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Original artwork, of page 4, 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.

This music box disc was made by Lloyd G. Kelley, successor to the Regina Music Box Company, in Hanover, Massachusetts, 1950s. It is Regina Disc #1138 – “Youthful Dreams” by A. Zuleger. This disc is playable in a Regina Disc Music Box that can accommodate a 15-1/2” diameter disc.

This disc features the following patents:

U. S. Patent #417649, dated December 17, 1889, by Oskar Paul Lochmann for a music plate for mechanical instruments.

U. S. Patent #500374, dated June 27, 1893, by Gustav A. Brachhausen and Paul Riessner for a note-plate for music boxes.

Original artwork, of page 7, 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.

This music box disc was made by Regina Music Box Co. in Rahway, New Jersey, about 1897. It is Regina Disc #4082 - "Jolly Fellows" (Waltz), by Robert Wollstedt. This disc is playable in a Regina Disc Music Box that can accommodate a 27” diameter disc.

This disc features the following patents:

U. S. Patent #417649, dated December 17, 1889 by Oskar Paul Lochmann for a music plate for mechanical instruments.

U. S. Patent #500374, dated June 27, 1893 by Gustav A. Brachhausen and Paul Riessner for a note-plate for music boxes.

Original artwork used for page 18 of the book, Doctor Squash the Doll Doctor, written by Margaret Wise Brown with illustrations by J.P. Miller and published by Simon & Schuster in New York, New York, in 1952.

John Parr Miller (1913-2004) was a native New Yorker who initially worked in the model department of Disney Studios from 1934-1942. He created characters for some of the earliest Disney productions, including Pinocchio, Fantasia and Dumbo. His interests expanded to include children’s illustrations, and his first assignment with Little Golden Books was the artwork for the Little Red Hen, one of the original fifteen books published in 1942. Working in a simple somewhat abstract style, Miller utilized bold, sharp lines and bright colors to make his images appear more graphic than painterly.