Last week I was in Washington, D.C., and, of course, I made sure that I revisited the Museum of American History, often called America’s attic. There were several new exhibits that I had not previously seen, but the one that caught my eye was a display of “Little Golden Books.”
In 1992, the Western Publishing company donated to the Smithsonian 500 original books, puzzles, and drawings that it had used in this series. Pictured on a computer screen were some of their earliest books in the “Golden Books” series.
Some of the child-friendly titles that I enjoyed “thumbing” through were “Doctor Dan and the Bandage Man,” (1950), “Nurse Nancy,” (1952), and “The Taxi That Hurried,” (1946). “Doctor Dan” included 6 band aids, the comics character Lulu had her own “Golden Book” which featured a Kleenex to make a paper flower, directions included. One that I thought travelers in this area might get a laugh from was “Make Way for the Thruway” (1961)
In the early 20th century, new educational theories challenged the restrictive educational philosophy that governed education up to that point. In the 1930s, Eleanor Roosevelt called attention to the importance of reading. The idea of the “Golden Books” followed.
The children who entered this exhibit room, enjoyed the computer catalog of books; older adults were moved by the titles that they remembered from their childhood.