Michelle Schulte remembers how every Little Golden Book included a complete list of the series' titles on its back cover.
Sometimes the list appeared inside the cover, but it didn't matter to her as long as it was there.
"I always turned to the list and checked off all the Little Golden Books I had read," said Schulte, the LSU Museum of Art's curator.
That was in her childhood, when each title represented a piece of magic bound in gold foil. Now this same magic fills the gallery as Schulte decides what to hang where during the installation of the museum's latest exhibit, "Golden Legacy: Original Art from 80 Years of Golden Books."
Generational impact
The show opens on Thursday and features 60 original illustrations from the little cardboard-covered children's books with which millions of Americans grew up reading.
This isn't an exaggeration — generations of Americans not only grew up with these books but passed them down to their children and grandchildren. With this in mind, Schulte tried to design a show that would appeal to both children and adults.
Adults will become kids again as they walk through these imaginary landscapes from their childhoods. That's the effect it's had on Schulte, as well as the museum staff.
Childhood connections
Schulte walks through the gallery, stopping by author-illustrator Elizabeth Orton Jones' illustrations for "Little Red Riding Hood." These conjure special memories.
"We lived in Germany when I was a child, and I remember noticing how Little Red Riding Hood wore the same kind of German wear that I wore over there," Schulte said. "I remember telling my mom, 'Look, she's wearing the same thing I'm wearing.' There's just something very European about the illustrations in that book, and I related to it as a child."
She also shares her love of another favorite, "The Poky Little Puppy," the 12th of the original Little Golden Books published in 1942.
"I think 'The Poky Little Puppy' is everyone's favorite," Schulte said. "It still ranks as the most popular Little Golden Book today, and it's amazing just how strong its staying power is. The illustrations are still the same, and the story is still the same, and everyone still loves it."
Celebrating 80 years
The exhibit was organized by the National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature in Abilene, Texas, and as mentioned in its title, celebrates Little Golden Books' 80th anniversary.
Technically, the series is 83 now. The show began traveling in 2022, exactly 80 years from the books' first publishing date of 1942.
Joining "The Poky Little Puppy" in the original round of 12 titles were "Three Little Kittens," "Bedtime Stories," "Mother Goose," "Prayers for Children," "The Little Red Hen," "Nursery Songs," "The Alphabet from A to Z," "The Golden Book of Fairy Tales," "Baby's Book of Objects," "The Animals of Farmer Jones" and "This Little Piggy and Other Counting Rhymes."
The launch year also marked the United States' first full year of involvement in World War II. While war raged in Europe, Little Golden Books were wielding magic at home.
Affordable high quality
The books also represent a significant milestone in publishing history, marking the first time high-quality illustrated books were made available to millions of youngsters and their parents at affordable prices.
The idea to produce colorful, durable and affordable children's books was developed by Georges Duplaix, who headed the Artists and Writers Guild, Inc., a division of Western Publishing.
Books for kids were selling for $2 and $3 at the time, which would translate to about $38 and $58 today.
Duplaix teamed up with some fellow artists and writers on the project, while Western Publishing and Simon & Schuster produced the books in a joint publishing venture.
Each Golden Book consisted of 42 pages with 28 printed in two colors and 14 in four colors. They were bound with staples with spines wrapped in the books' signature gold foil. They sold for 25 cents each.
Moms could afford them
"I remember my mother reading a Little Golden Book to me as a child, because that's what they could afford," Schulte said. "She didn't have very many books, and the books she did have were generally Little Golden Books or books that she shared amongst her siblings. Then I started picking out my own. Now my son loves Little Golden Books."
She grabs a book from a table filled with Golden Book titles provided by the National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature to complement the exhibit.
"This is my son's favorite," she said, flipping through the pages of 'The Monster at the End of This,' starring 'Sesame Street's' garbage can character, Grover. As Golden Books went on, they stuck with stories and illustrations either based on classics or things that came out of their own publishing company."
The LSU Museum Store is selling Little Golden Book memorabilia, including both classic and contemporary editions of the books series. The best seller so far is the Golden Book, 'Taylor Swift.'
Eventually, Golden Books started to partner with corporations like Disney, Hanna Barbera and the Sesame Warehouse. This move, Schulte said, gave the company staying power with the rise of television.
The one about Taylor Swift
How relevant are the Little Golden Books today? The answer can be found downstairs in the LSU Museum Store.
"Our best-selling Golden Book is the one about Taylor Swift," museum manager LeAnn Russo said.
The book, simply titled "Taylor Swift," features an illustration of the megastar making heart hands on the cover. The shop is selling it alongside classic Little Golden Book titles and such newer editions as "Elvis Presley."
The shop also offers Golden Book-themed memorabilia, including T-shirts and totes, and has designated a comfy rug-covered corner as a reading station for kids.
Artists escaped war
While the illustrations upstairs are nothing less than wonder-filled worlds, the lives of some of their artists were quite the opposite.
"It was wartime, and a lot of these artists had to escape Europe," Schulte said. "They came to the United States, and while they were artists in their own right in their countries, they had to evacuate for their own reasons because of the war."
The danger they faced doesn't appear in their illustrations. They found success through the Little Golden Book series with some artists even moving on to work for Disney.
Gustaf Tenggren was among the Golden Book-turned-Disney set. He isn't a household name, but his depiction of the Seven Dwarves in Disney's 1937 animated classic "Snow White" will live forever in film history and moviegoers' hearts.
Meanwhile, his paintings of "The Poky Little Puppy" are still touching children's hearts.
Poky Puppy is here
The exhibition features an illustration from "The Poky Little Puppy" showing the pup with his friends thinking about digging an escape tunnel beneath a picket fence. They hesitate beneath a sign announcing, "No desserts ever unless puppies never dig holes under this fence again!"
This prompts the question: Can puppies read? And if they can, would the threat of withholding desserts really discourage them from digging that hole?
In their world, a Little Golden Book world, the color is bold, every story is happy and all adults become kids again.
"Golden Legacy: Original Art from 80 Years of Golden Books" runs through May 25 at the LSU Museum of Art in the Shaw Center for the Arts, 100 Lafayette St. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Wednesday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $5 for ages 13 and older and free for ages 12 and younger, university students with ID and veterans and their families with military ID. Call (225) 578-3000 or visit lsumoa.org.
BY ROBIN MILLER | The Advocate Staff writer