The American publishing firm of Hamming-Whitman was founded in the early 20th Century, and bought by Western Publishing in the 1930s.
What was now Whitman Publishing, of Racine, Wisconsin, was therefore a division of Western, and best known for its children's book line. It also began to publish coin collecting books and ancillary items in the 1930s. The company still exits today, as a specialist publisher of books covering various collecting fields, especially coins.
From 1941 to 1947 Whitman published a series of books featuring various 1940s actresses in mystery stories for girls. These were called Whitman Authorized Editions. That name was later used for another series of books based on various film and TV characters.
The new Whitman Authorized Editions were hardback novels, with a number of illustrations in a single colour. All were based on American TV shows or movies, many of which never made it to New Zealand. Some shows were only represented by a single title, others were covered by half a dozen or more books.
Book sizes varied. The earlier volumes I have are 143 mm x 197 mm, but in the late 1960s the width was reduced slightly, to 133 mm x 197 mm. All contained just over 200 pages. Many have a couple of pages at the back listing other titles available.
The covers were either paintings, or photographs from the show, some were in a swirling 1960s style. Many had covers that wrapped around the spine and the back. Most had the words Whitman Authorized TV Adventure on the spine, and inside the books. The only one of my books which lacks this is the Annette volume, which was a Disney title. Each book also contains a copyright notice for the TV company which made the original series.
The name of the author does not appear on the cover, only inside, on the title page. Some volumes do have the surname of the author on the spine. The illustrator is also credited on the title page.
These tie-ins were published between 1951 and 1975, and covered a vast range of subjects, including many science fiction, spy, and action shows, as well as comedies and Walt Disney. Westerns were very popular in the early days of the series. There were also a number of books that featured a well known star, that were not tied directly to an individual TV series - similar to the original Authorized Edition series.
There does seem to be some doubt as to how many of these books were published in total, with different listings giving different totals - most list over a hundred titles. In part this depends on how the books are counted, as some list the personality, movie, and Disney books separately from the TV books.
All of my books have their printed paper cover glued directly to the hardback covers, without dust jackets, although some titles did come with dust jackets. The series number appears either on the back of the early books, or on the spine of the later books. Whitman re-used numbers, so some books published several years apart can have the same number. This also means that a low number does not automatically mean an early publication date. Even my few volumes show this mis-match.
1505 Lucy and the Madcap Mystery, Cole Fannin, 1963. Staring Lucille Ball.
1505 Lassie - The Mystery of Bristlecone Pine, Steve Frazee, 1967
1519 The High Chaparral - Apache Way, Steve Frazee, 1969
1541 Sea Hunt, Cole Fannin, 1960
1541 The Man From U.N.C.L.E. - The Affair of the Gentle Saboteur, Brandon Keith, 1966
1543 The Man From U.N.C.L.E. - The Affair of the Gunrunner's Gold, Brandon Keith, 1967
1545 The Invaders - Dam of Death, Jack Pearl, 1967
1547 The Rat Patrol - The Iron Monster Raid, I.G. Edmonds, 1968
1553 Hawaii Five-O - The Octopus Caper, Leo R. Ellis, 1971
1572 The Beverly Hillbillies - The Saga of Wildcat Creek, Doris Schroeder, 1963
1574 Walt Disney's Annette and the Mystery at Smugglers' Cove, Doris Schroeder, 1963. Annette Funicello was one of the Mouseketeers on the Mickey Mouse Club, and made many Disney movies.
My collection is very modest, but covers a good range of subjects. I might have a few others, but these are the ones I could find at the moment. Most of my titles seem to date from the 1960s, up to 1971, so the middle period of the series. We have looked at one or two of these in detail before, but this is a more general look at the series.
I do not recall having any of these books as a boy, although I might have had one or two, without realising what they were. Since then, I have picked up the odd title in a second-hand bookshop, or at a fair. They are not expensive (although something like the original Star Trek novels might be an exception).
There has been at least one book devoted to this series, and other reference volumes on children's books also cover the line.
These are fun items to look out for, if you are a fan of old TV shows.
What do you think?
Paul Adams from New Zealand
I had a similar book on the Seaview
ReplyDeleteWhat a great collection, and a wonderful memory! I had at least two of the Whitman’s (The Invaders and Gilligan’s Island) back in the day, and they were ubiquitous back then. Like the Classics Illustrated comic books, the Whitman’s were such an iconic part of our childhoods. SFZ
ReplyDeleteI can reaĺly appreciate a vintage collection like this. Lovely to see.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful collection Paul and a lovely long research piece. Thanks for sharing. The book covers are works of art and represent the most popular TV of its time, a lot like Board Games of the period.
ReplyDeleteHere we go
ReplyDeletehttps://www.amazon.com/Voyage-Bottom-Sea-raymond-jones/dp/B003X007Q6
This is different
https://www.amazon.com/Voyage-Bottom-Sea-Theodore-Sturgeon/dp/B0007F9H2A
Great undersea monster eggs cover that!
ReplyDelete