Classic
$59.99
A hardcover with a burgundy leather-look cover and gold-tone lettering. Their name is printed on the cover and the spine.
- 8.5 × 11 inches, 24 pages
- PDF copy the moment you order
- Free U.S. shipping
Their birthday made the front page.
A newspaper written for the week they arrived, bound as a 24-page hardcover with their name on the cover.
Classic $59.99 Heirloom $89.99
Free shipping in the U.S.
- Printed and bound in the U.S.
- Free U.S. shipping
- 24 hours to fix it or cancel
Choose their edition
The same 24 pages in both. The difference is the binding.
Heirloom
$89.99
Bound in cloth with the title stamped in real gold foil on the spine, inside a full-color dust jacket with their front page.
- 8.5 × 11 inches, 24 pages, premium color
- PDF copy the moment you order
- Free U.S. shipping
Images show the real design of a sample book. Printed colors can look slightly different from your screen.
Read their front page first
Type a name and a birthday. We'll set the actual first page of their book, with the stories of that week. Free, before you order.
Vol. I, No. 1Special birthday edition10¢
Their birthday goes here
It takes a few seconds. You only pay if you order the book.
That front page is page one of a 24-page hardcover with their name on the cover. Classic $59.99, Heirloom $89.99, free shipping in the U.S.
See the book and pricesWhat their paper reports
Every page is written for their date and illustrated with engravings in the style of the period.
24 pages, all about their day
Every page is written for their date from public records, checked fact by fact, and illustrated in the style of the period.
- Their front page, announcing their arrival
- Your dedication
- Their day at a glance
- The newspaper of their week
- Sports and more that week
- This date in history
- Famous people who share their birthday
- Birth announcements: who else arrived that year
- The hit parade of their year
- Now showing at the movies
- New on TV that year
- The champions of their year
- America the year they were born
- The story everyone was talking about
- The cost of living that year
- Then and now, in today's dollars
- The baby names of their year
- Their horoscope and birthstone
- Their Chinese zodiac year
- Headlines of a lifetime, as they grew up
- And the years ahead
- Their life in numbers
- Where every fact comes from
- A certificate of their arrival
How it works
- Type their name and birthday. You see their real front page before you pay.
- Add your dedication and choose an edition. The full book arrives as a PDF right away, so you have something to give on the day.
- We print and ship the hardcover. For 24 hours you can fix the name or the dedication, or cancel; then it goes to press and arrives in about two weeks.
Our promises
- Easy to read at 80
- Every page is typeset for the book. No shrunk-down copies of old newspapers.
- Every fact has a source
- Wages, prices and names come from public records like Social Security and the Census. The sources are listed at the back.
- A day to change your mind
- For 24 hours after you order, fix the name or the dedication from your order page, or cancel before the book goes to press. If you cancel, we refund the full price, minus $14.99 if you've already received the PDF, which is yours to keep. To change the birthday or the edition, cancel and order again.
- If we got a fact wrong, we reprint it
- Free, with no forms to fill in.
Order their book
Sending it as a gift? Choose their address at checkout and we'll ship it straight to them.
Pay with PayPal or any card. You choose the shipping address in the next step. By paying you agree to our terms and shipping and cancellation policy.
You'll get the PDF of the whole book by email a few minutes after paying. You can cancel within 24 hours, before the hardcover goes to press: we refund the full price, minus $14.99 if you've already received the PDF, which is yours to keep.
Questions
Which birthdays can you print?
Anyone born in the United States between 1946 and 1986: the people turning 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80. More years are on the way.
Can you ship it straight to them?
Yes. At checkout, choose their address instead of yours and the hardcover goes directly to them. The PDF comes to you by email, so you can still see it first.
How long does shipping take?
The book is printed in the U.S. after your 24-hour change window and usually arrives in about two weeks. The PDF arrives by email right away.
When should I order for a birthday or Christmas?
Order at least three weeks before the day. For Christmas delivery in the U.S., order by December 5.
Where do the facts come from?
Wages from the Social Security Administration, home prices from the U.S. Census, prices from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, music charts from Billboard and events from public historical records. Every book lists its sources on the last pages.
Will the book look exactly like it does on my screen?
Very close, but not identical. Screens glow and paper reflects light, so printed colors look a little softer and the burgundy cover can look slightly deeper than on a bright phone. The pages are printed in full color on white paper with an aged-paper tone built into the design. If anything arrives damaged or misprinted, we reprint it.
Are the pictures real photographs?
No. The book is illustrated with engravings drawn in the style of the period, so every page looks like it belongs together.