Original artwork, of pages 14 and 15, 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.