Category Archives: 1950s

258B: A little girl and her boarders (Solved)

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I so enjoyed reading this book in grade school (mid to late 1960’s).  It was about a young girl whose mother or grandmother had a large boardinghouse with many renters.  The story’s timeline may have been in the 1940’s or 1950’s (it could have been during WWII).  I don’t think it was based on a true story.

 

There was either an elderly gentleman or an elderly woman who the little girl was fond of.  Naturally, she interacted with many of the boarders.  I remember thinking that this house was quite large with many rooms and as a child, I wished my house was that big.  I believed she had a friend that she walked to school with.  Her mother may have been a WWII widow, as I don’t recall her having a father.

 

I don’t know what it was that drew me into this story as much as it did, if it was the story-line or the many characters or if it was the girl herself, I’m not sure.  What I do know is that fifty years have passed and even now, at age 57, I still think about this little girl and her boarders.  It must have been a wonderful tale for me to still think about it after all these years and more importantly, to ask for help – to help me solve this mystery, as it is.

 

Thank you in advance!

257F: A girl befriends an otter

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My mom is looking for a book from her early childhood that was destroyed in a fire.  She was born in 1952 in Ohio.  So this book was probably from the 50s.  She cannot remember the name of the book.  It was probably an early/easy reader (and not a baby book or chapter book).

 

The story is about a young girl who befriends an otter.  That’s all I know.

257D: Adventure at sea (Solved)

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Read this book in the late 1970s, but think it was written maybe in the 50s.  It was set after WWII, about an ex Navy LTJG who was salvage diving, came across a young stowaway and put the boy to work for him on his boat.  It was an adventure story, with a run-in with an octopus, storms and bad guys, but in the end they found the treasure.  Ring any bells?

 

Many thanks!

257C: The adventures of Dot (Solved)

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This was a children’s story about Dot, a little girl, around 7 years old, and her day-to-day life and small adventures with her friends. I believe the book was the first in a series, for example, the next book might have been titled, “Dot Goes to the Beach”. The books themselves were hardcover – I don’t believe they were ever released in paperback – and the stories were written for 7 year old girls. I can only guess that they were written in the 1950s or 1960s.

 

One story had Dot and her friends going on a field trip. Dot’s mother had given her a box that advertised salt water taffy. When the children arrived at their destination, the box of taffy everyone now eagerly anticipated, turned out to be a box that had *once* held taffy, but now had Dot’s lunch (or something else mundane).

256A: Tale of a girl buried in a mound

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I was 11 or 12 when I read an age-appropriate book about a mound burial of a young girl. It took place in the southeast. It had an archaeological aspect—the items found in the burial were used to tell the story of this young girl. “The Lock,” “The Tell,” “The Mound”—I recall it was a one-word one-syllable title. “The Loor”—spelling? comes to mind as possible title. I checked it out twice from my hometown library as an elementary grade student but when I went back to find it as a high school student I could not. This would have been in the 1960s that I read it.

255D: Afternoon in the garden…sees fairies (Solved)

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A chapter book (possibly), with green binding, printed pre-1950s I’d say. Suitable for the 8-12 group, I think. It’s about a girl who is home (possibly sick), and goes outside. The garden is described beautifully with winding stone or brick pathways, and as she walks down them, she finds fairies among the plantings.

254D: Toothsome, savory and oh-so delicious pancakes

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My brother and I are searching for a childhood book. I remember having the book read to me when I was two, so about 1957.  It was a story about a nun who made ‘toothsome, savory oh-so delicious pancakes.”  I don not remember the title, nor the author.  It was a picture book.  Not much to go on, but I will not give up, lol.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

254B: Witch whose hair floats above shoulders and beds become boats (Solved)

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I am looking for a children’s book, published in the 1970s or earlier (I was born in 1975, read this sometime between the ages of 7 and 12, and recall the book itself physically feeling “old” at the time). Most probably published in the 50s or 60s.

Two children were the main characters, I think they were a girl and a boy. I don’t remember any names of characters, unfortunately. They lived next door to a witch whose property included a walled and gated yard. When the witch did magic, her hair “floated above her shoulders” or something like that. I remember that rowan trees figured heavily in the story line; either they were searching for them or there was something about them the witch needed.

At the beginning of the adventure part of the story line, the children’s beds turned into boats and they were magically transported to a river or creek while they were asleep – one of the children wakes up because they become aware that their hand or the bed linens are trailing in the water.

I loved this book – hope someone can help me find it.

Thanks!