Category Archives: 1950s

315B: Little Boy Stumbles Upon a Fairy Wedding

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I’m looking for a vintage, illustrated children’s book that I believe was made in the 1940s or 1950s. In the story, a little boy (just one boy–no siblings or friends) somehow is invited to a fairy wedding and he dances and parties the whole night with the fairies, elves, goblins and toads before he has to go back home. Other details that stand out: he slides down a tunnel to get to an underground area where the “fairyland” is (my mom remembers this tunnel as starting at the base of a tree); he fills a jar with fireflies to make a lamp when walking through a dark place; at some point, either an elf or a toad or a fairy (some magical creature) is caught in something and he helps him escape and is rewarded by being a guest to a party/wedding (I think maybe the caught creature was the groom?); there is a cute little blushing bride who I believe is a fairy or something–I think the party was her wedding, but I’m not sure. My mother also remembers there being a lot of red-capped mushrooms throughout the book. Thanks!

314E: She Recalls the Word “Willow”

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I am looking for a children’s book.
This book was published around 1959-1960 give or take a year or two. It had a medium blue hard cover and was approximately 8 x 6 and 100 pages give or take some.
It had many short stories and poems. The illustrations were primarily black ink and the drawings remind me of Irene Haas illustrations. This book may have been part of a Harper and Brothers adult book club selection because I have another book my mother had from this club and it is titled “The Day Christ Was Born” By Jim Bishop. She said the children’s book was offered as a special selection. My sister recalls the word “Willow” she thought maybe that may have been in the title of the book or possibly a title to one of the stories. I have been looking for this book for quite a few years and any help would be appreciated.

313S: Missing Clock Tower Automatons (Solved)

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A girl goes on dangerous magical quest to find missing clock tower automatons. I read this book sometime in the mid-1970s. It may have been published from the 1950s-1970s. Statues or automatons have disappeared from the town cathedral or clock tower (I lean toward the clock) and if they are not restored by midnight (?) on a certain day, chaos will ensue. There is a European city feel to the magical yet current-day setting. Toward the very end, some adults are talking, “I’m letting her sleep. ” There is a sense that she has done things which were not quite lawful but she is excused because of her accomplishment. The adults may be a mother and aunt, or maybe aunts only.

311S:Awake All Night

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[Private Role=”author”]Judith Storteboom,judithstorteboom@gmail.com[/private]

A children’s book from 1900-1950 about little girl who is told by doctor she needs to go to bed an hour earlier each night. So every night she goes to bed one hour earlier and soon is going to bed during the day and awake all night.

311Q:Deployments And People Of Power

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In 1954 I read a book about POWER. The thrust of the book was observed methods or deployments people of power use. I.e., In a meeting the attendees will sit automatically by their importance to the chair. The most important will sit to the right of the chair while the least important will sit left of the chair. The author states, Power is so important in society it should be taught in schools.

311G: Jacobites and Second Sight

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Hello.  I’m looking for a children’s/ young adult novel I found in a school library in 1977.  I thought of it then as an “older book,” so I’m guessing the publication date to be between 1945 and 1965.  It’s historical fiction that takes place during Scotland in the Jacobite period.  The main character is a teen girl who sometimes has visions via the “second sight,” a gift that allows her to help save the prince at the end.  It’s not a Sally Watson book.

310W:It Was His Home

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 Looking for the title of an illustrated children’s picture book published in the mid-1950s to 1960 or so. It was about a dog (possibly named George, possibly a poodle?). My husband’s family recalls nothing about the story except the refrain, repeated throughout the book, “(But) It was his home, and he liked it there.

310T: The Fire Truck Story

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There’s this picture book I swear my grandmother had. I believe it had 4-5 stories of motorized things. A tractor maybe, a dirigible, a firetruck, etc. I vividly remember the firetruck story. Burning building collapsed, bricks walls fell down, the fireman survived by laying under the truck. The tires all blew but the engine kept running, eventually the firetruck and fireman were both dug out. Was this a dream or is this a real book? It was probably published in the 50s. I remember it being ancient when I was a 70s kid.