Just the mere mention of a girdle makes me squirm. Makes me shudder at the thought of what I used to do to squeeze myself (no, wrestle my hips and thighs) into what was considered to be an ideal body configuration.

So when Susan Tallman, keynote speaker for the Logan Symposium on the Artist’s Book at the Legion of Honor mentioned, “Girdle Books” the only thing that came to my mind was Playtex.

In the late Middle Ages a type of portable book evolved that we call a “girdle book,” describing how it was carried tucked into a girdle or belt. With the founding of religious orders like the Franciscans, and with the increasing interest in pilgrimages, there came a need for portable books of personal devotion such as breviaries and prayerbooks. A kind of 14th C. ask Siri pocket book compendium, a go-to place for ready reference. 

These days, I propose a new kind of fashionable accoutremont: call it Siri Sack and tuck it into your girdle or belt. Or do like I do, wear a hippie-style crochet bag purse slung over the shoulder. My bag is the perfect size for sleek iPhone and is always handi. Yes, “handi” as in “have you seen my Handi?”—  that’s what they call a cell phone in Germany.

Along with asking Siri fact-based questions about the weather or the price of corn futures on the commodity market, a question relevant to our study of color can add dimension, a philosphical question can evoke at timely answer or how about a joke?

Thanks Siri for the thoughtful advice.