Friday, March 30, 2018

The Adventures of Space Bunny (1958)



I often have a Xmas post each year, this year it is my first Easter post!

This coloring book is rather generic except it is unique to me about how some animals decided to explore space.

The Adventures of Space Bunny. Akron, Ohio: Saalfield Publishing Co. 22 pp. 1958  #2051

In the interest of truth in advertising it is actually the adventures of space bunny AND mouse since you should always travel with a buddy.

 In this age of Sputnik you can read a book of spaceship designs and find the one you need.

 One must carefully plan your supplies for the trip although it look like eggs were not part of the plan (sorry for the Easter letdown).
 The big breakthrough was in helmet design allowing the ears to retain function in vacuum
 I appreciate the innovative design that eliminates a hatch, instead of making the entire floor the door

 The mastery of orbital dynamics and speed of flight makes a direct ballistic path to the Moon the least complicated one available.
Their interactions with the Moon natives is classified so we will have to leave them out at this time.  Happy Easter/Spring/delayed equinox to all!

Friday, March 23, 2018

Towards the Dream (1958) Part 2

Landing on Mars?

This is a continuation of last week's post.  There are so many nice illustrations that I broke this up into 2 parts:


Towards the Dream. Lyapunov. Moscow. 167 pp. 17 cm. 1958

I will welcome any better translation of the title.

 Exploring other planets in the solar system? This might be Mercury

 This has to be Venus

 Really not sure what they are doing/sampling here

 Again the Sun is so large it must be Mercury

 Mining on the Moon?
 Visiting the moons of Jupiter
 The moons of Saturn
Outside of the solar system?

Friday, March 16, 2018

Towards the Dream (1958)



This is a small Russian space book. It was not for children but has many great illustrations of a possible space future. There are so many nice illustrations that I will break this up into 2 parts:


Towards the Dream. Lyapunov. Moscow. 167 pp. 17 cm. 1958

I will welcome any better translation of the title.

Landing on the Moon

 It seems to me that all these illustrations were done as painting but it was too expensive to make them all in color.  Maybe someone else recognizes the artist or the source?


 I like the aquatic return to earth.
 This section focuses on building the space station


 Hydroponics in Space!!!!

 This section seems to be about the landing on Mars




Friday, March 9, 2018

Rocket Your Sales with School Book Covers (1965)


Rocket Your Sales with School Book Covers (1965) is a fun piece of ephemera  that brings back my childhood love of space stuff.

I remember when you were asked to cover all your textbooks. You would check them out from the school and were required to put covers on them. In the beginning these were cut-up brown paper bags but soon you could buy covers (or better yet get them for free.) These free book covers usually had some sort of advertising on them which was an opportunity for a salesmen. This was a book of sample covers you could show your clients.




So today's post is only about showing off this book cover, which I had as a child.

Of course you had to have your class schedule on the book.

Friday, March 2, 2018

Lockheed Coloring Book (1960)



Lockheed Coloring Book: Visit Lockheed with Jerry and Kathy.  New York: Saalfield Pub. Co.  (64 p.) 27 cm. #1615. 1960.

 While mostly about airplanes and airplane design, there are a few "space-age" illustrations. For example Jerry's father looks like he designs rockets and not airplanes.


 The fighter jets are very impressive.

 Jerry's father is also interested in atomic energy. Say, what kind of rockets is he designing?

 This caption speaks for itself: "Jerry and Kathy asked many questions about the U-2." Of course most were not answered and the DOD needed to take them away for questioning later but that is another coloring book :)