Bubble Books
nickjay@worldnet.att.net
This orange label scan is furnished by record collector Carl Swanstrom (cswans@ix.netcom.com)
Initially books 1 through 14 were published by Harper and Brothers. Books 15 and 16 were published by Dodd, Mead and Company. These two books are not known to have had the numbers "15" and "16" printed on the book-they are used for identification and orderliness.
Bubble Books were simultaneously issued in England as "Hodder-Columbia" Bubble Books. The words "Hodder-Columbia" appear on the cover only; the record labels say "Harper-Columbia".
There are reported to be nine books published in Italy although one has actually been seen - that information is below.
Merle Sprinzen, collector of ANY items relating to Little Wonder records, and similar items (eg: Bubble Books) has proposed a theory which, while difficult to absolutely authenticate, has not yet met with any contradictions. That theory is that the initial four books were issued with "color coded" labels". Book #1 and Book #2 initially came with orange labels, blue in Book #3, and red/orange in Book #4. Later issues all had cream colored labels. If anyone can furnish Merle with information confirming or contradicting this theory, please e-mail her at msprinzen@juno.com
Click here to visit Merle's excellent Web page devoted to Little Wonder Records (which includes Bubble Books).
"American" Columbia Bubble Books
Titles are listed in the order in which they appear in their book.
#1--The Bubble Book
Copyright 1917
Record # 737 Tom, Tom, The Piper's Son
Record # 735 Mary Had A Little Lamb
Record # 736 Jack And Jill
#2--Second Bubble Book
Copyright 1918
Record # 823 Simple Simon
Record # 857 Little Bo-Peep
Record # 824 Old King Cole
#3--Third Bubble Book
Copyright 1918
Record # 869 Miss Jennia Jones
Record # 870 The Farmer In The Dell
Record # 871 Lazy Mary
#4--The Animal Bubble Book
Copyright 1918
Record # 872 Three Little Kittens
Record # 873 Three Little Piggies
Record # 876 Three Blind Mice
Fifth Bubble Book-The Pie Party
Copyright 1919
Record # 1082 Little Jack Horner and Sing A Song of Sixpence
Record # 1083 The Queen of Hearts
Record # 1084 Good King Arthur
#6--The Pet Bubble Book
Copyright 1919
Record # 1086 I Love Little Pussy
Record # 1085 I Had A Little Doggie
Record # 1087 Cock-A-Doodle-Doo
#7--The Funny Froggy Bubble Book
Copyright 1919
Record # 1162 A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go
Record # 1151 The Carrion Crow
Record # 1166 The Frog And The Crow
#8--Happy-Go-Lucky Bubble Book
Copyright 1919
Record # 1152 The Jolly Miller
Record # 1163 The Plough Boy In Luck
Record # 1150 Where Are You Going To, My Pretty Maid?"
#9--The Merry Midget Bubble Book
Copyright 1919
Record # 1183 Daddy Long-Legs And Floppy Fly
Record # 1182 The Fly And The Bumble Bee
Record # 1181 The Spider And The Fly
#10--The Little Mischief Bubble Book
Copyright 1920
Record # 1286 There Was A Little Girl
Record # 1285 Oh, Dear! What Can The Matter Be?
Record # 1288 Bobby Shaftoe
#11--Tippy Toe Bubble Book
Copyright 1920
Record # 1289 The City Mouse And The Country Mouse
Record # 1302 Tabbyskins
Record # 1287 Old Mother Hubbard
Scan of this book and record information provided by Allen Koenigsberg, seller of phonograph related literature--
#12--The Gay Games Bubble Book
Copyright 1920
Record #1304 The Mulberry Bush
Record #1303 London Bridge
Record #1305 Oats, Peas, Beans
#13--The Children's Garden Of Verses
Copyright 1922
Record #1394 Bed In Summer
Record #1396 The Swing
Record #1395 My Bed Is A Boat
#14--The Chimney Corner Bubble Book
Copyright 1922
Record # 1397 The North Wind Doth Blow
Record #1515 The Sandman
Record #1513 Old Lullaby
COLUMBIA ELECTRICALLY RECORDED BUBBLE BOOKS
Information supplied by Peter Muldavin (kiddie78s@aol.com) who has a web page that
In 1930, Victor sold the Bubble Book copyright back to Columbia. Columbia issued a boxed set of four electrically recorded Bubble Books in association with Dodd Mead Publishers. The record labels do not have the words "Dodd Mead" on them, only "Columbia". In these books, the three songs are recorded on two 5" records: 1 one-sided and 1 two-sided discs.
Two of the books are reissues of the original Harper-Columbia Bubble Books:
Child's Garden of Verses Bubble Book, previously #13, containing record numbers:
7-BB/W1784: Bed In Summer /W1795: The Swing
8-BB/W1794: My Bed Is A Boat
and
The Chimney Corner Bubble Book,previously #14, containing record numbers:
5-BB/W1790: The North Wind Doth Blow /W1793: The Sandman
6-BB/W1792: Lullaby
The other two are listed below
Picture of Book #15 and Electrical label supplied by record collector Stefan Aaron
The Robin And Wren Bubble Book, designated #15:
Copyright 1930
1-BB/W1788 (label/matrix): Cock Robin And Jenny Wren / W1789: Who Killed Cock Robin
2-BB/1791: The Death Of Jenny Wren
Higgledy Piggledy Bubble Book, designated #16:
3-BB/W1787: The Dairyman /W1785: The Little Old Woman
4-BB/W1786: The Old Man Who Lived In A Wood
"American" Victor Bubble Books
Little known is the fact that the Victor Talking Machine Company copyrighted the Bubble Book and began issuing them in "double" volumes. The books were larger, measuring 9-7/16 x 7-11/16, and contained 3-7" double-sided records. The numbers I've used below do not appear on the books themselves-I use them only for identification and to maintain some sense of order.
Please contact me if you can supply record numbers for the "???" below.
Some record info supplied by collector Gene Scranton (elsgburg@aol.com).
The First and The Mother Goose Bubble Books
Copyright 1924
Record # 200-A Tom, Tom, The Piper's Son
Record # 200-B Mary Had A Little Lamb
Record # 201-A Jack And Jill
Record # 201-B Simple Simon
Record # 202-A Little Bo Peep
Record # 202-B Old King Cole
Scan and record information provided by Merle Sprinzen (msprinzen@juno.com), collector of ANY items relating to Little Wonder records, and similar items (eg: Bubble Books)
The Singing Games and the Animal Bubble Books
Copyright 1924
Record #203-A Miss Jennia Jones
Record #203-B The Farmer In the Dell
Record #204-A Lazy Mary
Record #204-B The Three Little Kittens
Record #205-A The Three Little Piggies
Record #205-B The Three Blind Mice
Scan supplied by Merle Sprinzen (see Victor Bubble Book #2)
Record information supplied by Jim Barr (ebay ID vintage_victor)-phono memorabilia collector specializing in Franklyn Baur, Paul Whiteman/Bix Beiderbecke, and Jean Goldkette/Bix Beiderbecke.
The Pie Party and the Pet Bubble Books.
Copyright 1924
Record #206-A Little Jack Horner and Sing a Song of Sixpence
Record #206-B The Queen of Hearts
Record #207-A Good King Arthur
Record #207-B I Love Little Pussy
Record #208-A I Had a Little Doggy
Record #208-B Cock-a-doodle-doo!
The Funny Froggy and The Little Mischief Bubble Books
Copyright 1924
Record # 209-A A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go
Record # 209-B The Carrion Crow
Record # 210-A The Frog And The Crow
Record # 210-B There Was A Little Girl
Record # 211-A Oh, Dear! What Can The Matter Be?
Record # 211-B Bobby Shaftoe
Scan supplied by Merle Sprinzen (see Victor Bubble Book #2)
Record information supplied by collector Steve Smolian
The Tippy Toe and the Gay Games Bubble Book
Copyright 1924
Record #212-A The City Mouse and the Country Mouse
Record #212-B Mother Tabbyskins
Record #213-A Old Mother Hubbard
Record #213-B The Mulberry Bush
Record #214-A London Bridge
Record #214-B Oats, Peas, Beans
Record numbers supplied by Peter Muldavin
The Child's Garden Of Verses and The Chimney Corner Bubble Book
Copyright 1924
Record #215-A Bed In Summer
Record #215-B The Swing
Record #216-A My Bed Is A Boat
Record #216-B The North Wind Doth Blow
Record #217-A The Sandman
Record #217-B Old Lullaby
RARE "American" Bubble Book Item
The scans of this unusual and delightful book were furnished by Merle Sprinzen (see Victor Bubble Book #2). This self explanatory book is probably the rarest Bubble Book item to be found - thank you, Merle, for sharing it with us!!!
Italian Bubble Books
The following information is supplied by collector Stefan Aaron who owns the Bubble Book pictured here.
Book 9 is about the same size as an "American" Bubble Book but about a half inch taller. It has artwork inside as well but only on the first and record sleeve pages.
It's marked that the book is made by the Columbia Graphophone Co. Ltd. of Milano.
Song titles are:
La Canzone Dei Balocchi Che Vanno A Destinazione
La Canzone Delle Bambole
Pastorale Di Natale
This Bubble Book contains a list of other Italian Bubble Books. Lists in books have been known to be incorrect so judge the information accordingly.
1: Le Nozze di Bamboletta
2: Bebe racconta la Guerra
3: C'era una volta un piccolo Naviglio
4: I sogni dei Bimbi Buoni
5: La Spiaggia di San Peciolino
6: I Libri di Gigetto
7: Le Maschere in cerca d'impiego
8: I Confetti in Guerra
9: La Notte di Natale
"American" Bubble Book Advertising
The Victor Talking Machine Company published a small brochure advertising their Bubble Books---It measures 5" in diameter and contains 8 pages including covers. Each page contains a picture of the cover and a list of record titles. Six books are listed/pictured but I don't know for sure all were issued. The brochure is Victor form #7462--RAA, printed November 1924.
Bubble Books were advertised in magazines and were even reviewed, just like a "real" book. See below for some of these items.
Double-sided advertising flyer from Sears, Roebuck measuring 4-15/16" x 7"
A magazine ad from the October 1920 issue of The Ladies Home Journal. It measures 10-5/8" x 16"
Book review probably from the 11/15/1920 issue of The Bookseller Newsdealer and Stationer. Each page measures 7" x 10"
Scan supplied by Merle Sprinzen, mentioned above.
This double-page ad came from a 1920 issue (month unknown) of Harper's Magazine.
Each page measures 6-5/8" x 9-3/4"
First page of a 2-page magazine ad from the 11/15/1920 issue of The Bookseller Newsdealer and Stationer. Each pages measures 7" x 10"
Second page of a 2-page magazine ad from the 11/15/1920 issue of The Bookseller Newsdealer and Stationer. Each pages measures 7" x 10"
Scan supplied by Merle Sprinzen, mentioned above.
A magazine ad reported to be from a 1922 Harper's Magazine.
This ad measures 6-1/4" x 9-3/4"
Bubble Book Phonograph
Collector Kevin Pooler dredged from the recesses of my memory that Victor produced a phonograph decorated with Bubble Book figures. Kevin owns one of these but I appear to have misplaced the pic as well as his e-mail address so........... But here are some advertising for the phono.
We sell the full-line of crank phonograph records, parts, memorablilia---anything we can turn up. Search ebay using our e-mail address as ID.
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