Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion


	FREE E-Newsletter Sign Up			Customer Service

Home


	Spotlight On			Finders Keepers			This We Like			Worth The Trip

A Visual Feast Page 1 Visual

Text By Ellen Gardner • Photography by Borella & Company

For most children BORN after World War II, Little Golden Books were as much a part of growing up as blankies and teddy bears.
The books’ roots stretch back to the 1930s, when the Western Publishing Co. of Racine, Wisconsin, which had partnerships with Disney, Dell Comics, and Simon & Schuster Publishing, created the Artists and Writers Guild to develop new material.
“In 1941, guild head George Duplaix, with the help of other guild members and Simon & Schuster executives, proposed a series of books that would be affordable, durable, and widely available,” says Steve Santi, author of Little Golden Books Identification and Price Guide. “At the time, children’s books were sold only in bookstores for $2 to $3, a luxury for many families.”
Their plan was to print 12 titles to sell in chain and grocery stores for just 25 cents. It proved to be genius. “The first books were introduced in 1942 and sold 1.5 million copies during the first five months on the market.” says Steve, a California-based graphics designer.
Now owned by Random House, Little Golden Books celebrated its 65th anniversary last year with a special edition of The Poky Little Puppy, one of the original titles (the others were Three Little Kittens, Bedtime Stories, The Alphabet A-Z, Mother Goose, Prayers for Children, The Little Red Hen, Nursery Songs, The Golden Book of Fairy Tales, Baby’s Book, The Animals of Farmer Jones, and This Little Piggy).
Steve owns them all, along with each of the more than 1,300 tales published over the years.

(a) In the 1940s, books like Our Puppy and other reflections of childhood life were common themes. In the 1950s, beloved television and movie characters like Lassie and Walt Disney’s Lady (from Lady and the Tramp) were popular subjects.

(b) A popular volume during the 1950s was J. Fred Muggs, about the Today Show’s chimpanzee mascot. The critter had a notoriously bad attitude and was the bane of host Dave Garroway’s existence, but kids loved him. NBC executives said the ornery chimp helped boost ratings during his tenure from 1953 to 1957.

(c) Since first appearing on store shelves in 1942, Golden Books have earned an enduring place in American culture with more than 2 billion sold. Subjects range from classics like Mother Goose (far left) to pop icons like Bambi, Barbie, and Big Bird.

When Steve and his wife, Charlotte, were expecting their first baby in the early 1980s, he began picking up Little Golden Books at garage sales and flea markets. “I had them when I was little, of course, but what really attracted me most as an adult were the contributions by artists who’d gone on to become famous, like Margaret Wise Brown, Richard Scarry, and Eloise Wilkin.”
After assembling hundreds of titles, he called the publisher in search of a complete list of titles. “Turns out I knew more about the history of their product than the employees at the publishing house!” he recalls with a smile. That’s when he got the idea to compile a definitive guide, which has reigned as the industry “bible” ever since it came out in 1988.

Little Golden Books were illustrated by a Who’s Who of mid-century artists, including Disney animators, (d) and (e), and photographer William P. Gottlieb, (f), famous for documenting musicians in the jazz age.

Treasure Hunt

Steve Santi says collectors need to do some homework before buying. Books can range in price from less than $1 to more than $200.
Identifying marks have changed over the years, and “just because the copyright says 1942, doesn’t mean that’s when the book was printed,” he says. His guide is a good place to start, or you can learn more at thesantis.com, randomhouse.com/golden/, or goldenbook.com.
Warman’s Little Golden Books Identification and Price Guide (2006, Krause Publications), is the sixth update of Steve’s reference work.