Three illustrations from 1925's "Mother Goose Secrets"

Way back in May 2011, I wrote about the marvelous Story Gnome in Mother Goose Secrets, a 1925 book by Barbara Webb Bourjaily. Revisiting that volume, which is in very rough shape, I find that I gave short shrift to some of the book's other illustrations.

In and of themselves, they are quite impressive — part fairy-tale whimsy with a little bit of 1920s design and style mixed in. They're definitely a product of their era. Here are three of them for your enjoyment this evening.

From "Hush-a-bye, Baby"

From "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary"

From "Hickory Dickory Dock"

1908 bookplate from novel used at The Jacob Tome Institute

In 1908, The Jacob Tome Institute purchased a copy of Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe for 33 cents and issued it to one of its pupils.

Was it ever returned? Possibly not.

The bookplate affixed to the inside front cover (shown above) indicates that the novel was supplied to a student named Worthy E. Coslett on April 21, 1908. He is the only person listed as a recipient, and this is what was written in the column on the book's status:

So, Worthy never gave it back? Did he like Daniel Defoe's novel that much?

Or, perhaps, the book was officially given to him as some sort of reward or incentive. We'll certainly never know for sure.

I can't find much about the life of Worthy, beyond a 1910 U.S. Census report that indicates that he was born around 1894 in Pennsylvania and had moved to Cecil County, Maryland, by 1910. He would have been about 14 when he was issued this book.

For information about Jacob Tome and The Jacob Tome Institute, the best account I discovered is a piece by historian June Lloyd. Tome, it turns out, was born in York County, Pennsylvania, near Hanover. Here's a relevant excerpt from Lloyd's account:

"Jacob Tome (1810-1898) grew up poor in York County, but died at Port Deposit, Md., as one of the richest men in America. ... His crowning achievement was the Tome Institute, a free school founded for Cecil County children. The day school opened in 1894, with the 600 student capacity quickly reached. Estimated construction costs were around $500,000, and Tome's initial endowment was $2.5 million. Jacob passed away on March 16, 1898, pleased that the first commencement from the school was about to take place. An even grander school with multiple buildings was erected above Port Deposit after his death. Probably due to the Great Depression, the Institute's holdings depreciated to a point that the upper campus was sold in 1938 and closed in 1941, but in 1942 the U.S. Navy took over, and the site became the core of the Bainbridge USNTC, eventually training 244,000 sailors. ... USNTC Bainbridge closed in 1976, and in 2000 the closed base, including multiple imposing former Tome Institute stone buildings, was turned over by the federal government to the state for redevelopment."

But that's only a sliver of Tome's fascinating life. To learn more, I recommend Lloyd's article as a great starting point.

Saturday's postcard and 8 things about Hotel del Coronado

This vintage postcard shows the famous Hotel del Coronado illuminated by moonlight and all lit up inside like a Thomas Kinkade dwelling.

Here are eight tidbits about Hotel del Coronado, which opened in 1887 and is located in Coronado, California (near San Diego).

• It is the second largest wooden structure in the United States, behind only the Tillamook Air Museum in Oregon.
• The hotel's Crown Room, designed by architect James W. Reid, has a wooden ceiling that was installed with pegs and glue — and not a single nail.
• The original amenities included an Olympic-sized salt-water pool, tennis courts, a Japanese tea garden, an ostrich farm, billiards, bowling alleys, hunting expeditions, and deep sea fishing.
• When Hotel del Coronado opened, electricity was still a novelty. The hotel itself supplied electricity to the city of Coronado. Other technological leaps forward, according to the hotel's website, included "steam-powered hydraulic elevators (among the first in the country), a state-of-the-art fire sprinkler system, and telephone service."
• Notable guests have included Thomas Edison, L. Frank Baum, Charlie Chaplin, Vincent Price, Babe Ruth, James Stewart, Brad Pitt and Madonna.
• Baum did much of his writing at the hotel, and the hotel itself inspired books and stories by Ambrose Bierce, Richard Matheson and Stephen King. The hotel has also been featured in more than a dozen movies, the most famous of which is Some Like It Hot.
• During a three-month stay at the hotel in 1892, a girl named Noel wrote a series of letters describing her experiences. The letters were accompanied by watercolors done by Noel's governess. The letters and watercolors were collected in a recent book titled "The Loveliest Hotel You Can Imagine."
• As is the case with most buildings that are more than a century old, the Coronado has its share of ghost stories. The moust famous one involves Kate Morgan. Among the many articles discussing that spectral mystery is this February 2013 piece from San Diego Reader.