Welcome back to Disney Stuff. My last article on Disney Spooky Stuff generated some great responses from all of you. Seems like I’m not the only one who put a Disney spin on their Halloween. Thanks for the kind words. This time around I’m going to talk about something from my childhood that I’ve been reintroduced to. Yet another collection begins.
Hopefully some of you out there will recall those great, stubby, Big Little Books published by the Whitman Publishing Company.
Disneyland itself is feautured in this Mickey and Goofy mystery. Copyright ©Walt Disney Company.
Perhaps the most significant licensing agreement was the first contract that the Whitman Company was able to land. That windfall was the exclusive book rights to all characters from the Walt Disney Studios. Indeed Mickey mouse was one of the first of only five titles to be conceived and published by the company. Donald Duck, Bambi, Brer Rabbit, Dumbo and Snow White soon joined Mickey on the Five and Dime shelves.
The books seemed to have their creative heyday in the 1930s and 1940s. This was a time of mass production and a plethora of diverse titles. The Mickey Mouse titles were frequently reprints of the daily comic strip stories in long form. In the 1940s, the “flip-it” feature was added adding the bonus of an animated flipbook to each purchase.
This Donald Duck title from 1975 promotes the Flip-it feature. Copyright ©Walt Disney Productions.
By the time I started reading them in the early 1970s, most of the titles were cartoon characters like Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker, Popeye and Tom and Jerry. Mickey, Donald and Goofy were still to be found, but gone were the “secondary” Disney characters like Dumbo and Brer Rabbit. Most of the westerns and spy stories and the like were gone as well with the exception of a few Lone Ranger titles and everyone’s favorite “wonder dog,” Lassie.
I have fond memories of reading the Donald and Mickey stories. Although, there is a chance that some of my copies exist in my parent’s attic, I’ve rediscovered these gems through my Disney collecting. I stumbled across a great selection at an antique store a year or so ago. I flipped through them and was ready to buy a few. The storeowner, however, wouldn’t break up the set of 12 and wanted $10 a piece. That wasn’t in the budget that day, so I began a quest to locate a few online.
This 1967 Donald title has some unfortunate price tag remnants on the cover. Copyright ©Walt Disney Productions.
My success has been slow and steady and much more cost efficient. I’ve found lots of five or six on eBay and won them for $20 or $30. Not all of them are Disney, but that’s OK; I don’t discriminate against other Toons. I’ve come across some individuals for as low as $4. They’re out there and the ones from the late 1960s and 1970s seem most readily available and most affordable. I have come across some of the original series from the 30’s and their worth can range anywhere from $20 in good condition, to well over $100 in mint condition. Once again, I feel that this is a yard sale find waiting to happen. Once spring returns, I think I’ll make a point of hitting some sales and checking those bins full of kid’s books for some more of these great memories from my past.
My small, but growing collection. Photo by Chris Barry.
I’d love to hear from any of you out there that have the same soft spot that I have for these Big Little Books. I hope you’re enjoying them as much as I am. Much credit for this article has to be given to the guys over at BigLittleBooks.com (link), and their great work at cataloguing the history of these classic books.
I’ll see you next time here on MousePlanet with more Disney Stuff, and I’m hoping to meet some of you next month in Orlando for the Mega Mouse Meet at MouseFest 2008. See you at the Yacht Club!
