Family & Social Life

Count Basie and his All American Rhythm Section. side 1: Farewell Blues; side 2: Way Back Blues (Columbia 36712), from the album, Blues By Basie (Columbia C-101).
78 rpm. Both tracks were recorded in 1942. This album was released in 1944.

The cover art for this album was made by Alex Steinweiss. Alexander “Alex” Steinweiss (1917-2011) was an American artist and graphic designer. He was the first art director of Columbia Records, expanding the use of album covers and cover art. Steinweiss created album cover art from 1938 to 1973.

Golden Gate Quartet. side 1: God's Gonna Cut You Down; side 2: Jezebel (Columbia 37835), from the album, Golden Gate Spirituals (Columbia C 45).
78 rpm. Side 1 was recorded in 1946. Side 2 was recorded in 1941. This album was released in 1947.

The cover art for this album was made by Robert M. Jones (1913-1993) an American graphic designer and printmaker. Jones worked as art director for Columbia Records from 1945-1953, then for RCA Victor and affiliated labels.

Original artwork, of page 24, for the book Here Comes the Parade, written by Kathryn Jackson with illustrations by Richard Scarry, and published by Simon & Schuster in New York, New York, in 1951.

Better known for his animal characters and the Busytown series, Richard Scarry (1919-1994) was one of the most prolific authors and illustrators of 20th century children’s books. He attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston until he was drafted into the army during World War II. After the war, Scarry worked as a freelance artist and contracted with Simon & Schuster to work on the Little Golden Book series. His first illustrations appeared in Two Little Miners, a 1949 story written by Margaret Wise Brown. Scarry’s most popular Little Golden Book was Best Word Book Ever, published in 1963. He published more than 500 children’s books, most depicting animals who took on human characteristics.

In Here Comes the Parade, depicting the beloved Macy's Thanksgiving parade in downtown New York City, Scarry's illustrations are sketched in pencil, colored with gouache and outlined with pen and ink. This annual celebration ushers in the busy Christmas holiday season and Scarry includes a vast array of participants, including a policeman, vendors, performers, bands, spectators and of course the giant balloons. The balloon figures include well-known book characters from The Wizard of Oz, as well as more recent popular TV figures such as Howdy Doody and Mickey Mouse and his friends.

The book’s subject represents one of the basic concepts supported by the progressive education movement, which encouraged literature celebrating the “here and now”—everyday life experiences—and aimed to tell stories about real events.

This original artwork was used for the bookBugs Bunny by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc., with illustrations adapted by Tom McKimson and Al Dempster. Published by Simon and Schuster in New York, New York, in 1949, pg.14-15.

Many of the stories published in the early years of Little Golden Books included classics such as Mother Goose, fables and fairy tales. After the war, a new era of prosperity emerged in America. This optimism coupled with the baby boom encouraged Americans to create an idealized world, where family and home were fundamental attributes and life was full of opportunities. The introduction of TV into the home had great impact on American society and culture, and its impact on Little Golden Books was no exception.

In the 19th century, consumer products such as toys, books and games were already used as a tie into historical events, sports and famous people, and this phenomenon was expanded with the introduction of radio, movies and television. These new means of communication generated a whole new cast of characters and the impact on Golden Books was significant. A license with Walt Disney granted Little Golden Books the right to publish stories about some of Disney’s earliest creations, including favorites such as Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo and Sleeping Beauty. Moreover, the books began to feature television personalities like Howdy Doody, Roy Rogers and Captain Kangaroo, as well as popular Saturday morning cartoon characters like Woody Woodpecker, Bugs Bunny and Huckleberry Hound. These new agreements with Warner Brothers and Hanna-Barbera significantly reduced the development of original stories as the books featured stories taken from children’s television shows. This opened the flood gates to create consumer products associated with popular movie and cartoon personalities. This practice continues today and proves to be a very lucrative endeavor.

Born in 1911 in Atlantic City New Jersey, Al Dempster moved to California and studied at the Art Center school in LA. He joined the staff of Disney in 1939 as a layout trainee and shortly after was promoted to the Background department. His early works included Fantasia and Dumbo. He left Disney in 1945 but returned to Disney studio by 1952 where he worked on such renowned movies as Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, Santa's Toy Shoppe, Jungle Book and the Rescuers and Winnie the Pooh. He worked on more than a dozen Disney golden books. He died in 2001 and posthumously received the coveted Disney Legends Award in 2006 for his outstanding achievements and contribution to the Disney legacy.

Tom Mckimson (1907-1998) was best known for his work as an animator at Warner Bros. Studio. He joined Disney in 1928 but left in 1932 and moved over to work with Warner Bros., where he was credited with the original design for Tweety Bird. While working with Warner Bros. he also illustrated comic books for Dell Comics, including Bugs Bunny and Road Runner. He left Warner Bros. in 1947 and became the Art Director for Western Publishing, the original publishing company for Golden Books.

Original artwork, of page 41, for the book The Taxi that Hurried, written by Lucy Sprague Mitchell, Irma Simonton Black and Jessie Stanton with illustrations by Tibor Gergely, and published by Golden Press in New York, New York, in 1946.

Born in Budapest, Hungary into a middle-class Jewish family, Tibor Gergely (1900-1978) was captivated by art and culture at a young age. Known as a graphic illustrator and a caricature artist, Gergely’s early works documented Jewish life before the rise of Hitler. By 1939 the political situation in Europe was dire, and Gergely and his wife immigrated to America. They settled in New York and his love affair with the city never waned. He was enchanted with his new life in a postwar New York that included skyscrapers, rushing traffic and the excitement of life in the big city.

A member of the American Artists and Writers Guild, Gergely became a prominent illustrator for Little Golden Books, providing drawings for more than seventy books, including Tootle, Five Little Firemen, and Scuffy the Tugboat. His illustrations for The Taxi that Hurried and Make Way for the Thruway portray the celebrated automobile and the expanding highway system, both destined to bring dramatic social and cultural changes to American life.

Original artwork, of pages 31 - 34, for the book, Susie's New Stove: The Little Chef's Cookbook written by Annie North Bedford with illustrations by Corinne Malvern, and published by Simon & Schuster in New York, New York, in 1949.

Raised in New Jersey, Corinne Malvern (1901-1956) was a child actress who, along with her sister, performed in traveling plays, vaudeville and movies. After an accident in her teens, Malvern was forced to give up her acting career and later attended the Art Students League of New York. Proficient in watercolor, pastel, pencil and ink and paint, she launched a career as a commercial artist, and was known for her fashion illustrations and magazine covers. Shortly after, she teamed up with her sister, a children’s author, and began drawing children’s books, including seventeen for the Little Golden Book series, including Doctor Dan, Nurse Nancy, How Big?, Susie’s New Stove, and 5 Pennies to Spend.

The illustrations in Susie's New Stove reflect the traditional gender roles of the 1940s and 1950s and portrays the idyllic setting of home sweet home. The simple recipes included in the books gave little girls the chance to practice their culinary and homemaking skills. This is in stark contrast to the social upheaval that would emerge in the 1960s, challenging and altering perceptions of gender roles and civil rights.

Susie’ New Stove featured the “Little Chef” toy stove which had a working hot plate that could boil water. High-end models had a working hot plate and two functioning ovens that could be heated to 375 degrees. "Little Chef" is a trademark term used by Tacoma Metal Products, Tacoma Washington. maker of the stove.

We Help Daddy was written by Mini Stein with illustrations by Eloise Wilkin, and published by Western Publishing Co. in New York, New York, in 1962.

A Graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology, Eloise Wilkin (1904-1987) studied illustration. In her early years she worked as a freelance artist in New York City, illustrating schoolbooks for children learning to read, paper dolls and puzzles. She was married and raising a family in upstate New York when she started working from home creating illustrations for Little Golden Books in 1946. A prolific illustrator, Wilkin's work is easily identifiable for her adorable images of children with round faces and rosy pink cheeks. It is reported that she modeled her characters on her own family members and friends. Her beautifully detailed settings and backgrounds demonstrate her meticulous research and attention to detail. Her depiction of the idyllic home and family life reflected the post war optimism of the 1950s. She worked for Little Golden Books until 1984 and continued to design dolls for Vogue and Madame Alexander.

A stalwart Catholic, Wilkins was much attuned to the awakening social conscious of the 1960s. In 1964, the National Urban League, headed up by Whitney Young, brought attention to what he considered a fundamental omission on the part of the juvenile publishing world who he accused of racial stereotyping. Indeed, there were no children of color depicted in this vast category of books, but Eleanor Wilkin was one of the first illustrators to include an integrated classroom in We Like Kindergarten.

Original artwork, of page 8, for the book Howdy Doody's Circus, written by Edward Kean with illustrations by Liz Dauber and Don Gormely, and published by Simon & Schuster in New York, New York, in 1950.

During the 1940s and 1950s, Don Gormley created drawings for the popular Dell comic book series, Dell's Four Colors, that included Disney characters like Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse and Porky Pig as well as the popular cartoon character Oswald the Rabbit from 1942-1962. Additionally, he illustrated characters created by Walter Lantz, including Mr. McGoo and Andy Panda.

Liz Dauber's art career included working in several mediums, including illustrations, painting and magazine cover art. In her early years, she created colorful cover art for the popular New York women’s fashion magazine Mademoiselle. Married to Gregorio Prestopino, a painter of the Ashcan school, she and her husband were part of the planned community called Jersey Homesteads. Established by FDR during the Depression, this cooperative effort was meant to foster industrial, agricultural and artistic endeavors that served and enriched the community. Her illustrations for Howdy Doody's Circus was her sole effort for Little Golden Books, but she went on to illustrate several children and young adult books that featured topics about history, folklore and biographies. Her emphasis on juvenile literature also included books for the Scholastic Young Reader series and the Ginnie books.

Kid Rena's Delta Jazz Band. side 1: Gettysburg March; side 2: Lowdown Blues (Circle J-1035), from the album, Kid Rena's Delta Jazzband (Circle S-10).
78 rpm. These recordings were made at the Hotel Roosevelt and recorded by local radio station WWL on August 21, 1940.

Album design and typography was by Jimmy Ernst (born Hans-Ulrich Ernst, 1920-1984), a German-born American painter.

Original artwork, of pages 20 and 21, for the book Huckleberry Hound written by Ann McGovern with illustrations by Al White, and published by Golden Press in New York, New York, in 1961.

Information on Al White is limited but we do know he worked at Disney at some point and was the “background” illustrator for Little Golden Books from 1959-1964. White’s illustrations for Little Golden Books includes, Top Cat, Ruff and Reddy and Bozo Finds a Friend.

The introduction of TV into the home had great impact on American society and culture, and its impact on Little Golden Books was no exception. In the 19th century consumer products such as toys, books and games were already used as a tie-in to historical events, sports and famous people, and this phenomenon was expanded with the introduction of radio, movies and television. These new means of communication generated a whole new cast of characters and the impact on Golden Books was significant. A license with Walt Disney granted Little Golden Books the right to publish stories about some of Disney’s earliest creations, including favorites such as Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo and Sleeping Beauty. Moreover, the books began to feature television personalities like Howdy Doody, Roy Rogers and Captain Kangaroo, as well as popular Saturday morning cartoon characters like Woody Woodpecker, Bugs Bunny and Huckleberry Hound. These new partnerships with Warner Bros. and Hanna-Barbera significantly reduced the development of original stories and instead the books featured stories taken from children’s television shows. This opened the flood gates to create consumer products associated with popular movie and cartoon personalities. This practice continues today and proves to be a very lucrative endeavor.

Burl Ives. side 1: Darlin' Cory; side 2: Leather-Winged Bat [track 1] Cotten-Eyed Joe [track 2] (Columbia 36736), from the album, The Wayfaring Stranger (Columbia C 103).
78 rpm. Both tracks were recorded in 1941. This album was released in 1944.

Jim (James) Flora (1914-1998) created the cover art for this album. Flora was a successful commercial illustrator during the 1940s-1970s as well as an author and illustrator for children’s books. He was best known for his unique and quirky album cover art for RCA Victor and Columbia during the 1940s and 1950s. Flora created numerous paintings, drawings, etchings, and sketches throughout his prolific career.

Original artwork, of pages 15, 35, 38, 39, and 42, for the book Johnny's Machines, written by Helen Palmer with illustrations by Cornelius De Witt, and published by Simon & Schuster in New York, New York, in 1949.

Cornelius De Witt (1905-1956) was born in Germany but spent most of his life in and around New York. De Witt worked successfully in several mediums including printmaking, painting and illustration. De Witt‘s realistic style of drawing created distinctly visual images and in turn children found the books easy to read and comprehend. He was best known for his Golden book on the human body.