Pack-O-Fun

I love Pack-O-Fun magazines (but maybe that is obvious by the big pile up there) I've been collecting them for the past three years, and my oh my the pile has grown. They usually live on a shelf of crafty books up in the studio, but today I wanted to share a few covers with you.

Pack-O-Fun is still around, but of course the vintage copies are my favorite. The magazine was created in 1952 by Edna Clapper who printed the first issue in her basement (I love that!)

The older issues I have in my collection have illustrated covers instead of photos, so I'll have to show you those some time too.

Meanwhile I love this issue from 1978 with instructions for creating the droids C-ME-GO and CARD-TOO-ME-TOO from leftover Christmas cards. Such good stuff!

records

I love old children's records. Sometimes the covers are just so amazing, and some times it is the little illustrations on the records themselves.

Easter Parade By Irving Berlin sung by Michael Reed

Music Fun by Spike Jones on yellow vinyl...you can listen to The Man On The Flying Trapeze here.

Halloween by Dan Blakeslee not a vintage record (it was released in 2002) but I found it on ebay for Tom last year. Halloween music with an amazing silkscreened front and back cover, and orange vinyl!

Rudolph by Wonderland Records I love the cover on this one!

some old favorites

I've been working on a big project today that kept me busy all day long...so I didn't get to take any book photos today. Here are a few old ones that have been on my Flickr before, but are still some of my favorites. Tomorrow I've got some records to share..

Humpty Dumpty magazine I've got quite a few of these cute little magazines. I'll have to get them all out and share some more photos with you.

The Littlest Snowman by Charles Tzaewell, pictures by George De Santis. Originally published 1955, mine is a 1970 reprint. This book has a crazy little story, but the illustrations are very fun!

The Indoor Noisy Book by Margaret Wise Brown...this was actually a copy from the library and reminds me that I'd like to find a copy for myself!

Oh and one more photo from The Littlest Snowman because it's a really good one!

Bug Weddings

Today some insect nuptials for your viewing pleasure. I bet if I had time to go through all my books I would find a bunch of odd wedding couples :)

Jack and Jill magazine from the cover of issue June 1958 which at that time cost 35 cents.

The Giant Golden Mother Goose illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen published by Golden Press in 1948

Chapter Book Covers

I love a good book cover....here are some chapter books for you.

-Mary Poppins In The Park by P.L. Travers, this edition was published by W.W. Norton & Company in 1952. I love this cover, so please excuse the sticker residue. This used to be a library book which was purchased at BookSavers. They are a used bookshop who rescue books that are discarded from libraries and schools. They always have such good kid's books.

Through The Looking Glass By Lewis Carroll, published by Hurst & Company (no date) This is a small hardcover book with a beautiful cover and spine covered in flowers.

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren another BookSavers find but a bit more worn then the Mary Poppins. Published by Viking Press in 1950. I am a sucker for these sorts of hardback books with the limited colorway covers. Love them, and love the fact that this one is pink.

gnomes, fairies, and dwarves

-Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs first two photos, cover and a peek inside. Published by Wonder Books 1955 illustrations by Art Seiden

-Peter Pan illustrated by Marjorie Torrey and published in 1957 by Random House. This is the illo of miss tinkerbell pulling Wendy's hair.

-Fairy Elves by Robin Palmer and Pelagie Doane published by Henry Z. Walck Inc in 1964. This book is really cool because it is a dictionary of the little people with some old tales and verses about them. It really says that on the cover. :) From brownies to cluricaun's (a leprechaun gone on a spree).

-Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs color by number book. Published by Clover Coloring Books.

-Four Fairy Stories illustrated by Willy Schermele. Published in 1976 by Purnell and Sons. The cover illustration is by another artist and though similar to the drawings inside...somewhat lacking. When I first picked this book up I didn't expect it to be so amazing, but inside...WOW! It is just filled with page after page of little animals in clothing, elves, fairies, and bugs all living alongside trees + mushrooms with faces. Two of the illos above are from the book and it was really hard just to narrow it down to two!

Snow-White And Rose Red illustrated by Marjorie Cooper and published by Rand McNally.

Chapter Books

Hitty Her First Hundred Yearsis a book that was recommended to me on my other blog. The book is a memoir of a little doll named Hitty, and is simply charming. The illustrations through out the book are also wonderful and really add to the story. Hitty was a real doll that the author & illustrator found in a antique shop together, and they decided to write her tale, which makes it even sweeter.

There are whole websites out their dedicated to Hitty dolls.. you can see a few here, here, and here.

Getting Crafty

These creepy awesome craft books were a gift, but I always try and check out the craft books section at my favorite used bookshops. You just never know what gems you might find.
These images come from three books..
-Doodle-Loom PomPon Originals pattern book #75 published in 1978. This book features animals and people made from handmade pom-poms. Including a cute gnome that I always meant to make.
-Living Dolls Novelties (a rather unfortunate title as "living dolls" just makes them even scarier!) published in 1977 the same year I was born. This book features a lot of dolls made out of empty dishwashing liquid bottles, mini decorative brooms, and rocks. Nice!
-Plush-Pelt Puppets, published in 1978. Filled with animal and doll puppets that you can sew using faux fur for their fur, or hair. Awesome.

More Beautiful End Papers...

More beautiful inside covers. I was always fond of books with maps inside the cover, gives you a real sense of the land.
books...
-The New Golden Songbook illustrations by Mary Blair (and one of my most favorite books, I have the cover tattooed on my arm) published by Simon And Schuster in 1955
-The Giant Golden Mother Goose illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen published by Golden Press in 1948
-The Helpful Friends by George Bonsall and Crosby Newell published by Wonder Books in 1955
-The Three Bears illustrated by Mary Cameron published by Random House in 1942
-Mother Goose Rhymes With Music illustrations by Esme Eve and published by Grosset & Dunlap in 1960

Animals In Clothing

Who can resist animals dressed up in clothing?
From the books...
-The Helpful Friends (both squirrel photos) by George Bonsall and Crosby Newell published in 1955 by Wonder Books Inc
-The Giant Golden Mother Goose (mitten kittens) illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen published in 1963 by Golden Press
-The Three Bears (love the teeth of those bears!) illustrated by Mary Cameron and published in 1942 by Random House

end papers

end papers, a photo by mypapercrane on Flickr.

Here is another great example of stunning end papers. These are from the book Walt Disney's Surprise Package.

a new blog

DSC_0037, a photo by mypapercrane on Flickr.

I love beautiful inside covers...this one from The Busy Bee America Book, a childlife playbook that was published by Garden City Books (but no publish date inside)