McLOUGHLIN BROTHERS PAPERS

de Grummond Children's Literature Collection
The University of Southern Mississippi

	Creator:	McLoughlin Brothers Publishing firm
	Title:	McLoughlin Brothers Papers
	Dates:	ca. 1854-1951
	Quantity:	20.90 cubic feet (42 boxes + 1 map case drawer)
	Identification:	DG0649

Historical Note

Many printers in the nineteenth century called their small books for children "toy books." Sometimes also known as "chapbooks," they contained colorful illustrations and text in large type. These books originated in England, but quickly spread to the United States. Copyright laws were essentially non-existent and plagiarism was the norm on both sides of the Atlantic. The artists, printers, and publishers of these books were largely responsible for bringing a new beauty to children's literature.

Early attempts at color printing with teenagers working in assembly-line fashion were quite crude. In 1835, George Baxter patented a method of using metal plate engravings, applying the color over the original engraving with wooden blocks. Lithography was patented by Alois Senefelder in the early nineteenth century in Prague. This method involved writing with a grease pencil on a stone of porous texture and later etching away the stone surface to produce a design in relief. Eventually cheaper and more portable zinc plates were substituted for the stone. This method of printing spread to France, England, Germany, and the United States.

John McLoughlin was an unemployed Scottish coachmaker when he entered the New York publishing industry in March of 1819. Finding work with the Sterling Iron Company, he met Robert Hoe, who manufactured printing presses. He became interested in printing and began working for the New York Times in 1827. In 1828 he purchased a used printing press and type and set up his own business on Tryon Row. Here he wrote and published McLoughlin's Books for Children, a collection of semi-religious tracts. In 1840 he formed a partnership with Robert H. Elton, a wood engraver, to publish toy books, comic almanacs, and valentines under the name Elton and Co. McLoughlin's son, John McLoughlin, Jr., had been an apprentice to the firm of Robert H. Elton and when the senior partners for Elton and Company retired in 1850, the son took over the firm.

He changed the name to John McLoughlin, Successor to Elton & Co. He obtained the printing blocks of Edward Dunigan, a successful New York toy book publisher, and reissued Dunigan's titles as the "Uncle Frank" series. The books contained stories of British origin, mostly from Walter Crane and Randolph Caldecott. McLoughlin eventually became known as the leading publisher of brightly hand-colored paper toy books as well as games, alphabet cards, and valentines.

The company moved to 24 Beekman Street after the original factory burned. McLoughlin's brother, Edmund, became a partner in 1855, and the company expanded. John McLoughlin kept abreast of the technological improvements in printing and eventually introduced the photographic process which produced the illustration directly on a zinc plate with oil colors then being applied to the plate. By 1870 the brothers opened the largest color printing factory in the United States. The main competition was from England, and since foreign books were not protected by United States copyright, the McLoughlin brothers reprinted British books in a cheaper format. In this way, they introduced American children to Kate Greenaway, Randolph Caldecott, and Walter Crane. The American Civil War, however, isolated America from foreign influence, and the McLoughlin Brothers acquired their own illustrators.

In 1885, Edmund McLoughlin retired from the company and later died in 1889. John McLoughlin, Jr. carried on the business with the assistance of his sons, James Gregory and Charles. He continued to produce a great variety of work including traditional stories, moralistic stories, religious stories, educational works, items with a strictly American theme, pop-ups, paper dolls, and games. When John McLoughlin, Jr. died in 1905, his sons, Charles and James Gregory, took over the company. By 1919, they had died or retired and H.F. Stewart was listed as president, with Gregory McLoughlin, son of James Gregory McLoughlin, as vice president. In 1920 the company was sold to Milton Bradley, their chief competitor. The Brooklyn factory was closed and the company was moved to Springfield, Massachusetts.

In the 1930s, a successful line of pop-up books called the "Jolly Jump-ups" was published with the McLoughlin Brothers imprint. In the late 1930s and early 1940s they introduced several new series, including the Little Color Classics, Westfield Classics, and Cathedral Classics. The McLoughlin trademark was sold to New York toy manufacturer Julius Kushner in 1951 and he reissued some of the favorite titles of the past. In June 1954, the line was sold to Grosset and Dunlap who used the McLoughlin imprint on a number of publications until the early 1970s.

It may be impossible to fully measure the total output and influence of the McLoughlin Brothers. A flood which destroyed the plant in Springfield ruined many of the records. Catalogs from the company have also become quite scarce. However, the history of nineteenth and early twentieth century American children's literature would be incomplete without a recognition of the tremendous impact made by the McLoughlin Brothers. Today, their books, games, valentines, and other products are highly valued by collectors who want to capture a bit of the colorful past.

Scope and Content Note

The McLoughlin Brothers Papers contain manuscripts, typescripts, galleys, correspondence, photographs, dummies, illustrations, color separations, proofs, and production material dating from 1854 to the early 1950s. The material is organized into six series: scrapbook, books, unidentified illustrations, miscellaneous production materials, correspondence, and publisher catalog materials.

One of the earliest items is a scrapbook which was rescued from the flood that destroyed the McLoughlin Brothers plant in Springfield, Massachusetts. The notebook contains 1200 printer's proofs of illustrations, about one third of which show water damage. The proofs cover a period from 1854 to about 1870 and cover a wide range of genres, including traditional stories, games, and paper dolls. The artists are largely unidentified, but a few of the proofs are signed by Howard, W. Momberger, Guzner, Herrick, and Cogger.

Among the seventy or so titles represented in the scrapbook are: "The Three Little Kittens," "Mama Lovechild's series," "Nursery Rhymes for Good Boys and Girls," "My Little Darling's Pictorial ABC," "Uncle Frank's Series," "The Merry Game of Old Maid," "Pleasure Books," "Aunt Effie's series," "Goody Two Shoes (paper doll)," "General Tom Thumb (paper doll)," and "Soldiers' Valentines."

The remaining fives series of materials were obtained from Justin G. Schiller, Ltd. and reflect a portion of the McLoughlin Brothers' archive that was housed in a New York warehouse.

The papers in the books series are arranged alphabetically by title and the material for each book is arranged chronologically in order of creation when known. This series contains materials for 125 books. It is quite possible that 29 of the 125 books were never published and the de Grummond holdings reflect pre-production samples and trials. The amount of material for each title varies considerably with some having only a trial cover and others having all steps of the publication process represented. The majority of the titles were published between 1938 and 1946 and were a part of either the Little Color Classics or the Westfield Classics series.

Titles for which we hold illustrations, color separations, press dummies, and proofs include Bible Stories Told for Children, Bobby Beaver, Bunnie Cottontail, Children from the Bible, The Golden Goose, Happy Jaspar, House in the Woods, The Lord is my Shepherd, The Lord's Prayer Pictured for Children, Pinkie the Pig Who Never Hurried, Rock-a-Bye Stories, Six Happy Goats, The Tin Soldier, and The Traveling Musicians. Authors and illustrators represented include Priscilla Pointer, Sari, Susan Wheeler, Robert A. Graef, Betty Howe, H.G. Nicholas, Gladys and Corinne Malvern, and Jack Perkins. Well known author illustrator Johnny Gruelle is represented by seven Raggedy Ann titles and there are three Little Lulu titles created by Marge [Marjorie Henderson Buell]. Earlier publications from the late 1800s and early 1900s are represented with samples, mock-ups, and blank books.

There are a total of 243 unidentified illustrations, mostly pen and ink, of a variety of subjects including animals, birds, children, and people in general. These illustrations were most likely used for books published by the McLoughlin Brothers in the 1930s and 1940s.

The series of miscellaneous production materials include partially printed dummies, proofs, color separations, and paper doll proofs. The correspondence series contains letters to and from the McLoughlin Brothers firm, dating from approximately 1940 through 1945. These letters are arranged alphabetically by the correspondent's surname. One folder of correspondence dated 1918 is also a part of this series.

The publisher catalog materials series contains the actual production paste-ups, proofs, and printed pages for McLoughlin Brothers catalogs issued from 1942 through 1951. Also included are a number of photographs of book covers used in these catalogs.

Although not a part of this finding aid, the de Grummond Collection holds more than 500 books published by the McLoughlin Brothers from the mid-1800s through the mid-1960s. Information on these titles can be found by visiting the online catalog at http://anna.lib.usm.edu.

Restrictions

Restrictions on Use

Noncirculating; available for research.

Copyright Restrictions

The collection is protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code). Reproductions can be made only if they are to be used for "private study, scholarship, or research." It is the user's responsibility to verify copyright ownership and to obtain all necessary permissions prior to the reproduction, publication, or other use of any portion of these materials, other than that noted above.

Related Material

The de Grummond Collection holds illustrations created by Sari (DG1174), Thomas Nast (DG0726), and Richard Andre (DG0028) who provided illustrations for books published by the McLoughlin Brothers firm.

Oversize material is housed in map case drawer 3M.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

(Identify the item and cite the series), McLoughlin Brothers Papers, de Grummond Children's Literature Collection, The University of Southern Mississippi Libraries.

Provenance

The scrapbook was purchased in April 1972 and the remaining material was acquired through a donation/purchase from Justin G. Schiller, Ltd. in August 1997.

Processing Information

Processed by Dee Jones, March 2002. Encoded into EAD Version 1.0 by Danielle L. Bishop. This finding aid is the product of a grant funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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