Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Warriors Brave: A Toy Soldier Christmas Tale - Part 1

One of my favorite Christmas books I have in my collection is this vintage childrens' story about toy soldiers coming to life on Christmas Eve.  Though there is no publication date, it is inscribed on the title page, "Roger Hill 1926".  It is a small volume, measuring only 5" x 4.5".
  It is interesting to note that the artist had some knowledge of the toy soldiers he drew, as many of the poses pictured are very similar to a variety of semi-round lead soldiers that were available at the time. These were often cast by small manufacturers, or Mom & Pop dime store owners, from commercially available German molds, and sold individually or in boxed sets.
    I will run the story in three parts, with the first part today, and the next two over the following two weeks.
So, on with the tale of the Warriors Brave:
(You can click any photo to view it larger.)










Tune in next week, for the continuing adventure...
Part 2 can be found here: Warriors Brave; Part 2
Part 3 can be found here: Warriors Brave: Part 3

11 comments:

  1. Based on the font used and especially the illustrations, I had the feeling that this book was published before the 1920s, unless its a reprint. So, you got me investigating. This is just an educated guess, but from a hit I got on a used bookstore site, it was probably published around 1910, Jamieson was likely the author as well as the illustrator.

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    1. Thank you for the information and the link! I can't believe the price they were selling it for!

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  2. Here's were I got the info:
    http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=1178693988&searchurl=an%3DM.+M.+Jamieson%2C+Jr.

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  3. Great book,reminds me of the semi flats I have on the paint table.I look forward to reading more.

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  4. A Delightful find, thanks for sharing it with us.
    Best wishes, Brian

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  5. Its like a page from inside my head. Great stuff!

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  6. In good company. Thanks for sharing. May I right click and paste these into a powerpoint?

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    1. Your welcome! I don't see any reason you couldn't save them. I don't make any claims to copyright, I assume given the publication date, that it has probably expired.

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