1931 Aesop's Fables Hankie Book. Illustrations by Pearl Gilligan (et al?). Paperbound. Los Angeles: N.R. Woodard Co. $38.93 from Giancarlo's Closet, Exton, PA, through eBay, August, '11.
It took twelve years, but this purchase solves a mystery. I had found a copy of this book in 1999 and saw it as a coloring book. "What it has to do with a hankie neither the seller nor I can figure out," I wrote then, adding that it measures slightly larger than 10" x 11" and has seven pages of black-and-white outlines to color in. They were in fact colored in by some youthful hands. Now I find a copy whose spine has given way but whose pictures are uncolored. But this copy contains six of the (probably) eight original handkerchiefs pinned into the booklet! Those missing are "Don Dog" and "Waffles and Countess." Neither copy seems to have a first coloring-page for "Mike," one of the handkerchiefs here. As the seller noted, "the hankies are in great condition and have no distinguishing damage other than some slight color variation/facing and/or creasing due to age." In fact, the handkerchiefs present a fine color version of the coloring book design I admired in that copy. As I mentioned then, the booklet fits with the "Aesop's Fables" pins I have found and with versions of the cartoons associated with this Van Beuren series. Click on a small image below to get a view of the book open to a picture of the "Fables Gang" flying to school on an airplane, of Mike picnicking, or of Countess serving cakes and tea. Click on the book's title above to find the book in the bibliography.
2004? Greeting card "Aesop's Fables," about 6" x 4". The front cover shows three picture cards and one text verso; the back cover shows two text versos and one "Sweet Afton" Virginia Cigarettes advertisement. Produced by the Antique Map & Print Gallery, April Cottage, UK. $1.88 from Jackie Daniels, Peterborough, UK, through eBay, Oct., '05. Nine extra copies at the same time for the same price.
The eBay advertisement for this item read "Cigarette Card Greeting Card." The irony is that the pictures and texts here were all taken from Typhoo Tea cards! The printing around the colorful picture ovals has been carefully removed. The card acknowledges The Antique Map & Print Gallery in Worcester, England. Perhaps the gallery had already removed the print.
2009 Aesop's Fables from the Van Beuren Studio, Volume 2. Thunderbean Animation. DVD reprint of cartoons from 1928 through 1933.
There are sixteen "Aesop's Fables" cartoons on this DVD. I tried three of them and enjoyed them. They are a curious mix of fantasy, song, dance, and mayhem. My favorite here is "A Toy Town Tale" from 1931. Toys come alive, march around, get into fights, and fall in love. An apparently frequent feature of the cartoons involves imaging animals in their geometric parts and letting them come apart and get back together. At least one cartoon, "Presto Chango" from 1929, does have an Aesopic element: a final saying allegedly from Aesop and supposedly summing up the cartoon. This DVD has some nice additional features, including views of an Aesop's hanky book -- unfortunately without the hanky! -- and an array of buttons, many of which I have collected. Theirs may even be a full display.
1908? Aesop's Fables from Father Tuck's Story Books. Coloured Lantern Slides. Junior Lecturers' Series. Chapter 2 of 2 Chapters. In the original box. Watford: Tuck. $35.20 from mike3949 on Ebay, July, '21.
Another very lovely set of eight substantial and richly colored slides. The numbered scenes included are given on the T of C on the box's side. I am so happy to get this set to complete the pair of Tuck's Lantern "Coloured Lantern Slides."
1908? Aesop's Fables from Father Tuck's Story Books. Coloured Lantern Slides. Junior Lecturers' Series. Chapter 1 of 2 Chapters. In the original box. Watford: Tuck.
A very lovely set of eight substantial and richly colored slides. The numbered scenes included are: 1. LM (title slide: "Aesop's Fables from Father Tuck's Story Books"), 2. "The Dove and the Crow," 3. WL, 4. DM, 5. "The Fighting Cocks and the Eagle," 6. TH, 7. "The Hares and the Frogs," and 8. "The Quack Frog." I first saw a set of these in a German museum a year ago and wrote asking if any might be for sale. In the meantime, these were offered in London and were even set aside for me without my knowing it! I am already thinking about how best to display these beautiful pictures....
