In the 1930s Western Printing and Lithograph Company of Racine, Wis., formed the Artists and Writers Guild Inc., a group charged with the development of new children’s books. In 1934 Western purchased a printing plant in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and started working closely with Dell Publishing Company and Simon and Schuster Inc. Credit for developing the Little Golden Book concept goes to Georges Duplaix, head of the Artists and Writers Guild Inc., in the early 1940s, Lucile Ogle, also a Guild member, and Albert Leventhal and Leon Shimkin of Simon and Schuster. Duplaix and Ogle wanted to create a book that was colorful, affordable, and could be used by children without parents being concerned what they were doing to it. At the time, the average price for a children’s book was two to three dollars, a major investment in 1940s dollars. The Sept. 19, 1942, edition of “Publisher’s Weekly” contained the first advertisement for Little Golden Books. Simon & Schuster published them; Western Printing and Lithography Company printed them. The initial 12, forty- two page titles, priced at 25 cents each, sold over one and one-half million books in the first five months of publication. All books had completed a third printing. By the end of World War II, 39 million Little Golden Books were sold. In 1944 Little Golden Books introduced its Disney series. Big and Giant Golden Books followed that same year. In 1949 the Goldencraft editions, having cloth rather than side-stapled cardboard covers for library and school use, were published. Between 1955 and 1961, Little Golden Books offered an activity series, books featuring learning wheels, stamps, paper dolls, paper models, paint and color books, and a calendar. In 1958 Giant Little Golden Books were added to the line.
Exerpts adapted from: The Morning Call » THE RULES OF SAVING LITTLE GOLDEN BOOKS RINKER ON COLLECTIBLES
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