It’s an elementary school textbook in which a story is about a Nightmare. Probably from the 1950’s to 1963.
373J: Textbook Nightmare
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Category Archives: 1950s
373I: Clams and red and white striped stockings
A picture book of clams at the beach wearing red and white striped stockings. Probably from the 1950’s to 1963.
373H: German Woodcutter
The German Woodcutter – all I recall is that he went into the forest to cut wood. I have a vague memory of black silhouettes at the beginning of the book or each chapter. Probably from the 1950’s to 1963.
373D: English girl travels to Europe for summer as au pair to her rich, spoiled fraternal-twin cousins
This book came into my hands in 1972, so it’s probably from 1960s (or possibly late 1950’s). The heroine is smart and has been accepted to university, but needs to make money over the summer. She agrees to take care of her fraternal-twin cousins (one of whom is named “Gaylord” and hates the name) as the family travels to the Continent. Definitely some beautiful descriptions of Lake Como. The beautiful elder sister of the cousins is meant to be getting engaged to some solid English prospect but has actually fallen in love with an “unsuitable” yet charming Italian. Our heroine ends up meeting the suitable prospect and sparks fly. His name is Timothy and/or he’s the heir to a tin mine (might have made up one of those because it sounds like the other). The ending is that they’re both going to the same university in the fall and presumably their romance will be continued/completed then. Oh and the twins come around in the end, too. I was most fascinated by the beginning, though, which is an account of her figuring out with her mum how to sew a respectable wardrobe for the summer with very little money.
372S: Short stories including Afro Americans and Johnny Appleseed
I’m after a 1950/60 American children’s book of short stories. Hard cover with a bit of a religious bent. Featured Afro American people in some stories. All heavy on doing the right thing and hugely moralistic. One story was about a gardener potting up plants and another was about Johnny Appleseed spreading apple seeds across the USA.
Hope you can help. Thank you.
372P: Petey and Friends
As a child I would periodically visit my grandparents, in the mid 1960’s. They had a children’s book at their house that I still remember (as does my cousin). If I could find the name, I’d love to get us each a copy for the holidays.
Children’s chapter book, green cover, we think, but aren’t 100% on that.
Published definitely prior to 1970, more likely in the 1950’s. The story line was pretty didactic, and that would fit the era. Also, while folks had cars, the vegetable man had a cart.
Generally simple plot: family with several kids move to a new location. The youngest child is named Petey, and he is the main character. Each chapter basically follows one event in Petey’s life. Chapters I can remember:
** Petey makes friends with the vegetable man who comes into town to sell his veggies. Petey and family are invited to go out into the country to visit the veggie man’s family. There was some cross-cultural awareness, but I can’t remember what.
**Christmas is approaching and all the townspeople ask Petey what he wants for Christmas. “Oh, just one of those little cars” (referring to Matchbox cars). Everyone is astounded he wants so little. In the end, everyone in town gets him a little car.
** Bad snowstorm keeps Petey and his siblings indoors. After complaint about nothing to do they all sit and start to create a quilt from leftover fabric. They work all day and succeed in creating quilt.
It wasn’t great literature, but it has sentimental value for us. ☺️
Thank you for any help you can provide! I have been searching for this book for over a decade!
371P: Book about grandparents
Do you have any idea how I might find a book from my long-ago childhood? I don’t know the title or the author (!). It was about grandparents, and it was probably published in the early 60s, possibly the late 50s. I’m pretty sure it was vertical vs horizontal…but that’s all I remember!
371N: Vintage teen romance – California in the 1950s or early 1960s, boy next door, high school (Solved!)
Hoping for some more of that Bookstumper magic to strike again!
I loved this book in the mid-1970’s! It was old-fashioned even then, so I think it was written in the late 1950s or early 1960s, probably pre-Beatles. I guess it’s what they used to call a “junior romance” and what we would describe as Young Adult today. I read it many times as a pre-teen, mooning over the sweet “boy next door” romance, and waiting for my own love life to begin. By the time I was actually dating in the late 1970’s I was too old for this book, so I’m sure I was reading it around 1975 or 1976, before I had moved on to Barbara Cartland’s historical romances.
It’s the story of a pretty and popular high school girl in a typical white, middle-class California family and her male buddy, as they begin to date. He woos her with many fun outings, fancy restaurants (I remember she saves her cocktail umbrellas and swizzle sticks) and a boat trip to Catalina Island. Her name might be Lori?? I definitely remember she has an older sister named Andrea, because I fell in love with that name for a while.
Our romantic heroine finally declares she’s won over by her suitor, just in time, as he empties out his pockets and reveals that he’s down to his last pennies. He spent all his savings in his pursuit of her heart.
In the meantime, she has given a starring performance in her high school play, with all her family attending to see her. This is quite a success for her, because although she is bright and talented, she’s lackadaisical and usually doesn’t stick with anything. There was some sort of trickery involved with her date and the whole family being in on some conspiracy to encourage her to stay with the play all the way to its performance time. I believe they try to make her jealous by raving about another girl who is a wonderful actress, and arouse her spirit of competition.
I particularly remember the trip to Catalina and the trickery about the school play, and all the dating souvenirs.
This is not a Beverly Cleary book, although it’s in the same family. I’m sure hoping someone else remembers this! Thank you.
370F: Kids exploring cave during the depression era (Solved!)
I’ve been searching for this book for years. I cannot remember all the details but the basics:
Farm kids during the great depression, I think a boy and a girl. They go exploring a cave nearby and pretend its their mansion. So they don’t get lost they use breadcrumbs but birds eat it. They decide to use string instead. A mystery of some sort is solved. I seem to recall mention of the Hobos that would come around looking for work, and their family took one in and fed him a meal. At the end of the book he left markings on their fence that was code for “friendly family” or something like that. Other details: I THINK they took a canary into the cave, there was something to do with the underground railroad, and ration books were mentioned.
I read this book when I was in 6th grade, possibly 1977/78. It was an old book at the time, hardbound with the old fabric book covering. I think it had illustrations but can’t quite remember–I read a LOT in those days. This book belonged to my mom who was born in 38–sadly its been long lost.
370A: Book about a Japanese Girl & Girls’ Day (circa 1959) (Solved!)
I’ve been trying to remember the title of a book that I read many times back circa 1959. The book was fiction about a young Japanese girl living in Japan. She was learning about Girls’ Day, which involved setting up an elaborate display of traditional dolls representing the Japanese Emperor and Empress and other figures. The girl and her mother had tea and tradition food so that the girl could learn manners and decorum. The book was hard-covered and illustrated with hand drawings in black and white. I don’t remember if the entire book was about Girls’ Day, or if that was just my favorite part of the book.