25:
245:, Haldeman-Julius sold his books not only in bookstores but everywhere he could reach the consumer, including drugstores, toy stores, even his own line of vending machines. Mail-order customers checked-off the titles they wanted and mailed in the order form, with $ 1 (20 books) being the minimum order. Many bookstores kept a book rack stocked with many Little Blue Book titles. Their small size and low price made them especially popular with travelers and transient working people.
119:, a wide range of ideas, common sense knowledge and various points of view out to as large an audience as possible. These books, at approximately 3½ by 5 inches (8.9 by 12.7 cm) easily fit into a working man's back pocket or shirt pocket. The inspiration for the series were cheap 10-cent paperback editions of various expired copyright classic works that Haldeman-Julius had purchased as a 15-year-old (the
170:, stapled and bound with a red stiff paper cover for 25 cents. The name changed over the first few years (as did the color of the binding), at times known as the People's Pocket Series, the Appeal Pocket Series, the Ten Cent Pocket Series, the Five Cent Pocket Series, and finally the one that took, Little Blue Books in 1923. The price remained at 5-cents a copy for many years.
161:
Five thousand readers took me up, which meant I had $ 25,000 to work with. I hurried through the 50 titles (and they were good ones, too, for I haven't believed in trash at any time in my life) and got many letters expressing satisfaction with the venture. Encouraged, I announced a second batch of 50
248:
If a book sold less than 10,000 copies in one year, Haldeman-Julius would remove it from his line, but usually only after trying a new title, often creating a hit. For instance, "The Tallow Ball" by Guy de
Maupassant sold 15,000 copies one year, but 54,700 the next year after the title was changed
385:
viewed the Little Blue Books' inclusion of such subjects as socialism, atheism, and frank treatment of sexuality as a threat and put
Haldeman-Julius on their enemies list, getting him convicted of income tax evasion. This persecution caused a rapid decline in the number of bookstores carrying the
129:
It was winter, and I was cold, but I sat down on a bench and read that booklet straight through, without a halt, and never did I so much as notice that my hands were blue, that my wet nose was numb, and that my ears felt as hard as glass. Never until then, or since, did any piece of printed matter
394:
At the time of
Emanuel Haldeman-Julius's death on July 31, 1951, the series supported 1873 active titles. The works continued to be reprinted until the Girard printing plant and warehouse was destroyed by fire in 1978 with 1914 total titles published. In the 1950s the San Diego, California-based
235:. To save ad space, only the book titles were listed, organized by topic headings such as âPhilosophy,â âHow-To,â or âSex.â Many classics were cut down to fit the publishing requirements, which Haldeman-Julius justified as "boring text", pioneering the concept later used by
390:
FBI file contains clear indications concerning the interest of the FBI on
Haldeman-Julius Publications by 1955, after an anonymous letter in late 1954 alerted the government to a book that was under press "vilifying" the Cardinal.
178:
In just nine years the idea caught on all around the globe as the Little Blue Books were finding their ways into the pockets of laborers, scholars, and the average citizen. The St. Louis
Dispatch called Haldeman-Julius "the
148:
was not the influential newspaper it had been, its printing presses (and more importantly the 175,000 names on its subscriber lists) would prove to be crucial. Before anything had even been printed, Haldeman-Julius asked
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move me more deeply...I'd been lifted out of this world - and by a 10¢ booklet. I thought, at the moment, how wonderful it would be if thousands of such booklets could be made available.
115:, set out to publish small low price paperback pocketbooks that were intended to sweep the ranks of the working class as well as the "educated" class. Their goal was to get works of
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of $ 5; at 10 cents a pamphlet, he would then, at staggered intervals, send them 50 pamphlets which he would be able to print with the upfront money. Things went very well:
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Little Blue Books, and they slowly sank into obscurity by the 1950s, although still well remembered by older people who had read them in the 1920s and 1930s. The
Cardinal
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and promoted through sensationalistic advertisements (e.g. âAt last! Books are cheaper than hamburgers!â) in newspapers and magazines such as
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titles, and called for $ 5 subscriptions...Meanwhile, the booklets were selling well to readers who hadn't subscribed for batches of 50.
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311:. Some of the topics the Little Blue Books covered were on the cutting edge of societal norms. Alongside books on making
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Johnson, Richard Colles and G. Thomas
Tanselle. âThe Haldeman-Julius âLittle Blue Booksâ as a Bibliographical Problem.â
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92:
are a series of small staple-bound books published from 1919 through 1978 by the
Haldeman-Julius Publishing Company of
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viewpoints (#1500 - "Why I Am an
Agnostic: Including Expressions of Faith from a Protestant a Catholic and a Jew" by
166:
In 1919 they began printing these works at a rate of 24,000 a day in a series called Appeal's Pocket Series on cheap
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96:. They were extremely popular, and achieved a total of 300-500 million booklets sold over the series' lifetime. A
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although only about 300 new titles were released during the 1930s, the bulk appearing prior to 1932. Following
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of literature". Among the better known names of the day to support the Little Blue Books were
Emperor
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37:
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http://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-self-publish-500000000-books-create-huge-business-james-altucher
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315:(#518 - "How to Make All Kinds of Candy" by Helene Paquin) and classic literature (#246 -
277:
208:
112:
551:, Emanuel Haldeman-Julius, 1960, published in New York; citation and quotation taken from
510:, Emanuel Haldeman-Julius, 1960, published in New York; citation and quotation taken from
323:) were ones exploring same-sex love (#692 - "Homo-Sexual Life" by William J Fielding) and
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Series of books published from 1919 through 1978 by the Haldeman-Julius Publishing Company
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Little Blue Book Collection: Archival set of Little Blue Books, (853 titles). From the
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796:, vol. 64 (1970), pp. 29â57. Reprinted by the Haldeman-Julius Collectors Club,
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wrote a series of Blue Books on philosophy which were republished in 1926 by
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cites them as a major source of his own early reading in his autobiography
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were published, as were a number of anti-religious tracts written by
260:. Other writers who recall reading the series in their youth include
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617:"Resources for Collectors: Torch Bearers in the War on Ignorance!"
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and Shakespeare were well represented, as were the works of the
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Demand for existing titles remained steady throughout the
832:
at the Amherst College Archives & Special Collections
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Little Blue Book collection at San Diego State University
404:
Collections of the series are housed in the libraries at
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853:
Haldeman-Julius: Pocket Series and the Little Blue Books
743:"Haldeman-Julius (Emanuel) Little Blue Books Collection"
439:"Emanuel Haldeman-Julius Little Blue Books Collection"
820:
E. Haldeman-Julius Collection at Leonard Axe Library
331:). Shorter works from many popular authors such as
401:bought out most of their supply and raised prices.
693:"Haldeman-Julius Publications, Little Blue Books"
252:Many famous people grew up on Little Blue Books.
877:
46:but its sources remain unclear because it lacks
557:Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism
516:Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism
475:Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism
361:, a popular work that remains in print today.
287:The works covered were frequently classics of
830:Haldeman-Julius "Little Blue Book" Collection
134:In 1919 they purchased a publishing house in
871:Little Blue Books bibliography by Jake Gibbs
775:, no. 1 (Haldeman-Julius Collectors Club).
859:full-page Little Blue Books advertisement
837:Rare Book and Special Collection Division
125:being especially enthralling). He wrote:
77:Learn how and when to remove this message
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718:"SpColl 20: Little Bluebook Collection"
668:"Haldeman-Julius collection, 1895-1996"
639:"Cardinal Francis Spellman Part 1 of 5"
465:
463:
447:California State University, Northridge
418:California State University, Northridge
347:, and Haldeman-Julius himself. A young
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249:to "A French Prostitute's Sacrifice".
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782:(compiled Albert Mordell, foreword
437:Opper, Brian (September 21, 2021).
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793:Bibliographical Society of America
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395:atheist-Freethinker publication
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646:Federal Bureau of Investigation
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745:. Online Archive of California
722:Bowling Green State University
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414:Bowling Green State University
199:, who took along a set to the
153:'s subscribers to send him an
1:
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867:, 29 Jan. 1923, p. 12).
780:The World of Haldeman-Julius
549:The World of Haldeman-Julius
508:The World of Haldeman-Julius
258:Education of a Wandering Man
7:
579:; cover design John Candell
538:; cover design John Candell
497:; cover design John Candell
10:
907:
846:
786:). New York: Twayne, 1960.
778:Haldeman-Julius, Emanuel.
672:Pittsburg State University
406:Pittsburg State University
103:
100:range was also published.
769:Little Blue Book Handlist
32:This article includes a
358:The Story of Philosophy
109:Emanuel Haldeman-Julius
61:more precise citations.
577:Henry Holt and Company
536:Henry Holt and Company
495:Henry Holt and Company
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132:
122:Ballad of Reading Gaol
864:Philadelphia Inquirer
697:Kent State University
410:Kent State University
365:Decline in popularity
343:, ex-Catholic priest
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127:
353:Simon & Schuster
278:William S. Burroughs
232:Ladiesâ Home Journal
209:Information, Please!
138:from their employer
841:Library of Congress
773:Big Blue Newsletter
621:Haldeman-Julius.org
337:Henry David Thoreau
321:William Shakespeare
243:guerrilla marketing
861:with 1260 titles (
791:The Papers of the
443:Peek in the Stacks
289:Western literature
213:Most were sold by
34:list of references
891:Popular education
767:Davenport, Tim. "
565:978-0-8050-7776-6
524:978-0-8050-7776-6
483:978-0-8050-7776-6
205:Franklin P. Adams
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388:Francis Spellman
341:Robert Ingersoll
241:. A pioneer in
193:W. E. B. Du Bois
151:Appeal to Reason
146:Appeal to Reason
141:Appeal to Reason
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57:this article by
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627:on May 3, 2015.
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383:J. Edgar Hoover
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329:Clarence Darrow
238:Reader's Digest
226:Popular Science
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38:related reading
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297:Ancient Greeks
266:Harlan Ellison
185:Haile Selassie
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136:Girard, Kansas
111:and his wife,
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94:Girard, Kansas
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749:December 10,
747:. Retrieved
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727:December 10,
725:. Retrieved
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702:December 10,
700:. Retrieved
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677:December 10,
675:. Retrieved
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652:December 10,
650:. Retrieved
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625:the original
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553:Susan Jacoby
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512:Susan Jacoby
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471:Susan Jacoby
450:. Retrieved
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375:World War II
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282:Studs Terkel
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67:October 2018
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53:Please help
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814:Collections
349:Will Durant
333:Jack London
309:H. G. Wells
270:Jack Conroy
262:Saul Bellow
59:introducing
880:Categories
469:pg 265 of
424:References
371:Depression
305:Ămile Zola
215:mail order
201:South Pole
195:, Admiral
181:Henry Ford
174:Popularity
168:pulp paper
117:literature
798:Corvallis
547:pg 30 of
506:pg 28 of
559:, 2004,
518:, 2004,
477:, 2004,
325:agnostic
301:Voltaire
189:Ethiopia
847:General
839:at the
155:advance
104:Origins
55:improve
571:
563:
530:
522:
489:
481:
416:, and
381:under
377:, the
317:Hamlet
293:Goethe
229:, and
203:, and
113:Marcet
642:(PDF)
313:candy
40:, or
802:here
751:2023
729:2023
704:2023
679:2023
654:2023
601:here
569:ISBN
561:ISBN
528:ISBN
520:ISBN
487:ISBN
479:ISBN
454:2021
335:and
280:and
220:Life
771:."
555:'s
514:'s
473:'s
412:,
379:FBI
355:as
319:by
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207:of
187:of
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