Retro Book Fair: Walt Disney's 'Alice in Wonderland'

As a child, this book was magical to me. And it still is, actually. There's just something about the artwork in particular. The colors... the painterly style... it all comes together and creates this perfect fantastical world. And I doubt it would've affected me the same had it not been a Big Golden Book edition. That big beautiful storybook enveloped me and took me to a place like no other - Wonderland!

Aside from the cover image, I've also included specific pages here which I can remember seeming particularly special to little Anthony. Pages that I'd tend to linger on just a little while longer than the rest, my imagination buzzing with colorful intensity.



Easily the most iconic moment

in the story, and my absolute fave!






























For some reason, both the water

and bubbles REALLY fascinated me.






























I loved getting to see

inside White Rabbit's house.

This page is awesome. I loved

how the thatch roof of the

cottage doubles as Alice's hair.

The garden of talking flowers...

Another beautiful and awe-inspiring

sight to behold!

Our brief trip through storybook Wonderland ends here, for now, folks. But check back periodically because you never know when I might decide to go again...


~ Unfortunately, no specific art or illustration credits are given inside the book. It's all just credited to Walt Disney Studios. If anyone happens to know names of individuals, please contact me. I'd like to give credit where it's due. ~

Retro Book Fair: 'Young Reader's Color-Picture Dictionary'

Hey, look, everybody! The Retro Book Fair has rolled into town, again! I wonder what neat, old book is being featured this time...? Let's check it out!

Wow! As it turns out, it's actually one of my favorite types of children's books! This one is the 'Young Reader's Color-Picture Dictionary - For Reading, Writing, and Spelling' by Margaret B. Parke, Ed. D. and illustrated by Cynthia and Alvin Koehler. That cover is great, isn't it?! Now, let's take a look inside...

Look at those end papers! That's some beautiful illustration, right there. And we haven't even gotten to the content of the book, yet. Moving on...

I can't even tell you how happy these old-fashioned illustrations make me. That apple... That dog! Oh, good, here comes another page.

Handy, Mandy, Jack-a-Dandy, huh? Well, whatever his name is, he'd better hurry up and eat his candy before I do because it looks mighty yummy! Look, another page...

That party sure looks fun, doesn't it? And those pets... Who wouldn't want one of those? Hey, check out this next page. It's totally different. It's from the back of the book, and it highlights parts of the human body.

Again, I just really can't get enough of this happy, idealistic illustrative style. Almost makes my teeth hurt, but I totally love it! What about you? Does this sort of thing "float your boat?"

Well, that about does it for this installment of 'Retro Book Fair'. Until next time, remember... Be nice. But especially be nice to your books!

What A Book!: 'Catalog - The Illustrated History of Mail-Order Shopping'

Hello, everybody! Today I want to tell you about a terrific book I discovered. Whilst poking about the shelves of our local Border's book store, I stumbled upon 'Catalog - The Illustrated History of Mail-Order Shopping' by Robin Cherry. I tell you, this gem of a book is FILLED with wonderful examples of mail-order consumer products, and it is a visual pleasure to be sure!

"In 'Catalog - The Illustrated History of Mail-Order Shopping', Robin Cherry traces the timeline of these snapshots from American history and discovers along the way how we dressed, built and furnished our houses, worked, played, and got around. From corsets to bell-bottoms, from baby-doll dresses and Doc Martens all the way to iPods, the history of these catalogs is the history of our lives and our culture."

With a book like this, you hope for more images than text, and, fortunately, this one really delivers! And guess what? I selected some of my faves to share with you. I'll bet you didn't see that coming...

Montgomery Ward, 1930

Men's Flannelette Pajamas

Boy, they must've felt REAL manly

wearing their "flannelette" pajamas.

Sears, 1928

Women's Hats

Ladies, measure your

head size carefully...

Sears, 1971

Men's Body-hugging Underwear

Ssssexy!

J.C. Penney, 1974

Women's Polyester Bell-bottoms

Wow.

Sears, 1959

Erector Set

Consult your physician if you

experience any toy creation

erect longer than 4 hours.

Sears, 1958

Dolls

Be a doll, would you?

Johnson Smith & Co., 1940

Novelty Toys and Masks

Holy crap, that Hitler mask

gives me the willies!

Sears, 1961

Play Kitchen

Now, get in there and fix my dinner, bitch!

Sears, 1971

Shag Bath Carpet

All this talk about "pile" makes

me have to use the toilet...

Sears, 1961

Aluminum Xmas Trees

Aluminum-minum-minum!

That'll do it for this edition of 'What A Book!'. I sure hope you had as much fun as I did. But if you didn't, well, lighten up, would ya? See you next time...

Retro Book Fair: Corinne Malvern's 'Mother Goose'

It's that time once again, folks...

Yes, come with me and "get your book on"!

Today I'm sharing a children's book that is chock full of colorful and charming illustrations. It's Corinne Malvern's 'Mother Goose' and it was published/printed in 1953. The book's condition is pretty awesome, too, when you consider that it's almost 60 years old! I'd love to frame a few select pages, but I wouldn't dare separate them from the original book. That just IS NOT allowed! Did you hear me? NOT allowed!

So, anyway, check out the great cover, below, followed by a few of my fave nursery rhyme/illustration combos from inside...



As if the cover wasn't cute enough,

it actually wraps around to the back

with even MORE adorable characters!





I love the colors, here, and all

of the care-free romping. Do

kids even "romp", these days?





"She whipped him, she slashed him..."

NOT much of a lady in my book!





You and I both know that MUST

be a cubic zirconia she's holding...





This one's my absolute favorite!

It's really cute and just a tad creepy...



There are many, many more within the book, but I wanted to keep things short and sweet. I did a pretty good job of that, huh?

Retro Book Fair: 'Vision - How, Why, and What We See'

Hello, all! I know that it's been quite a while since I've written a legitimate post, so I thank you for your patience and loyalty. You know how life can be sometimes... It can really make it hard for us ADD afflicted to focus on ANYTHING, let alone a blog! But enough about that!

I'm excited to share with you a new (old) children's book that I recently got at a local used bookstore. The book is titled, 'Vision - How, Why and What We See' and it is one in a series of books called the 'Golden Library of Knowledge'. 'Vision' was printed in 1962, and I think the charming illustrations (by Weimer Pursell) depict that. Here, take a look at some of them, beginning with the book's cover...






I really dig this cover!
The combination of the colors used
and the stylization of the image make
it very pleasing to the "eye".



Outer organs of the eye serve a primarily

protective purpose.

The convergence of the telephone lines, the decreasing
size of the poles, and the haziness of the more distant
buildings help to create perspective.



Why does an apple look red? First of all, you are

probably looking at the apple in good light. If

you look at it in very dim light, the apple will

look black for the sight-receiving cells in the

retina that "see" color are the cones, and cones

are useless in dim light.

To see red, you must have good color-sensitive

cones. Many animals and some people have

cones which are able to see small details distinctly,

but cannot recognize some or all colors. They are

said to be color-blind.

  

White light entering a prism breaks

down into the colors of the spectrum,

as seen above. It is possible for an

inverted prism to recombine the

spectrum into white light again.
























Color-blind people are unable to see

the red O and purple X, above.



Many birds have keener vision than we have.

The hunting birds - vultures, hawks, and

shrikes - can spot very small animals on the

ground hundreds of feet below them.





The Snellen Eye Chart, above, was

designed to aid all who train in

testing distance vision against an

accepted norm.



So did you have fun learning tidbits about vision in the Golden Library of Knowledge? I thought you might! Be sure to come back next time Retro Book Fair stops by the circus... I have a pretty good feeling even more vintage fun is in store! Meanwhile, have a wonderful weekend, everybody!!

~ All images taken from the book, 'Vision - How, Why, and What We See' by Janette Rainwater. Illustrated by Weimer Pursell. Published by Golden Press, New York. ~

Art Attack!: Acclaimed artist/writer, genius... Graham Rawle

Graham Rawle is such a neat guy... I know, because I've met him! And right before I got to meet him and request to have a quick snapshot taken (about which he was very gracious, btw), I attended a presentation Graham gave discussing his latest work, 'The Wizard of Oz'. The text of the book is actually L. Frank Baum's original story, but all of the imagery is 100% classic Rawle.

Here, take a gander...






This beautiful book cover only hints at
the visual delights that await you, inside!







It looks like Toto is about to be a bite-sized
snack for the Cowardly Lion, here. But we
all know that's not the case, not with his
BFF, Dorothy, around. Besides, even if
Dorothy wasn't nearby, that little dog could
"Toto"-lly kick Lion's ass all by himself!







Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily...
Oz is but a dream.

(Or, IS it?)







Here, we see a scene with a completely
different take, Rawle's take, on the
Wicked Witch o' the West's flying monkeys.

(I really dig Graham's sense of humor!)







And speak of the devil, here's
the WWoW, now! Weird as
she looks (and despite how we
expect her to appear because of
the MGM classic movie), my
understanding is that this is
actually much truer to how
she's described in Baum's
original book.





That was but a Whitman's Sampler, if you will. The rest of it is just as yummy for your eyes! So if I've piqued your interest, go ahead and pick up a copy of 'The Wizard of Oz', illustrated by Graham Rawle. You won't be disappointed.

Another creation of his, that I absolutely dig with a passion, is his book, 'Woman's World'. He both wrote and illustrated it, however, most of the "illustration" inside of the book is actually all cut 'n' pasted text and embellishments from old women's magazines of the 1940s. If you can believe it, Graham spent 5 years working on this book, and most of that time was spent cutting, collecting, organizing, pasting and basically assembling every word of the story... one by one. Hearing Graham talk about the process in his presentation was absolutely fascinating. I mean, the organizational system, alone, which he devised for the project was so impressive (if not a bit confusing) you could tell that this guy isn't just arty; he's also a smarty. I guess one could say he's an "arty-smarty"! Well, I will anyway...

Check out some of the stuff I'm talking about, below...







This is the cover for the
hardback edition.

(The one that I have.)







And this, here, is the wonderful
paperback/graphic novel edition.

(I want it, too! That cover appeals
to all of my kitsch-y sensibilities!)







This is just a glimpse into the madness...
Graham spent an average of 17 hours a
day, 7 days a week for 5 years sitting here
clipping 'n' pasting. Altogether, a total
of 40,000 fragments of text from vintage
women's magazines was assembled to
tell this unique and strangely charming
tale.









And, here, you can see the fruits of
his obsessive, slave-type labor.
You might suspect that it would be
hard to read, but it isn't! In fact,
Graham worked at figuring out just
the right formula, or words-to-page
ratio, that would be easiest for a
reader to tolerate. And it works!





As for the story to this intricately composed novel, let me share with you what the dust jacket says. It gives away just enough to set the scene and pull you in...


"Norma Fontaine lives in a world of handy tips and sensible advice. Whether it's choosing the right girdle or honing her feminine allure, she measures life by the standards set in women's magazines. But Norma discovers that the real world is less delightful-and more sinister-than the one portrayed in the glossies. When dark secrets threaten her brother's blossoming romance, Norma must decide whether to sacrifice life in a woman's world for the sake of her brother's happiness. As her decision is slowly revealed, readers realize that, like life in the magazines, Norma isn't quite what she seems."


Intrigued? Good.
Now, go find a copy and read it!
I think you'll be glad you did.







Look! It's Graham with
little ol' me! Like we're
"buds", or something.

(Yeah, right... I was lucky
he agreed to stand next
to me for the photo.)





I don't want to go on FOREVER (and believe me, I could), so I'll cut this one kinda short. I didn't even get to talk about Rawle's 'Diary of an Amateur Photographer' (one of my top faves), or his long-running 'Lost Consonants' series. Oh, well. I guess I'll cover those in a follow-up edition... Really, this man's work is quite prolific, plus everything he does is smart, clever, and funny! I just can't seem to say enough good things about the guy.

I know, how's this sound?
Graham Rawle... ARTISTIC GENIUS!

Yep, that about covers it.



~All pics via Google Images, except last personal photo of Anthony w/Graham, courtesy of Tommy Kovac.~