BLB's actually first appeared in 1932, published by Whitman (the same company who provided them for our perusal in the 60's and 70's). In those days the books were filled with tales of Slam Bradley, Mickey Mouse, The Gumps, The Shadow, and many other stars of film, radio and the pulps.
In our era, of course, they added in many favorites from television: Flipper, Lassie, Daktari, Frankenstein Jr., and many many more. I had quite a few of these thick tomes, stacked alongside my beloved comics. Some of those I recall most fondly: Popeye ("Ghost Ship to Treasure Island"), Bugs Bunny ("Double Trouble on Diamond Island"), and Donald Duck ("The Fabulous Diamond Fountain") . I know, we see a pattern of sorts here- they all seemed to combine the lure of treasure and some element of menace; a pairing hard to resist for any kid.
One I recall especially well: Woody Woodpecker ("The Meteor Menace"). Indeed, this is one I've managed to reacquire in recent years, and got a kick out of reading it again. Here you see the opening page, showing the standard format of text on the right, illustrations on the left. No credits were given for the creators, unfortunately (The Fantastic Four BLB has art that greatly resembles Kirby, but I don't think it actually was). The story itself is full of gimmicks, tricks, gadgets, and mysteries (Woody's nephew Knothead even has a secret spy kit that proves integral to the plot). At 250 pages, it makes for a pretty long tale, albeit a quick one to read (after all, you only get about a paragraph on a page).
Those old BLB's from the 30's to the 50's were all in 'hardback' form (actually a sort of cardboard cover). The late 60's versions also had a stiff cover, although the spines didn't hold up very well. The later books from the 70's were soft paper covers, and basically reprinted many of the previous decade's offerings. Hard or soft cover, the Big Little Books offered a lot of reading enjoyment for the price of a couple of comics. And they were easier to fit in a backpack or suitcase or camp bag, and less likely than a comic to end up crinkled to unreadability. Now here's a few to jog your memories. Which ones did you have?
12 comments:
Yowza Red! Great post! I just wish it wasn't 6:30 AM and I had a moment to contemplate this, before work!
But I did buy these growing up: FF, Lone Ranger, and Man from Uncle, in the 1960s. The interesting thing to me was that I only ever saw them in a mom-and-pop "general" store in Crown Point, Indiana, while visiting kin. I never saw them where I bought my comics off the spinners or anywhere else for that matter.
Eventually I even grabbed a few from the 1930s-40s as the occasion presented itself. But there are in a "box of treasures" and I can't recall the titles though I suspect it was WW2 patriotic and perhaps Cpt Midnight?
I did enjoy them! I felt more mature reading them given the 50-50 page ratio of text and art.
Thanks again for the post! I truly had forgotten about these little gems. And, I have to wonder what the eBay market is for them these days? I assume there is one but how dynamic?
Love the BLBs! I think I own all the ones you pictured. I always wanted the older books of Mickey Mouse, Little Orphan Annie and Dick Tracy, but they were always too pricey. Fortunately, a Disney friend of mine gifted me 10 of the Disney BLBs from the '30s and '40s, when I helped him move. The nostalgia of the older Disney artwork of these BLBs makes reading through them even more fun; like a time machine of the mind.
The Fantastic Four BLB was a favorite. I'm pretty sure that I once read that the art was by Herb Trimpe. When the soft cover version of the FF came out in the '70s, I bought a few copies and have given them to nephews and nieces through the years.
I had a handful of these as a kid and loved them. I remember having on with Bugs Bunny and Sylvester the Cat solving a mystery in a castle. Don't remember the name, but I read it over and over.
I'd forgotten about these! I had the FF one, along with Bonanza (Bubblegum Kid) and Tarzan (Mark of the Red Hyena). I wish I'd have gotten more of them!
I remember these, but I only had a few: I remember a Lassie one (The Shabby Sheik, I think it was called), an adaptation of Stevenson's Kidnapped, and another of the Man in the Iron Mask. I may still have that one somewhere.
I'd almost forgotten about these. I had several of the late 1960s ones, including Dick Tracy, Tarzan, Bugs Bunny, Donald Duck, Woody Woodpecker, Daktari, Batman, and the Lone Ranger.
The only place where I ever saw them on sale, AFAIR, was a local five-and-ten-cent store. Never at the drug stores that had comics in spinner racks, and never at the department stores that sold "full size" Whitman children's books.
I also found some old (1940s) BLB's in my late grandparents' attic, and was allowed to keep them. Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Red Ryder, and The Range Busters. Dad and his siblings were Western fans, obviously.
I sometimes see used copies of the 1960s BLBs in the local comic shop/second-hand book store. Also soft cover BLBs that have condensed versions of literary classics: Treasure Island, The Last of the Mohicans, The Man In the Iron Mask, Kidnapped.
Yep, I have fond memories of reading these; of the ones pictured, I had Donald Duck: The Lost Jungle City, Micky Mouse: Mystery at Disneyland and Fantastic Four in the House of Horrors.
A few others I remember having include Batman: The Cheetah Caper (which involved a bad guy called the Cheetah, who ran really fast but hid out in the city zoo dressed as a gorilla or something), Spider-man Zaps Mr. Zodiac, Bugs Bunny: The Last Crusader (Osvaldo, I think this is the one you mentioned), and another Bugs one that I'm not absolutely sure about, but I think it's Bugs Bunny and Klondike Gold.
Many thanks for the comments, everyone!
Charlie- your trove of 40's vintage BLB's would be great; and great fun to look over. Did any of them have color illustrations, or were they all Black/White? And yes, there is a collector's market for them, but I don't know how big it is. They certainly don't seem to have the appeal that comics do, but some of those I've encountered at flea markets are certainly priced as collectibles.
Disneymarvel- sounds like you have quite the collection! Do you have any recommendations for storing the things? For the few I have, I just stick them in a comic sleeve and fold it over...
TC- Whitman seemed to borrow heavily from television for those late 60's BLBs. That Daktari one sounds very familiar, and it seems like there was a Batman BLB. Unless I imagined it. As for finding them at the time, our local drug store carried them- on a magazine stand next to the comic spinner rack. It was a pretty decent drug store for a Bronze age kid; the candy racks up front had all the trading cards laid out too.
Edo- so glad to read your comment about the Batman BLB! The Cheetah, right. Now I will be able to sleep tonight...
I had that Popeye "Ghost Ship to Treasure Island" volume. But I generally selected only the BLBs that featured the flip-book cartoons in the corners, like Pink Panther "Adventures in Z-Land", and Beep Beep the Road Runner "The Super Beep Catcher". That was like getting a free little bonus, and the animation was quite good on them, as I recall.
I bought mine at K-Mart. Don't recall seeing them anywhere else.
I had the Space Ghost one when I was a kid. I read that one over and over again. It's still around, though pretty raggedy by now from brother, sister, and daughters reading it.
I also had the Major Matt Mason book and a couple of others....seems like one was about the Road Runner. They were lots of fun and I know they probably encouraged a lot of kids to read back in the day.
Sorry, Redartz, I don't really do anything to protect them. I've just got them displayed on a long, skinny shelf of my bookcase. I have a small figure representing each book, standing in front of the spines. I've got figures of Popeye, the Thing, Batman, Space Ghost, Frankenstein Jr, Tarzan, Mickey, etc., showcasing each book. Guess I need a cowboy hat or something to put in front of the Bonanza BLB. Heroclix, Vinyl Pops, '60s flicker rings, Disneykins, etc. come in handy to give me a good feeling of revisiting old friends. I've got my old '60s & '70s View Masters packages stacked next to them, since the sizing is similar. The shelf is adjusted so short that I can't even fit Little Golden Books next to them, though I can use some of my favorite coffee mugs as bookends, which helps the themes.
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