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In 1918 a salesman for the Whitman Publishing Company in Racine, Wisconsin garnered a
printing order for dozens of children's books from S. S. Kresge, a major chain of
five-and-dime stores. But a slightly confused Whitman's foreman interpreted "dozens"
to mean "gross" quantities; he shipped twelve times the number of copies Kresge
needed. What to do? Sam Lowe, an executive of Whitman's parent firm Western Publishing, had
a brainstorm. He persuaded F. W. Woolworth and other chain store retailers to take on and
display Whitman's extra volumes. Public response was so overwhelming that Whitman, with Sam
Lowe at the helm, was propelled to the forefront of the low-end children's book market. The
Big Little Books were soon to be born.
In 1932 Sam came up with a new style of book promising big fun-a variety of compelling
characters and exciting plots sandwiched between bright covers and illustrated with a
drawing opposite every page-in a little package that resembled nothing so much as a
four-inch-block sawed from the end of a two-by-four. The books sold for a dime (later
fifteen cents) and provided many young people with a lifelong appreciation of reading
and the written word. The first Big Little Book, The Adventures of Dick Tracy,
fortuitously hit the shelves just before Christmas of 1932, foreshadowing the type of
superhero adventure yarn that became the staple of the genre and preceding the appearance
of the first real comic book by a year. During the 50 years of production that followed,
Whitman's copyrighted term "Big Little Book" became accepted generic nomenclature
for similar volumes offered by a score of lesser publishers.
SLU alumnus Dr. Alvin P. Sokol, himself inspired by his early exposure to BLBs, as they
are affectionately known to collectors, evinced a lifelong interest in the superhero of
popular culture: Tarzan, the Lone Ranger, Dick Tracy, Captain Midnight. Dr. Sokol's
collection, generously donated to the University Archives, consists of approximately
100 BLBs, 200 audio and video tapes of programs starring superhero characters, posters
and figurines of these paragons, and reference items on comic books, movie serials, and
the superhero in all his guises. This material is a treasure trove for the historian of
popular culture and the American mass media, as well as a poignant link to a simpler time
poised on the brink of events that would change the world forever.
By 1989 the Big Little Books and their issuer Whitman had vanished from the American scene.
The books may be gone, but their influence survives in the pleasure that millions of adults
take in reading and in their determination to instill the same love of literature in their
children and grandchildren. Whitman's legacy also lives on in a more tangible form; parent
company Western still manufactures its own trademark Little Golden Books, first introduced
in 1942. In 1986 the one-billionth Little Golden Book rolled triumphantly off the presses.
We can only hope that another billion LGBs will delight the children of tomorrow.
The Golden Age, 1932-1938. The most memorable of Whitman's Big Little Books were produced
during these years at the rate of about six titles per month. Subjects included the adventures
of comic book, radio, and movie heroes as well as pulp Westerns and crime stories invented
in-house.
The Silver Age, 1938-1949. Comic books gained in popularity after Superman burst onto the
scene in 1938 and Big Little Books suffered under the onslaught. Whitman introduced the
"flip-it" feature to hold fickle young readers, along with a new name: Better
Little Books. But these "better books" grew shorter and shorter, falling into
an irreversible decline.
The Modern Age, 1950-1989. This period witnessed several attempts to revive a moribund
publishing phenomenon: the introduction of New Better Little Books, a TV series tie-in,
a hardcover full-color series, and various paperback sets. It was to no avail. The Big
Little Books were history.
From 1933 to 1935 Whitman produced less expensive versions of some of its books for
distribution as premiums promoting products like toothpaste. R. B. Davis Company, the
maker of Cocomalt, was the primary market for these items. Cocomalt sponsored the Buck
Rogers radio serial and offered Buck Rogers books as prizes on the show.
Whitman's most serious competition was Saalfield, which produced five different sizes of
its own version of the Big Little Book. In 1940 Saalfield abandoned the market.
Fawcett's Dime Action Books began with four titles that appeared in 1941. All featured
the efforts of Fawcett comic book heroes.
Dell released four titles in 1938 that were developed for them by Whitman using the
original Big Little Book authors and artists. Dell remained in the running until
1943.
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