Peeking inside 1916's "The Overall Boys in Switzerland"

Eulalie Osgood Grover (1873-1958) was a Minnesota-born author, primarily of children's books, who was best known for the "Sunbonnet Babies" series, according to an article by Barbara White on the Winter Park (Florida) Public Library website. The "Sunbonnet Babies" books were primers designed to build younger readers' vocabulary. They were informed, in part, by Grover's travels throughout Europe.

The "Sunbonnet Babies" did not, however, originate with Grover. They started with illustrator Bertha Corbett Melcher (1872-1950), who began drawing them in 1897 and published her first book, The Sun-Bonnet Babies, in 1900. After that, the subsequent books (about eight of them) were written by Grover and illustrated by Corbett.

Due to the success of the "Sunbonnet Babies," Melcher and Grover devised a second series of primers following exploits of young boys. Thus were born "The Overall Boys." And that brings us to today's book, The Overall Boys in Switzerland, which was published in 1916 by Rand McNally. It's a gorgeous and sturdy book, well-built to withstand being passed around the schoolhouse and passed down to younger siblings. 

Of course, to get to Switzerland you must travel through other areas of Europe, and the book documents that part of the Overall Boys' trip, too. It starts along the River Rhine before they arrive in Bern ("The Bear City"). And that launches adventures with chapter titles such as "Above the Clouds," "On Mount Rigi," "Shopping in Lucerne," "Saturday Evening on Lake Lucerne," "Over and Through the Mountains," "The Herdsman's Cabin," "A Summer Blizzard," and more. They encounter the legend of the Mouse Tower, the Fountain of the Child-Eater and other grim aspects of Europe's history. This children's book is pulling very few punches. 

The whole book is fascinating, and amusing at times. Here is just a small sampling of passages:

"Look!" shouted Joe. "I see the first castle! We are sailing right up beside it. I wonder if a really, truly King and Queen are living in it."

"Of course," said Jack, "unless they have been killed and their castle turned into a prison or museum."

"Do you suppose it has a dark dungeon under it?" asked Joe. "How I should like to see a real dungeon!"

***

Suddenly somebody screamed, and then somebody else screamed. The little boats began to hurry and scurry in every direction. It looked as if all the Chinese lanterns had gone crazy. Everybody's eyes were turned toward the sky, for up there, right above them, was a fire balloon. The fire had caught in the top of the balloon, and it was all ablaze. Now this blazing balloon was falling straight down, down, down, toward the little boats on the lake. Of course the boats were scurrying to get out of the way, and of course the people screamed. Each thought that the burning balloon would surely fall right into his boat, but it did not. It fell hissing and sputtering into the dark waters, right where the boats had been only a few moments before.

***

The boys bought a number of things to take back to America with them, and they bought a dozen or more post cards to send to their friends. The very prettiest of these cards were sent to their own little brothers, Tim and Ted, and to the Sunbonnet Babies.

***

But the boys liked best the carved wood shops. Sometimes they saw boys, not much older than themselves, carving jumping-jacks and bears and queer little dwarf men out of blocks of pear wood. ... The Overall Boys coaxed their father to buy a fine carved bear to take home with them. The bear was as tall as Joe.

I'm not the only one still reading the book in modern times. A Goodreads reviewer wrote this in 2020: "Years ago my grandma had to sell her house and move to assisted living. She passed many of her children's books to me. This book belonged to my uncle when he was young. ...  I enjoyed this book and also enjoyed learning what appealed to my uncle when he was a boy. I know Switzerland is a far different country today than it was when this book was written, but this book made me want to visit the country and have my own adventures there."

Here's a gallery of some additional images from my copy of The Overall Boys in Switzerland...

And here's a rare shot of Venus (the orange cat on the right). He's the only cat in the house who won't let me pet him, unless I've come upon him when he's sleepy and cornered. He's sitting here with his cousin Dusty.