‘Tis the season for gift giving. Santa’s bag is overflowing with toys, clothes, electronic games, and lots of surprises. One gift tucked deep in the bag most likely is a book, and while it may not be at the top of a child’s list (or even an adult’s) it is a gift that will endure; clothes wear out and toys break or get discarded. One reason books are popular gifts during the holiday season is the listing of new titles in promotional pieces like the New York Times Review of Books.
Books have featured prominently as holiday gifts in Indianapolis homes probably because of the location of publisher Bobbs-Merrill Co. in the heart of the city for many years. As one of the country’s leading publishing houses, Bobbs-Merrill published over 100 Hoosier authors and the popularity of their titles along with local pride made their works desired Christmas gifts. The most sought-after book gift in the closing years of the nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth century, the Golden Age of Indiana Literature, was the latest work by Indiana poet James Whitcomb Riley.
Writing verse for the Indianapolis Journal, Riley soon developed a following of readers and to satisfy the demand for his poems he published a few of the more popular ones in The Old Swimmin’-hole, and ‘Leven More Poems (1883). In addition to the titled poem, this little volume contained “When the Frost is on the Punkin.” In the following years, many of Riley’s poems that were admired by the reading public like “Lockerbie Street,” “Old Aunt Mary’s,” “The Raggedy Man,” and “Little Orphant Annie” were collected from the pages of the Journal and published in time for the Christmas season. Books like The Raggedy Man (1907) and The Orphant Annie Book (1908), designed specifically for children with selected poems and colorfully illustrated by Ethel Franklin Betts, were published in time for Christmas. Earlier, Riley Child-Rhymes with Hoosier Pictures (1898), illustrated by Hoosier artist Will Vawter, found its way beneath the Christmas tree in many an Indianapolis home.
Other Indianapolis newspaper writers had volumes of their collected works ready for the Christmas season. For nearly a quarter of a century, a holiday staple was Abe Martin’s Almanack containing the wit and wisdom of Abe Martin, a character created by Indianapolis News illustrator and humorist Frank McKinney “Kin” Hubbard. Holiday shoppers looked forward to being one of the lucky ones to get a copy of the limited edition Almanack containing the latest sayings of Abe and his fellow Brown County folk. Those looking for a unique gift in December 1915 might have come across Songs of the Streets and Byways, a compilation of poems by News columnist William Herschell and illustrated with photos of Hoosier scenes and people. Herschell’s popular poem, “Aint God Good to Indiana?” was included in The Smile Bringer and Other Bits of Cheer (1919). Photos by News photographer of Paul Shideler illustrated this little holiday volume of verse.
Novels were also popular Christmas gifts as When Knighthood Was in Flower proved to be for holiday shoppers in 1898. Written by Hoosier Charles Major under the pseudonym Edwin Caskoden, the book gave rise to the genre of historical romantic stories. The House of a Thousand Candles by Meredith Nicholson in 1905 offered a gift of “romance and adventure flavored with mystery and delightful surprises” as one review described the book which was illustrated by Howard Chandler Christy. Two years later Nicholson wrote a sequel, Rosalind at Redgate, that came out in time for Christmas and quickly found its way nestled under the tree. The illustrator of this book was Arthur I. Keller whose illustrations for The Clansman (1905) provided inspiration for the regalia of the Ku Klux Klan.
Not all Indiana authors were published locally. Booth Tarkington selected Doubleday & McClure Co. for his 1899 holiday offering The Gentleman From Indiana, “a strong novel of Indiana country folk…that won immediate popularity.” Tarkington’s The Magnificent Ambersons (1918), “a novel depicting real American life during the big, growing time in the life of an American city,” was a sought-after Christmas gift. Doubleday, Page & Co. published Freckles by Hoosier novelist Gene Stratton Porter in time for the 1904 holiday season, and her “exquisitely simple love story,” A Girl of the Limberlost, illustrated by Wladyslaw T. Benda, was ready in ample time to be found in bookstores at Christmas time in 1909.
Story books for children have always been in demand for Christmas. The Raggedy Ann doll may have been created by Indianapolis Star illustrator Johnny Gruelle before he left Irvington and Indiana to make his home in Connecticut, but by the end of the ‘teens the doll and Raggedy Ann Stories, written and illustrated by Gruelle, were sought-after Christmas gifts for children. Their popularity only increased with the debut of the Raggedy Andy doll and tales of his mischievous adventures in Raggedy Andy Stories in 1920. Gruelle also wrote and colorfully illustrated a series of books based on these dolls that included Raggedy Ann and Andy and the Camel with the Wrinkled Knees (1924), Raggedy Ann’s Alphabet Book (1925), and Raggedy Ann and Maizie Moocow (1937). He also introduced children to other characters such as Mr. Twee Deedle (1913), The Friendly Fairies (1919), Eddie Elephant (1921), Johnny Mouse and the Wishing Stick (1922), and Beloved Belinda (1926).
Another prolific Irvington writer of children’s books was Wallace C. Wadsworth. After graduating from Butler College in 1918, Wadsworth became a book salesman for Bobbs-Merrill Co. He authored the retelling of old classic stories like Paul Bunyan and His Great Blue Ox. Beautifully illustrated by Will Crawford, the book was published in time for the 1926 holidays. The following year, Wadsworth retold twenty of the best children’s tales that included Peter Rabbit, the Gingerbread Man, the Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs, Henny Penny, and the Pied Piper in The Real Story Book. Holiday shoppers found the book with its colorful illustrations by Margaret Evans Price a perfect gift for children.
If you find under the tree among Santa’s surprises a book this Christmas season, treasure the thoughtfulness of the giver, especially if it’s a children’s book. In the years to come you will find it on a shelf or stashed away in a place where things of memory are kept and unlike most gifts of long ago you can dust it off and share it with your children and grandchildren.
