Category Archives: 1950s

316K: Bizarre Candy Shop

8 Replies

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

2 Replies
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

2 Replies

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

Leave a reply

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

1 Reply

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

2 Replies

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.

315B: Little Boy Stumbles Upon a Fairy Wedding

3 Replies
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”

Leave a reply
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)

3 Replies

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.