Doug's Disneyland Collection
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Doug’s Disneyland Collection
Little Golden Books

For many collectors, this month’s collectibles may have been their very first. Little Golden Books, with their sturdy pages, colorful illustrations, and low price, were read and collected by young fans. And because they were so plentiful, they are relatively easy to find to this day. Not every title dealing with Disneyland will be covered in this column.

The Western Publishing Company, who created Little Golden Books in 1942, had a relationship with Disney that dated to 1944. The first three Disney titles were printed as “Walt Disney’s Little Library.�? They were “Through the Picture Frame,�? (1944) “The Cold Blooded Penguin,�? (1944) and “Dumbo�? (1947). These were also the only three titles in the series to be produced with dust covers. After “Dumbo,�? all titles were published as Little Golden Books, and appeared fairly regularly. The Disney titles were distinguished by the letter “D�? prefixed to their numbers. (Little Golden Books altered their original numbering system in the 1970s.)

Many titles were printed in various editions through the years. It was not always the case that copyrights were updated to reflect this. There are a couple of other clues that can help to identify the actual date of an edition.

The cover price from 1942 to 1962 was 25 cents. In 1962 the price was raised to 29 cents. In 1968 the price went to 39 cents, then to 49 cents in 1974, 59 cents in 1977, 69 cents in 1979, 89 cents in 1982, and 99 cents in 1986. After that time, prices were no longer printed on the cover.

The design on the spine also offers clues to the date. From 1942-47 the spines were solid blue, and copies had a dust cover. From 1947 to 1949 there was a bright gold spine with a pattern of leaves, flowers and animals. From 1949 to 1969 the spine was antique gold with varying patterns of leaves, flowers and plants. After 1969 the gold spine featured a pattern of chickens, crickets, bunnies and bears. There were two special patterns in the 1950s: from 1955 to 1959 Christmas titles had a special design, and from 1954 to 1956 there was a Mickey Mouse Club spine in red with a pattern of portraits of Mickey Mouse interspersed with leaves.

Disney’s relationship with Western Publishing was reflected in the company’s presence in Disneyland Park. On July 17, 1955, the children’s book store on Main Street USA was jointly sponsored by Dell, Simon & Schuster and Western. At the time, Simon & Schuster was the publisher, and Western the printer, of Little Golden Books.

The first Disneyland title had appeared a year earlier, in 1954. “Disneyland on the Air�? was numbered D43 in the Disney series. (It carries a publication date of 1955, however.)

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This is an example of a 1954-56 edition, with red spine and 25 cent cover price. The inside front and back covers were also a special design, unique to Mickey Mouse Club books.

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This inside front cover (from D46) is in green; it was also produced in other colors.