Category Archives: 1930s or earlier

326L: Beautiful Dresses From Night Sky

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I live in the UK and I am looking for a Children’s anthology of stories (I think), which I had as a child in the 1950s (it may have been older).   It included a story about three poor princesses called Cordelia, Sylvia and Arabella who were invited to a ball but had to make their dresses from old curtains.  The animals and birds helped to make them beautiful dresses from the night sky, sashes of rainbows, ice crowns and stars for their hair and fluffy cloud cloaks.  It was a lovely story, illustrated with black and white drawings.  I have been searching for it for years with no luck.  Maybe someone might recognize it and be able to tell me more.

325L: Ringmaster is a balloon who inflates himself! (Solved!)

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This children’s picture book was always hanging around our vacation home, and in the mid-fifties it looked old, so I guess it was from the late thirties or forties. Definitely not after mid-fifties.  It was a book about a balloon ringmaster who blew on his toe and inflated himself and then I believe he inflated the rest of the circus.  It had some color in the pictures, I think, not many pages, hardbound.  The ringmaster was round body, round head as you can imagine.  Any ideas?

321B: Two boys go to Switzerland.

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A family takes their two boys to Switzerland, and they have many adventures. My aunt can’t recall whether it was a fiction or non-fiction book or whether it was written for children or adults. She read it as a child, and it belonged to her grandparents who lived on a ranch in Southern California. My aunt thinks it may have been written in the 1800’s (she was a child in the 40’s).

Anything you can do to help will be much appreciated!!

319A: Aeronautical Adventures

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1930s or 1940s adventure books (of short stories) for boys featuring airplanes.  I remember a story that featured a crew of men attempting a record breaking non-stop (transcontinental? Transatlantic?) flight, in a 3 engine plane that could be refueled midair.  I remember a scene where one engine was shut down for in flight maintenance. 

One story featured two pilots flying an old biplane in a barnstorming content that was won because the co-pilot dumped itching powder down his partner's back.  Another featured WWII aircrew captured by Germans and they manage to escape and steal a German plane equipped with skis for the snow.  These books had belonged to my father, and were probably given to him by his uncle, who was a pilot.

318X: Child’s Introduction to Holland

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I am looking for a children’s book I memorized at age 3 in 1945.  I believe the title is: The Land of the Dutch, Dutch, Dutch.  I do not know the author or illustrator.  It is a child’s introduction to Holland.  As a child, I recited the book to any guests in our home.  As a teenager, I was an exchange student in Holland.

317C: Three children fall under the spell of fairies in early 20th century illustrated book

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I grew up in Pennsylvania but we moved back to Europe in my early teens and the boxes containing all our children's books got lost in the move.  There is one that I have been pining for ever since!  It was given to me by an old lady who was the grandmother of some people my parents befriended in the States.  She lived in a big house and had an amazing library and I used to love looking at all her old books.  She really sweetly gave this one to me as she could see how much I loved it.  It was a big thick children's book with black and white illustrations and wonderful colour plates and it must have been written somewhere around the early 20th century - I think.  It was about three siblings who are sent to the country to live with I think their grandmother, in a big house.  There are lots of stories about fairies around, and it is clear that the grandmother and the staff have seen them.  The fairies are not always benign.  Their grandmother starts calling the children fairy names like Puck and Robin.  Eventually the children see the fairies too.  There is some disquiet that the youngest child, a little boy, is falling too far under the fairies' spell; for example he falls asleep in the middle of a circle trampled in the grass by the fairies, which apparently means they 'own' him.  It is a very beautiful and sweet book, and I am hoping it might ring bells.  I can't tell you how much I miss it - it has been 40 years since I last saw it.

316B: The mystery of the dead cousin

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It’s a mystery/thriller, with some paranormal overtones. I was born in ’66 and I believe I’d read it by the time I entered high school in ’80, so it must have been written sometime before then. Possibly way before then, as I recall the book was a beat-up paperback when I picked it up.

It’s about a set of female cousins. One is dramatically beautiful, outgoing and rich, and kind of mean; she dies (I think before the book’s action begins) and leaves her estate to her cousin, who bears a certain resemblance to her but is kind and introverted. The good cousin moves into the house and begins thinking her dead cousin was murdered, I think? She also starts behaving oddly – more like the dead cousin. She dyes her hair to match the dead cousin. I vaguely recall a reference to “silver blonde” or something like that.
There’s a love interest for the cousin – I want to say he’s a lawyer? And that he also had some kind of relationship with the dead cousin? Maybe?

I think the dead cousin’s name is Cathy or Kathy, or maybe it’s the surviving cousin’s name? I don’t remember how the book develops the ghost angle – whether the ghost is real or just the cousin’s imagination – but I’m pretty sure it turns out she was murdered.

There’s a supporting character who’s a friend of the living cousin. I remember she shows up at one point and is described as an earth mother type, I think, and says something about the coffee she’s offered – like “heavens, yes, keep it coming” or maybe “I like my coffee like I like my men” but I could be wrong on that.

God I hope that’s enough because it’s driving me nuts, and I can’t find it, and this is all I recall.