Category Archives: 1950s

316P: Classic children’s poetry – Little Golden Book?

I have a tattered copy of a much-loved book of poetry by Eugene Field that I think was a Little Golden Book. This was from my childhood in the 1950s. Some of the poems in the book include “Little Boy Blue,” “The Sugar Plum Tree,” “The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat,” “Good Children Street,” “Intry-Mintry,” Wynken, Blynken, and Nod,” “Seein’ Things,” “The Drum,” “To a Little Brook,” and “The Boy.” I think there may be one or two other poems. The illustrations are whole-page in color with black and white pen and ink drawings between the poems. I would love to find an intact copy of this book.

316M: Colouring a grey kingdom leads to misfortune

A man (possibly the king of a realm) lives in a kingdom, its quite likely grey, and he discovers various colours in his castle / dungeon. You see a brilliant patch of colour in an otherwise totally grey scene as he discovers each colour. He rushes outside and paints the entire land colours, but this makes the inhabitants sick / depressed / angry etc. based on the characteristics expected of that color. Colors include (from memory) pink, cyan and yellow.

I first had this read to me in the late 70’s and as it was from my public library so may have been published considerably earlier, perhaps 1950’s or 1960’s.

316K: Bizarre Candy Shop

I’m searching for a children’s book from the 1940’s or 50’s.  I thought it was a Little Golden Book but I don’t think it is now.  It was my mother’s favorite.  It had a story about a woman taking care of children and I believe she took him into a candy store and there were stars on the ceiling.  She broke off 1 of her fingers and turned it into a piece of candy for them to suck on.  It’s very bizarre; I remember her reading it to me and she just loved it and I would like to know what this the title of it was so I can find it for her.  She used to read me “Little orphan Annie came to our house to stay…” put a candle underneath her face and do this voice.  It was wonderful and slightly creepy all at once.  She owned a bookstore when I was little so I’ve been reading since I was 3; no TV or video games allowed, but as many books as we pleased, most of them children’s books over 100 years old.  Lamb on Wheels; The Adventures of Frog and Toad; everything Mark Twain – I loved his short stories, especially the one with the devil.  I was a slightly creepy child.  I’m 48 and mom is 71.  If you need any more details I’ll try and think of anything I can.  Thank you!

316B: The mystery of the dead cousin

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.

315W: A lion of a tale

It's a children's book, kind of big, maybe 8"x10", old, probably from the 60's or earlier. Hardcover. There is a lion on the front, I think the cover was pinkish. Multiple stories, one involving a lion that gave his hair to birds and lost it all, so they brought him leaves. I think another was about monkeys. I've been searching for years. Halp! 😀

315U: Tales of World War II Aviation

Hi, looking for a book published in the 1950's. It is a collection of short stories relating to WWII aviation. It included stories set in North Africa, Italy, etc. Each short story included a pastel-ish illustration of a theme of the story. The planes included the P-38, British Mosquito, P-51, etc. The book was maybe an inch thick. Blue hard cover. Thanks so much!

315K: First Train Ride

I have been looking for a book from my childhood about a young girl’s first train ride. I’m thing it could have been copyrighted in ‘50’s or ‘60’s. I loved it & recently rode the train from Kansas City to Chicago. It brought back memories of this book.

 

315F: A Good Dog with a Good Bone

A Children’s book from the mid-50s to 60s about a small dog who is adopted by a circus. Every night he gets a bone from the cook, who says, “To a good dog, a good bone!” He buries it but can’t find it in the morning, getting more and more upset until one night he stays up and realizes the circus moves during the night. He perks up, realizing that since the circus does a circuit, he’ll have a bone to dig up in every town!  I believe the illustrations are charcoal, black and white.