I recently wrote about my “fantastic find” at a bookstore of a signed copy of Hattie the Backstage Bat by children’s author, Don Freeman, which also sports an original illustration! This made me curious to find out more about the person, himself. I learned that he had written an autobiography as a young man before he and his wife had become published in the world of children’s literature.
The book, Come One, Come All, tells about his somewhat unusual childhood in California and his very early dreams about moving to New York and becoming an artist. It recounts his later struggles in New York, during the Depression, first supporting himself by playing the cornet in dance bands. We follow Mr. Freeman as he finally squirrels away enough savings to take painting classes with the inspirational artist, John Sloan.
Eventually, Don Freeman seems to find his artistic niche behind the scenes in the world of the theater. Some of his articles and illustrations were published in newspapers such as the New York Herald Tribune, the New York Times, and PM, in addition to making appearances in publications such as Stage and Theater Magazine.
Readers interested in the heady atmosphere of New York leading into the early 1950’s will find this to be a very interesting window into that period. The book ends happily with Don and Lydia, a young woman he had met earlier in California, getting married. We say goodbye to them as they are both experiencing their first tastes of professional success. What really grabs me about this well-written and charmingly illustrated book is that they had no inkling at the time how successful and admired they would later become in the realm of children’s literature.
This 244-page book was not a simple one to find! A few copies were available through Amazon or eBay for hundreds of dollars, each. That wasn’t going to happen, as much as I wanted to read it. Hurrah for WorldCat, the inter-library option, and I did find the book listed there!
The copy that I borrowed was through a university’s library and has been rebound, so no longer wears the interesting, illustrated cover shown above. No matter, since this copy DOES have something else that I find to be so intriguing. Tucked into the back is what I imagine to be the original card! This chronicles check-out dates in the 50’s through 60’s and being “mended” in the early 70’s. The borrowers’ names have been blacked-out, as shown, below. I love those old library cards and treasure a few used books in my personal collection that contain these. Digital means of book management are efficient, but sometimes I feel sad that we’ve lost a certain sense of history in the transition.
What a find! And I’m with you regarding the joy of finding library cards. They’re like little portals into the past.
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Yes, they are!
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My career as a cataloguing librarian started just about the time card catalogues and stamped checkout cards were being phased out. I probably still have some old cards around; they were great for scrap paper.
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Interesting time to enter the field, I would think!
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It was! And I retired just as another major technological shift was on the horizon (much to my relief, actually).
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Technology can change so many aspects of a job; that was true in teaching, as well.
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What a find! We are lucky these days to have access like we do. I love old library cards, they are like little history books 😊
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I know! I especially like the ones where you can see that little children have signed their own names:)
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I love those the most! The careful and shaky penmanship, its the best!
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I pity the digital natives that have never used a card catalog or seen a library book checked out by hand. They were labor intensive but do have a lovely nostalgia. This book sounds charming. Thanks for sharing it with us.
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You are so right, Pat! I can remember “playing library” as a child and “checking books out” by hand:) Thanks for reading!
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This really does sound like a great find. I have a very old copy of The Butterfly Ball which could use recovering but I don’t want to lose the original cover.
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Yes, the covers can add so much to a book. Thanks for reading and commenting!
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Reblogged this on Campbells World.
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Thanks for the reblog, Patty!
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I love those library cards too. I just acquired some old books and many of the old borrower cards were still in there. Very cool and nostalgic
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Great to hear from others who enjoy those types of bookish things, too!
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