Category Archives: 1930s or earlier

350K: Battle of Trafalgar

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Sometime in 1960-62 I took an English History course in college. We were assigned reading for extra credit. I read a book about the Battle of Trafalgar, which I remember as riveting. I specifically remember a fulsome description of life aboard the battleship, including descriptions of how food was prepared, how surgery was performed during the battle, and other daily concerns of the sailors. I do not think this was a biography of Lord Nelson, rather a blow by blow of the lead-up to the Battle and the Battle itself. Clearly it had to have been written prior to 1960. I would really like to find this book.

349G: Selfish Witch, Disguised as Regular Girl, Does Selfless Favor

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Looking for a beautiful line-drawn picture book from earlier than 1975, about a witch and her daughter who live beyond the seven valleys and the seven seas. The daughter witch is selfish, and does not come home to her mother on time. Her mother sends her away until she can do a selfless favor for someone, while disguised as a regular girl. She is dropped off outside a village. Eventually, she finds a little boy who is also being punished, and helps him peel mounds and mounds of potatoes. She falls asleep doing this, and her mother comes to collect her. Ends with a line something like, "but she could never stand the sight of another potato."

349F: Boy with gigantic tall spoon catching clouds

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I am seeking a vintage children’s anthology possibly printed somewhere between 1940s-1960s. Possibly earlier.
The main clue is an illustration of a boy holding a huge spoon, (tall like a ladder) scooping up clouds.
The featured poem with the illustration is
CLOUDS
 by Dorothy Aldis
If I had a spoon
As tall as the sky
I’d dish out the clouds
That go slip-sliding by.
I’d take them right in
And give them to cook
And see if they tasted
As good as they look.
I’ve searched other books and I can usually find this poem, but I cannot find the right illustration of the little boy holding the tall spoon catching clouds.
The book was a hardcover cloth-like blue,  with faded letters embossed on cover. There was no dust jacket.
I thought maybe the book was “Here, There, and Everywhere” by D. Aldis, but as it turns out, it is not the right book 🤔
Size of the book was approximately
 8″ x 11″x 1″ thick.

348X: Blimp and Related Travel Modes – Book from 30’s or 40’s

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I am searching for a children’s book probably published in the late 30’s or early 40’s.

All I can remember is the hardback cover. It was large and blue. I believe there was an airplane and possibly blimp and related travel modes on the cover. Sadly, I do not know the title or author. It was given to my brother (now 83 years old) in the early to mid 40’s.
I realize this may be a wild goose chase, but it would mean the world to me if you can find it

346X: Fairy Tale Collection From Pre-1950’s Era

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I currently have part of the book, but the first 30 pages are missing. Also the binding is worn away and the final pages are missing. The book is a collection of folk tales, fairy tales, nursery rhymes, etc. I always called it the Wolf Book, but I’m sure that is not the title. It was published around 1950 at the latest , but could have been considerably older.
Some of the stories in it are: The Three Little Pigs, Chicken Little, The Lion Hearted Kitten, The Hole in the Ground, The Gingerbread Boy, The Three Sillies, The Tortoise and the Hare, Little Red Riding Hood, The Cap that Mother Made, The Boasting Bamboo, The Musicians of Bremen, Silly Will, Hans in Luck, The Ugly Duckling, and many more.

 

346Q: Fairy brings clay animals to life (Solved!)

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American book published some time around 1930 about a little blond boy on a farm. The farm animals were all his friends. One day there was a storm and all his animals were carried away and he was heartbroken. He went down to a stream and started making little animals out of clay in the shape of the animals he had lost. He fell asleep and a fairy who was riding around on a throne made of pink clouds saw him and had pity on him and used her magic wand to bring the animals to life. The book was illustrated in color and the title might have included something like Happy Valley Farm or Sunny Valley Farm.

345J: Young Girl Decries Dangers of Reading When Chased by a Bull

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Read this book when I was around 8, which puts it at 1960.  I am sure it was not new at that time.

Written by someone like Thurber or Ogden Nash, it was a collection of children’s short stories.  The only one that I can remember clearly was about a little girl who couldn’t read. At the end, when she is being chased by a bull, she comes to the conclusion that reading (words?) are dangerous.  The sign she couldn’t read said something  like, ‘beware of  bull.’

Hoping you can help me.

344K: Love Stories Around the World

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Daughter of the Sun (I thought) was the title.

The book was given by my great grandmother to my mother. My mother is now 60 for reference.
The book was bound in a green fabric with gold accents.
The book was three separate love stories in one book .
Story 1
The first story was Daughter of a Sun. Main characters name is Charlie (Charlotte).  Charlie’s father disappears in the mountains and she ends up backpacking with a former student of her fathers through the mountains to solve the mysterious disappearance of her father. They end up finding her father who lives with a lost civilization. Takes place in South America.
 
Story 2  
 
Woman is an antiques appraiser and falls in love with an engaged client and helps the family find the missing will – that I believe was hidden in a door stop. Takes place in Europe.
 
Story 3
 
Gill has arranged marriage with one brother (I think his name starts with an F) and falls in love with the other brother. She fell asleep in the wrong limo and ended up at a castle-like estate. The man she loves did a business merger with her grandfather. Lover calls her mouse. There is a problem with a landslide. Additionally, he is a race car driver. Takes place in Italy
 
This is the most important book I ever read because it came from my great grandmother. I have no idea who wrote it or if it is even possible to find. I would be humbled by any help.

343Z: Minda the Little Indian Girl

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I’m searching for an old child’s book about a little Indian girl named Minda. My father bought it used in the 1950s. It was a child’s reader and I remember very colorful. We lived in Ohio and my father had a store where he sold things, like thrift stores today. He was so excited to find it for me. My fathers mother passed away when he was 9 in 1928 her name was Minda. I was named after her. I was always told she was Indian. I think Cherokee. My mother passed away when I was 17 in 1969. I never knew what happened to my book. I’ve searched many years now. Of course both parents are gone. I don’t know the name of the book. I never knew anyone else named Minda but I know there are. I’m hoping you can help me. Thank you.

339N: Who is the author? Begins with Stephen…not King or Crane (Solved!)

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I am recalling an early short story writer, from the 1930s and 1940s, he wasn’t known as a science fiction author but wrote a piece of science fiction about a take over of the world by machines. They weren’t AI or anything that sophisticated. No microprocessors. The takeover included automobiles and even irons and vacuum cleaners. The machines just revolted. I think that the story was told by a person in an enclosed room waiting to die, telling his tale. The writer’s first name was Stephen. My parents had a copy of “The Complete Works of Stephen….” or “The Collected Works of Stephen….” but I can’t remember his last name. Does anyone who it might be? I believe he also wrote some poetry included in the set.  I think there were two volumes.