 Freud probably never imagined they could be used for gambling.  
We're down to the last of our dream books with cover art by Gene Bilbrew. This one, Ahmed's Dream Book & Numbers, was published in 1972 by the Wholesale Book Corp. It never occurred to us before, but these could be considered cousins of Freudian psychoanalysis, which was laid out in Freud's 1899 tome The Interpretation of Dreams, and helped legitimize the long held concept that dreams have meaning. Of course, his idea of meaning was that they gave insight into the subconscious mind, while a dream book's idea of meaning is that of prognostication for gamblers. We doubt Freud ever dreamt of anything like that. You can find out more about these books, and see more art from Bilbrew, by clicking this link and going down the subsequent rabbit hole.
 The Princess sees all and knows all.  
Above are the front and rear covers of another dream book from the Wholesale Book Corporation, featuirng art from the one and only Gene Bilbrew. He's unique in the annals of paperback cover art, as you can see here and here, and while these dream books don't showcase him at his best, they still demonstrate his unusual style. This one is also interesting because it's bilingual. The copyright is 1972. If you don't know what a dream book is, it's for gambling. We explain the book's purpose in detail here, and the numbers gambling associated with it here.
 Make your money dreams come true. 
Do you ever play the lottery? We don't, except occasionally the local Christmas lottery in which a 150 kilogram pig is the prize. But presumably, if you play the lottery it's in hopes of winning a mountain of cash rather than a mountain of pork. Well, hope no more. Above you see just the ticket to help you score those megamillions. Zodia's Book of Numbers was published in 1972, but you'll still find it for sale rather cheaply on auction sites. The way it works is, first you have a dream— Go ahead. We'll wait. Okay, now you take elements from your dream, such as “coffee” or “kettle” and inside the book you'll find those words assigned a three digit number, which you then sprint with down to the local convenience store and feed your hard earned cash into the ravenous maw of state sponsored voluntary taxation. Or if you speak Spanish, there are also entries in that language. Because scams are nothing if not inclusive. And in addition to a useless number the all-seeing Zodia also provides something more permanent—a useless fortune related to the word you looked up.
Here's an example. Say your word is “key.” You check the book, and it says: Key 934—To dream of a key means a plan will succeed with advice from friends. If the key opens a door success and money are assured.
All well and good, but the reason we're sharing this item is because the cover was painted by Gene Bilbrew, a unique African American paperback illustrator of the 1960s and 1970s. He's one of those guys we've talked about whose work has been reevaluated in recent years and become highly collectible. An example appears in the post below. We also put together a collection a while back, which you can see here. And apparently, Bilbrew made an industry of illustrating these dream books, because this is second we've found. Look here.
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The headlines that mattered yesteryear.
2003—Hope Dies
Film legend Bob Hope dies of pneumonia two months after celebrating his 100th birthday. 1945—Churchill Given the Sack
In spite of admiring Winston Churchill as a great wartime leader, Britons elect
Clement Attlee the nation's new prime minister in a sweeping victory for the Labour Party over the Conservatives. 1952—Evita Peron Dies
Eva Duarte de Peron, aka Evita, wife of the president of the Argentine Republic, dies from cancer at age 33. Evita had brought the working classes into a position of political power never witnessed before, but was hated by the nation's powerful military class. She is lain to rest in Milan, Italy in a secret grave under a nun's name, but is eventually returned to Argentina for reburial beside her husband in 1974. 1943—Mussolini Calls It Quits
Italian dictator Benito Mussolini steps down as head of the armed forces and the government. It soon becomes clear that Il Duce did not relinquish power voluntarily, but was forced to resign after former Fascist colleagues turned against him. He is later installed by Germany as leader of the Italian Social Republic in the north of the country, but is killed by partisans in 1945.
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