Promotional booklet: "Concerning Journeys Through Bookland"

Journeys Through Bookland was a set of children's literature books that was published in various editions between 1909 and 1959.¹

This 26-page staplebound booklet from Bellows-Reeve Company touts the benefits of Journeys Through Bookland and is filled with endorsements from educators, authors and at least one judge.

The booklet begins with a short biography of Journeys Through Bookland editor Charles H. Sylvester. He was a lifelong public-school teacher who also traveled the world and thus was in a unique position to convey "the proper interpretation and enjoyment of good literature, particularly by young people at home and in school."

Next up is this statistical breakdown of the set:

• Eleven volumes, containing over 5500 pages
• More than 140 of the world's greatest writers
• More than 900 pages of helps in the interpretation of the classics
• Nearly a thousand color plates, half-tone engravings, and zinc etchings, prepared by over fifty artists
• Glossaries, supplementary book-lists, and a general index
• The set is beautifully and securely bound in handsome cloth and weighs about twenty-two pounds²

That's followed by a ten-item list titled "Why Every Family Should Own Journeys Through Bookland":

• I. It helps children in their school work
• II. It gives culture and refinement
• III. It creates an interest in good literature
• IV. It moulds character
• V. It furnishes the classic literature that every one should know
• VI. It solves the problem of what to read
• VII. It is not merely a collection of literature³
• VIII. It assists parents to direct the reading of their children
• IX. It saves money
• X. It is within the reach of all

And then there are the recommendations. Among those providing praise for the set are naturalist John Burroughs, activist/author Jane Addams, and author/professor William Lyon Phelps. The list of supporters also includes Edmund J. James, John J. Cavanaugh and Frank W. Gunsaulus.

After a wordy 10-page section featuring letters of recommendation from everyday people across the United States (including a healthy dose of religious leaders), the final page contains quotations "From Four Great Men." They aren't specifically related to Journeys Through Bookland, but I found these remarks by Theodore Roosevelt interesting:

"Public libraries are excellent institutions in their way, but you can't get half the enjoyment out of a book UNLESS YOU OWN IT YOURSELF and learn to love every dog-eared page of it for some bright vision it has given you of a world outside your own."

Although the original edition of Journeys Through Bookland is more than a century old, there are still some who seek out the collection today or have fond memories of it. Maybe it sat on a grandparent's shelf. Or was used by Mom or Dad for some bedtime reading.

In a December 2012 blog post, an author going by the name Georgipaech describes a trip to visit her mother and her pre-bedtime quest to find something to read:

"Right before I tucked myself in for an early night, I stumbled across a set of books that I had always ignored when I was little. Mum and I aren’t sure where they came from – a grandparent, surely, who read the books when they were young – the books were published in 1922. They are a set of ten books entitled ‘Journeys through Bookland’ – lovely, hardback, matching books. ... What a variety of tales there are! There are the obligatory fairytales, and extracts from Charles Dickens, poetry from Robert Louis Stevenson, Shakespeare, King Arthur, David Crockett, Lord Byron, Jerome K. Jerome, Edgar Allen Poe, Washington Irving. ... Stories, plays and poems of all kinds. And beautifully illustrated!"

And then there is this wonderful, poignant anecdote from Andee Martineau, the matriarch of the Martineau family, told in this February 2010 blog post:

"About a year ago a wonderful friend of mine recommended this amazing series. I was intrigued by her description, of a ten volume set of books filled with the best children's literature of all time. I mean who wouldn't want that...right?!

"So, I started doing my research to find out even more. I was also curious how hard it was going to be to purchase a set of books published in 1939. I kept freaking out a bit because, it just seemed to good to be true. Could there really be a set of books with some of the best literature in it? Its been almost a year now, and after a lot of searching I FINALLY received my own complete 10 volume Journeys Through Bookland set...and I think I'm in LOVE!! Not only are they BEAUTIFUL, but the stories, poems, and illustrations within the books are fantastic.

"As I unpacked each book tonight I began to have an inkling of the deep connection and love Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and other great men must have felt about their precious libraries. I gently rubbed my hand across the red leather covers as I took each volume out of their packaging. I was in awe at the intricate designs, and craftsmanship that went into each book.

"The house was quiet as I unpacked my box. All the kids were in bed and asleep. For some reason I stopped and looked at my little stack of books. I reflected on the intentional life I am choosing to live. I thought about all the things I am now so willing to give up. Things that are distractions, and will get in the way of my spiritual growth, educational goals, and family vision are easy to recognize and say no to now. I realized how important this shift has been to my happiness, my success as a mother, and my marriage."

"I looked back to my stack of red leather books, and smiled. The thought of reading volume one in bed made me smile. I had thought I knew what made me happy a few years ago, and could never understand why it didn't last. I picked up my books and headed off to my room...thankful for the path I am on and the journey that lies a head."

There hasn't been a new post by anyone from the Martineau family on that blog since late 2010. I hope they are well. I hope that their Journeys Through Bookland set is still bringing them joy.

Footnotes
1. Full disclosure: We have a complete 11-volume set of Journeys Through Bookland available for the low, low price of $20 at our vendor space in the Dover Antique Mall. It's a steal! This booklet didn't come with that set. I came across it separately. Also, I should add that several, but not all, of the volumes from this set are available for free download from Project Gutenberg. It's a great way to peek inside and see what the books are all about.
2. I'm not sure which year's edition this booklet refers to.
3. "Scattered through JOURNEYS THROUGH BOOKLAND are hundreds of interesting comments and questions so adapted to the age of the youthful readers, as to stimulate the desire to read the selection again and again..."

Old snapshot: These folks, and their dog, knew how to have a good time

Click on the photo for a larger version.

Here's an old snapshot that I'm glad I was able to save for posterity. It's a smidgen over three inches wide and visibly shows its age. But what a gang this is! Were they out for an automobile picnic? They all seem to be enjoying their food and bottled beverages. Their dog seems to be enjoying its opportunity to relax in the car seat.

Everyone's have a great time!

OK ... maybe not everyone.

Eleven great Tweets from @NightValeRadio

Because I'm always late to discover hip new things, I only recently began listening to the Welcome to Night Vale podcasts. I'm up to about #18 and my daily commutes between York and Lancaster and now filled with glowing clouds, levitating cats, dangerous wheat by-products and the worst-run daily newspaper ever. (Thank heavens I don't work for Leann Hart.)

Speaking of by-products, another one of the joys of Night Vale is the Twitter account run by the podcast's creative team.

Here are some of my favorite Tweets from the past year.

Driving Safety Tips: Do not turn on your high-beams in fog. You do not want to see what is actually in this fog.

— Night Vale podcast (@NightValeRadio) July 22, 2014

Feeling lonely? You’re not. Look around you. Actually don’t. Best you don’t see them. Close your eyes and be still.

— Night Vale podcast (@NightValeRadio) July 19, 2014

If at first you don’t succeed, then you will have alerted them to your presence. It is important that you at first succeed.

— Night Vale podcast (@NightValeRadio) June 6, 2014

There are no dumb questions, only forbidden ones. Your file has been marked for review.

— Night Vale podcast (@NightValeRadio) May 12, 2014

BIRD FACTS: Birds can see into the future. But they can neither comprehend nor articulate what they learn.

— Night Vale podcast (@NightValeRadio) January 27, 2014

Nobody knows the full lyrics to Auld Lang Syne, because the government refuses to declassify the entire song.

— Night Vale podcast (@NightValeRadio) December 31, 2013

When you wish upon a star, it's actually a satellite, and your wish has been recorded & cataloged. An agent is now assigned to your case.

— Night Vale podcast (@NightValeRadio) November 25, 2013

You sing a Beatles song and everyone around you spontaneously starts singing along. You thought you were home alone. Good luck.

— Night Vale podcast (@NightValeRadio) November 14, 2013

Siren means brush fires. Loud beeping means unidentified aircraft. Mournful flutes from the desert are meaningless and perfectly safe.

— Night Vale podcast (@NightValeRadio) August 5, 2013

In the old days someone delivered ice/milk/newspapers door to door. Now he just stands on the curb staring & snarling threateningly.

— Night Vale podcast (@NightValeRadio) August 5, 2013

And this last one is neither funny nor morbid nor humorously morbid.
It's unexpectedly positive and inspiring, and I love it.

Just cheer up. Just find meaning. Just understand yourself and create a framework within yourself in which that understanding is productive.

— Night Vale podcast (@NightValeRadio) April 23, 2014

Recipes from "Star in My Kitchen" Motion Picture Cooking School

I found this brownish sheet of paper folded up inside a 1912 edition of Lowney's Cook Book. As you can see, the sheet highlights:

RECIPES FROM
STAR IN MY KITCHEN
MOTION PICTURE
COOKING SCHOOL
Sponsored By
THE BREMEN INQUIRER
APRIL 5, 6, 7, 1938
The Bremen Inquirer, by the way, is still around. Established in 1885, it is now a weekly publication that is handled by The Pilot News Group of Plymouth, Indiana. Bremen, located in the northcentral portion of the state, is a town of about 4,500 people.

So what was the Motion Picture Cooking School?

Ann Middleton, director of the Bossier Parish Library Historical Center in Bossier City, Louisiana, tackled that very topic in a pair of columns this summer:

• June 18, 2014: "History: Star in my Kitchen"
• June 25, 2014: "Motion Picture Cooking School"

Here's an excerpt from one of Middleton's columns, in which she quotes the June 16, 1938, issue of The Planters’ Press:

“The Planters’ Press’ Motion Picture Cooking School, entitled ‘Star in My Kitchen,’ will be the real community attraction for three days at the Southland Theatre.”

“This fascinating and different cooking school is open entirely free to every woman in town, and The Planters’ Press as well as Bossier City merchants, extends this last invitation to join in the home-making lessons and jolly entertainment for at least one day.”

The motion picture cooking school will be a practical rally of home-makers to contribute fresh perspecti[v]e for the ‘same old job’—the monotonous day-in-and-day-out job, yet the most important business in the world. Just as men have their annual conventions, where they listen to lectures from specialists, Bossier Parish women will have their convention to consider home-making problems.”

Another news release that Middleton quotes states: “The finished dishes which will be shown in full color, will look as though they could be picked right out of the picture and eaten on the spot.”

Apparently, newspapers across the country could host and sponsor these cooking schools. The Planters' Press was one. The Bremen Enquirer was another.

This 1938 handout includes recipes for pancakes, banana friters, potato salad, lattice top peach pie, lemon meringue pie, banana tea bread and more. The use of brand-name products is widespread. Recipes call for Aunt Jemima Ready-Mix, Kraft Velveeta, Miracle Whip Salad Dressing, Pillsbury's Best Flour and Spry Pastry Mix.

Here's the recipe for banana tea bread...

• 1¾ cups sifted Pillsbury's Best Flour
• ¾ teaspoon soda
• 1¼ teaspoons cream of tartar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅓ cup Spry
• ⅔ cup sugar
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 1 cup mashed banana (2 to 3 bananas)

Sift the flour, soda, cream of tartar and salt together 3 times. Rub the shortening to a creamy consistency with the back of a spoon. Stire the sugar, a few tablespoons at a time, into the Spry and continue stirring after each addition until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. Add flour mixture, alternately with banana, a small amount at a time. Beat after each addition until smooth. Pour into a well-greased loaf pan and bake in a moderate oven (350° F.) about 1 hour or until bread is done. Makes 1 load, about 8½ x 4½ x 3 inches.

"Siss Noch Unvergleichlich": 1962 Pennsylvania Dutch Days brochure

This is the front of a foldout brochure from 52 summers ago for the Pennsylvania Dutch Days festival in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

The six-page yellow brochure, which is 9¼ inches tall, provides all of the details of the five-day event.¹

Siss Noch Unvergleichlich, the festival's slogan, means "It's Still Incomparable."

Pennsylvania Dutch Days began in 1949, having been founded by members of the 1948-49 Pennsylvania Dutch Dialect Class of the Hershey Evening School, and had its final year of operation in 1979.

But its spirit lives on in central Pennsylvania. The Kutztown Folk Festival², which has been going strong for 65 years, is probably the biggest and best-known Pennsylvania Dutch event in Pennsylvania these days. It has many of the same kinds of attractions, although on a larger scale, that were featured at this event in Hershey in 1962.

Here are some highlights of the 1962 event, from the brochure:

1. "Focal point of the great exposition is the Sports Arena housing the working crafts and displays. In the center these activities are the quilting parties conducted by ladies of the area Churches of the Brethren. Here nimble fingers sew each stitch with loving care while colorful patterns emerge as living testimonials to their art."

2. Outdoor exhibits: "Included in this group are the apple-butter boilers, the village blacksmith, flax breaking and spinning, shingle making, agricultural displays, dairy cattle shows, farm implement exhibits, and the Pennsylvania Poultry Federation Fete."

3. "Educational programs concerning the Arts, Crafts, Folklore and Philosophy of the Penna. Dutch are held weekdays."

4. "Featured are expert Bands; plus Strollers Saturday and Sunday. Talented Folk Groups daily amuse the crowds with Dutch dialect and English programs."

5. Other events listed on the daily schedule were a seed guessing contest, an FFA hog show, old-time hymn singing, an auction of antique merchandise, free square dancing in a ballroom, and the crowning of the Pennsylvania Poultry Industry Queen.

6. And, of course, FOOD.

Speaking of food: related posts

• Pennsylvania Dutch recipe for funeral pie (aka raisin pie)
• Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine: Schnitz and knepp recipe on old napkin
• Enjoy a couple "Best-Loved Pennsylvania Dutch Recipes"
• Cooking up some calf's head soup, pawnhaas, tzitterli and streivlin

If you have any memories or insights regarding Pennsylvania Dutch Days in Hershey, share them in the comments section!

Footnotes
1. While this event was being held — from Aug. 22-26, 1962 — the Philadelphia Phillies went 1-4. They lost three games to the San Francisco Giants and one to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Phillies were 81-80 that season under Gene Mauch. Third baseman Don Demeter was their best player.
2. Kutztown is about 60 miles northeast of Hershey.

F. Bayerlein postcard illustration with a hint of weirdness

I find the artwork on this old postcard to be just the slightest bit off and unsettling — and I think that's why I like it.

It seems fairly straightforward. A moonlit coastline. A lighthouse. And what appears to be a seaweed-covered shipwreck.

Maybe it's the reddish glow of the lighthouse beacon that lends a hint of something ominous. Or the shadows within the carcass of the shipwreck that make you not quite sure what you're looking at. Or that fact that the clouds in the overcast sky seem to have parted just enough to let the full brightness of the impossibly huge moon shine down.

Beyond the artwork, there is more mystery surrounding this postcard.

The artist was F. Bayerlein, who was apparently known for his landscapes. I believe he was German. You can view a couple more examples of his work under section "F" on LotsOfCards.com. He seems to like putting an off-in-the-distance glow into the background of his illustrations.

The postcard is undated and was never used. The initials HSM are printed on the back. According to the Metropolitan Postcard Club of New York City, those initials stood for publisher Hermann Sonntag of Munich, Germany.

In the upper-left corner on the back, the word for postcard is written in 15 different languages. Some of those words include:

• Postkarte
• Carte postale
• Weltpostverein
• Union postale universelle
• Korrespondenzkarte Korrespondenzkarte
• Cartolina postale
• Dopisnice
• Karta korespondencyjna
• Korespondenčni listek
• Briefkaart
• Levelezö-Lap
• Brefkort

I'll leave you with this. Sleep tight.

Az ábrán ezen régi képeslap létrehoz egyfajta félelem és a kétségbeesés bennem. Azt hiszem, hogy én vagyok, hogy figyelnek. Aggódom, hogy mi leselkedik a part mentén ezen a holdfényes éjszakán.

Book cover: "The Meadow-Brook Girls Across Country"

• Title: The Meadow-Brook Girls Across Country, or The Young Pathfinders on a Summer Hike
• Author: Janet Aldridge. (Sadly, I can't find any biographical information about her.)
• Cover illustrator: Unknown
• Publisher: Henry Altemus Company, Philadelphia
• Year: 1913
• Notes: The Meadow-Brook Girls were based in New Hampshire and enjoyed outdoor activities and nature. There were six books in the series, according to HenryAltemus.com, and they were all published in 1913 and 1914. This book was the second in the series. ... There are, as was common for the time, nine pages of advertisements for other Altemus juvenile-fiction series at the back of the back. As a preface to those listings, some advertising text states:
  

  "Really good and new stories for boys and girls are not plentiful. Many stories, too, are so highly improbable as to bring a grin of derision to the young reader's face before he has gone far. The name of ALTEMUS is a distinctive brand on the cover of a book, always ensuring the buyer of having a book that is up-to-date and fine throughout. No buyer of an ALTEMUS book is ever disappointed."

  ... There are characters in this book named Jane ("Crazy Jane") McCarthy, Margery Brown, Harriet Burrell, Hazel Holland, Grace Thompson and Miss Elting. There is a character with a lisp who is treated quite unkindly at times: "I don't lithp. I thpeak jutht like other folkth." One online reviewer states:
  

  "When the reader first meets this series, one burning question leaps to mind: what the heck is wrong with Grace 'Tommy' Thompson? ... At 14, she lisps, babbles, frequently needs to 'cuddle,' hallucinates pink elephants when she eats too late at night, wants to sleep in her tentmate's cot because she's 'thcaired of bearth', etc. The Meadow-Brook girls seem to be some early domestic species of Campfire girl. They receive 'honor beads' for things such as 'sleeping with a window open for 30 days,' 'learning to recognize and describe three different cries a baby makes,' and making soup five days in a row. Their camp uniform is an ankle-length, long-sleeved dress. This series is the missing link between Victorian-era girls' series and those of the 1920's, which feature more independent, adventurous girls for whom the idea of a career (at least until they get married) is not entirely foreign."

  ... Finally, I've had a handful of previous posts about Altemus books, including "American flag history, compliments of Leinbach & Bro. in Reading" and "World War I propaganda fiction: 'At the Defense of Pittsburgh.'"
  

A pair of fabulous old U.S. history textbooks

Here are two more books that I picked up at this summer's oft-mentioned Book Nook Bonanza. Old school textbooks have interested me for decades, really. I have memories of leafing through discarded textbooks designated for the dumpster at my elementary school in Clayton, New Jersey, in the late 1970s. I think I was born this way.

These two stately hardcovers are from the 1940s. They are in top-notch condition. (Which means, alas, that it's unlikely anyone paid much attention to them over the decades. The covers aren't worn. There are no notes or scribbles on the inside pages. Nobody has learned from these books. Yet. Hope springs eternal.)

Here's a closer look at these United States history books from about 70 years ago...

First up is America Yesterday and Today. This edition was published in June 1943 by The Macmillan Company. The authors were Roy F. Nichols, William C. Bagley and Charles A. Beard. Drawings were done by George M. Richards.

A sampling of chapter titles gives you a sense of the course it takes through American history. They include:

• Establishing the Thirteen Colonies
• The War for American Independence
• Moving Westward
• Industrial Development and Improved Transportation
• The Beginnings of Free Education
• Danger
• The Blue and the Gray
• Changing Conditions in the New Century
• The Return to Peace
• Prosperity
• Panic
• The New Deal
• The Challenge of Today

There is a wonderful color map outlining the territorial growth of the United States in the front endpapers. And a few other robust color illustrations, too.

But the front and back covers of this tome are my favorite things about it. Here they are, in all their glory.

The second U.S. history volume is titled The Building of Our Nation. It was published in 1943 by Row, Peterson and Company of Evanston, Illinois. The three authors were college professors Eugene C. Barker, Henry Steele Commager and Walter P. Webb.

A neat thing about this book is that it was a promotional copy directed at teachers and principals. Pasted down to the inside front cover is a two-page brochure labeled "Check These Features of The Building of Our Nation (Grade 7-8)." It touts the textbook's organization, interpretative treatment, emphasis on the growth of democracy, "vivid one-idea maps," pronunciation guide for proper nouns and integration of geography, literature and science into a U.S. history framework.

The price of the textbook in 1943 was $1.92 and the companion student notebook was available for 48 cents. Of course, there would be the "usual discounts to schools."

While I don't find the cover of this textbook quite as visually impressive as the cover of America Yesterday and Today, I think The Building of Our Nation wins in the category of interior illustrations. Almost all of the photographs and drawings dotting the pages are in full color, with great reproduction. It's a joy to leaf through.

As a final note, I here's a description of newspaper journalists from page 472 of The Building of Our Nation:

"How the news is collected. Daily newspapers employ their own staffs of local reporters to gather and write the news. In the old days, reporters had to do much 'footwork.' They walked from place to place to get reports of the doings of the city government, the police court, the fire department, public meetings, and social receptions. Now they can collect much of the news by telephone."