Group shot of a collection of friend books
The cover of a Star Wars themed friend book
How many times have you seen Star Wars? This book was created in 1977 or 1978
A scene you didn't like?
International friend book. This one had a Pacific Rim focus. Others came from Sweden or Holland and the UK
Starsky and Hutch friend book
Fans would list the fandoms they were interested in and the materials they were hoping to trade.
From Fanlore, the fan run wiki about our media fandom history:
Unlike the dreaded “slam books” which began circulating in the US in the 1940s, these books were not used to bully,[1][2][3] but as a means of connecting with other fans. Some “friend books” were sized small enough to fit into an international envelope (2-3 inches), and consisted of no more than a few pages. The covers were pages cut from magazines or advertisements and were stapled or taped into a booklet shape.
Many were multi-fandom, but some focused on single fandoms like Star Wars. Fans would write their name and address, and list their interests. The book would then passed along to the next fan. When the booklet was filled it was to be returned by mail to the original fan. Often times questions were asked (ex: Who is your favorite Star Wars character?)”