Miller was the supervising nurse.

"This was the old, old Defiance Hospital," Mack said with a smile. "It was about where the sheriff's office is now."

According to the book's narrative of expenses, the hospital bill was $22 and the doctor's bill was $25.

"My wife and I laughed about the hospital bill," said Mack. "My mother sure got a real buy for $22."

Other "first expenses" included a mattress for his bassinet for 49 cents and four dozen diapers for $5.86.

"Those were the old-fashioned kind of diapers," stated Mack. "They were washed and re-used, so that was all I ever needed."

Mack has no idea how possession of the scrapbook left his family.

"When my parents passed away we had an auction (in 1986) and it might have been in something and we did not realize it," he stated. "Or it could have been lost or misplaced when my parents moved from Cecil to Defiance in 1970. How it ended up in Florida and on eBay may always be a mystery."

He called the book "a real treasure."

"Forty years ago this wouldn't have meant as much, but the older you get the more it means," he said.

"It's unreal. Of everything you see on eBay, it's pretty amazing to see something that belonged to you 65 years ago."