Booksleuth's Series Book Collection: SERIES BOOK CATALOG AND MAGAZINE ADS

Thursday, March 18, 2010

SERIES BOOK CATALOG AND MAGAZINE ADS

Through all the years of collecting children's mystery series books, I have seen very little promotional material about them and that is one reason I find the tri-fold "Who's Who" ad that was included in some Grosset & Dunlap books in 1964 very appealing (see prior article on the famous ad). Here are a few more items that I found on eBay that came from magazines or catalogs. Obviously, these ads go back some years, so those who enjoy antiquing for books, might take another look at those stacks of Sears or Penney's catalogs in the local antique mall that date in the 1940s-1970s. You might find some ads similar to these. (note, Google blogs allow any photos placed in this section of the blog to be enlarged when you click on them, so be sure to enjoy the up close view by doing so.)

This is from a Wards catalog.

This one is dated September 1942 from a magazine called Playthings.

This is also a Wards listing and note the Mildred Wirt books on the right side, advertising Brownie Scout and Dan Carter Cub Scout books.

Finally, these are photos of a Grosset & Dunlap catalog from the early 1970s. I had this in my collection for a good 30 years and sold it a few years ago for about $50. Considering this was a free catalog, that is a pretty good investment for saving it all those years. The interesting thing about it is some of the books in the catalog are very hard to find books because they were books issued at the end of the particular series, so there are few copies out there to find and thus they have a higher value today. This is particularly true of the Rick Brant books for sale in this catalog. I wish the photos were better, but these were take by a camera and not a scanner. Still it is an interesting item. And in case you were wondering, I am the one who marked up the list to indicate what books I had at that time. I guess I didn't think much of it being a collectable then or I wouldn't have marked on it, but I was a kid then and we all know how kids like to mark in their books.

2 comments:

keelineMarch 21, 2010 at 7:10 AM
I have picked up ephemera like this over the years. This includes a few pages from different years of department store catalogs. By the 1930s the Syndicate's publishing schedule was sometimes dictated by G&D wanting a title in time for one of these catalog deadlines. Often the entire series was not listed but rather the first couple volumes and perhaps the latest volume.

In addition to the people who cut up old catalogs to sell pages to collectors like us, there are sites like http://www.wishbookweb.com where entire catalogs are scanned. In the past I have gone through these to find toys of interest, including series books and chemistry sets.

It's interesting that you should mention a G&D catalog since I just won one from about 1952. It should arrive sometime next week.

When Stratemeyer was alive he commissioned the production of series checklists for the Syndicate series. I have one of these from 1914 for G&D with the title "Best Books for Boys & Girls". It was printed and folded in such a way to fit in a small envelope. Often catalogs like this from several of Stratemeyer's publishers would be placed in a single envelope and mailed out to addresses of likely book buyers. The sources of these addresses were sometimes unusual.

Stratemeyer engaged in a number of innovative methods of promoting his books. One novel for adults was promoted through a postcard sent to people listed in the NYC Blue Book (a society listing) with a handwritten message that said "Read it by all means" with an illegible signature. The recipient of the postcard that featured an illustration for the book and enough information for them to find it, might think that a friend sent them the card. I have one example of these and a photocopy of Edward's letter that suggested this promotional scheme.

There were also book distributors who sent lists of available books to booksellers, whether they be book stores, department stores, toy stores, etc. I have a vintage copy of one of these from McClurg, the Chicago firm that was also a publisher of the early Tarzan books. They called this the Retail Catalog of Standard and Holiday Books and a similar edition has been scanned by Google Books:

http://books.google.com/books?id=plI0AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA221

Since this catalog is from 1913, it is just a year too early to list the first Tarzan book.

There are also small booklets that promote series books as prizes for some sales contest.

To sum up, the possibilities are fairly large for ephemeral items that refer to series books. I've left out a number of items that I have found over the years to keep this post brief.

For the older books, Cary Sternick has created a blog to show items he has found plus unusual series and authors:

http://bookofbibliomaven.blogspot.com

James
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UnknownMarch 30, 2010 at 4:33 AM
You always have such interesting items on your blog. Keep up the good work. I always look forward to reading what you have posted.
Kathryn
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DEDICATION

In September 1996, I spent a week's vacation touring from Oklahoma City through Kansas to Kansas City, then across Missouri to St. Louis, and then south from St. Louis to New Madrid, Mo., my hometown and still the home of my parents.

Along with visiting my brothers in both major cities, I stopped at as many antique malls and bookstores as possible. It was at one such store near Boonville, MO, that I found a box of Happy Hollister books, half with dust jackets. They were in great shape and per book my cost was less than about $2 a book. I bought them, knowing that I could sell the dustjacketed ones for quite a bit more and recoup my investment. And perhaps, sentimentally, I hated to see them just sit on the floor of this concrete-floored antique mall.

Upon arriving in New Madrid a few days later, I put aside collecting to spend time with my parents. At some point my mother Zoe' asked me to accompany her to the local library to visit with her "girlfriends," the two local librarians. She was always proud of me and wanted to share that pride with these two fine ladies. Like any man, I hesitated, not wanting to be a part of such "silly" ventures. But I went along, knowing this would make her happy.

At the library I reminisced about the joy I had as a kid there, especially checking out the Happy Hollister books they kept. These books and my fondness in reading them started this hobby. I was surprised to learn the library still had volumes from the series, but they were in bad shape. The head librarian mentioned that recently a childhood friend of mine, who also read and enjoyed the series, had offered to cover the cost of purchasing new copies. I then offered the non-dustjacketed Hollister books I had bought to her and said if she collected the money, give it to my mother. They were pleased to have the new books. I enjoyed the rest of my visit with my parents and returned to Oklahoma City a few days later.

Within a few weeks my dear mother passed away in her sleep.
At her wake I asked the librarian to keep the money for the books and place a dedication in the books to my mother. They will serve as a reminder of her, and this dedication will, too. =

I owe my love of mystery books to her and she always encouraged me to read. Ironically, my mother had the mindset that would not have understood the internet, much less used it. Yet, now she has her "place" on the World Wide Web.

IN THE BEGINNING.....

SERIES BOOKS I COLLECT AND RECOMMEND

As related on another section of this blog, my interest in children's mystery series books began with The Happy Hollisters, because it was the only series at my local public library. I then went on to acquire and read Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew picture cover books. At sometime I sold those books and concentrated on buying the early Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books with dust jackets. My collection now consists of mostly white spine Nancy Drews and I have the orange spine Hardy Boys dust jackets.

Although I grew up with the 1960s Hardy Boys blue and Nancy Drew yellow spine picture cover books, I have no special affection for those books. I enjoy the early books because I just like the era they represent. Along with the above mentioned series I collected and read Trixie Belden, Power Boys and the Bobbsey Twins.

During my high school years I put aside children's mystery series books, but returned to collect those books sometime in college. The spark that relit my fire was oddly enough one of The Outdoor Girls books written under the name of Laura Lee Hope. While working part-time at the library of the Missouri State Historial Society, I came across one of the volumes of that series and during breaks, I would read several chapters a day. Why this book was even there was a true mystery to me. But I enjoyed the simple storylines, the slight mystery and adventure these girls enjoyed, and most of all the depiction, although very unrealistic, of the lifestyle of the years 1910-1930. A few years later I would happen upon seven or eight dustjacketed volumes of the series at an Oklahoma City antique store, and the urge to buy was impossible to resist.

Through the decade of the 1980s I would add one series after another to my list of interest including, in no particular order:
Mercer Boys, Ken Holt, Rick Brant, Tom Quest,
Walton Boys, Don Sturdy, Ted Scott

In particular, I fell in love with the stories of Capwell Wyckoff, author of the Mercer Boys, and the Mystery Hunters, and numerous unrelated book.
In the 1990s, I added the following series:
Penny Parker, Judy Bolton, X Bar X Boys, Dana Girls, Hal Keen Brains Benton, Biff Brewster, Andy Lane, Kay Tracey

I especially fell in love with the stories of Mildred Wirt Benson, the first "Carolyn Keene" and prolific author of dozens of other books. Most especially I enjoy her Penny Parker series.
Many times I would add a series just because I came across nice copies, with dustjackets. Such was the case with the X Bar X Boys. The best piece of luck I ever had was finding 12-14 Ken Holt books, with djs, at an antique fair at a local mall. Each book cost about $2.50. I rank Ken Holt among my most favorite series books. The sign of a favorite series is when I look forward to reading the next few chapters, and finish the book quickly. If a book is not as exciting, I may takes weeks to finish. Series that rank among my favorites include, as mentioned, Ken Holt, Penny Parker, Tom Quest, Rick Brant, Mercer Boys, Biff Brewster, and Brains Benton.