Dear 1984: Would you like your style guide back?

[forthright]

How to know you're working with a very traditional press when you ask for a house style guide on preparing an index, and receive via snail mail a copy of a typewritten document. It tells me to begin preparing the index using typewritten 3x5 index cards, and indicates that I follow that up by compiling a typewritten document with a carbon copy, but

Comments

[sorceror]

Oops. Has the Post Office been fooling around with their Time Portal again??!?

[pauamma]

You should send your manuscript on 8" floppies. :-)

[forthright]

Yes, or perhaps a series of telegrams!

[eljuno]

Semaphore!

[ladyiolanthe]

Oh dear.

[oursin]

Ask them to send a printer's devil to your door to pick the completed index up (neatly tied with twine and sealing wax, yes?).

Is this press of Famous Fenland University (the one that doesn't appear under the name of the local railway station)? Things certainly go very slowly there, so some form of time warp may be involved.

[forthright]

It is indeed that very Fennish press you mention. (To be fair, aside from the anachronisms, the advice is perfectly sound.)

[wyld_dandelyon]

(!) :-D *laughing at your commenters' theories too!*