The Pop-Up World of Ann Montanaro

Past and Present

(1884-1949)

Winter. The Little Showman's [JPG 146K] Series no. 2. New York, McLoughlin Bros., 1884.
Description: 27 x 35 cm. McLoughlin issued four titles in their 1884 Little Showman's Series; Autumn, Spring, and Summer. Each are rendered in similar manner. The stiff board cover lifts up to reveal a single, three-dimensional, chromolithographed scene. In this example the tab on the side of the house pulls out forming a box within the scene revealing the interior of the house. The verse "Winter: what we do at merry Christmas time" is printed at the base of the scene. The illustration on the cover shows children sledding and ice skating.

Peeps into Fairyland: A Panorama picture book of fairy stories With an introduction by F.E. Weatherly.
London: E. Nister; New York: E.P. Dutton, [ca. 1896]
Description: 28 x 36 cm. 28 pages.This beautiful, colorful book has six three-dimensional scenes, operated by linen tabs, which pull up the four layers of scenery when the opposing page is opened. The scenes are: "The procession of Nursery Rhymes" (based on "Naughty Noel" by E. Nesbit; "A visit to the Snow Queen's palace" (from "The fairy fir-cones by M.A. Hoyer); The fairies' lake ("The fly-away flock" by M.A. Hoyer); "Jack and the beanstalk;" "The queen of the bird fairies" (from E. Nesbit's "The blue bird"); and "The babes in the woods." Shown here is "The Fairies' Lake" a delicate image with boats pulled by swans. The reflections are mirrored in the still water.

Little pets: A panorama picture book of animals. [JPG 74K] Text by L. L. Weedon. Verses by Clifton Bingham. Printed in Bavaria. London, Nister; New York, E. P. Dutton, [ca. 1896]
Description: 22 x 32 cm. 24 pages. A collection of stories and verses. Black and white illustrations are interspersed throughout the text. Four, three-dimensional scenes emerge behind flower-bordered frames. Linen tabs adhered to the left margin pull up the pastel renditions of young children with animals. In this flower-framed picture, a young girl feeds the pet rabbits. The pastel colors of the border flowers and leaves are repeated in rabbit cage, the building walls, and the pale blue of the girl's dress.

The Daily Express children's annual: Introducing self-erecting models to illustrate the stories: no. 4. [JPG 55K] S. Louis Giraud, editor. London, Lane Publications (Daily Express Books Department), [1932].
Description: 17 x 23 cm. 92 numbered pages. Cover design: a pelican. Models: (1) Under the sea Ä the fishes' midnight ball (a sheet of cellophane gives the illusion of water); (2) peacock Ä pride and vanity; (3) the palace of Tania (Moorish peep show); (4) teaching dolly to walk (with a three-sided pop-up dollhouse); (5) the mermaid's surprise (with babies on an oyster shell); (6) the pelican; (7) the pavement hawkers. Four full-color plates and black-and-white illustrations accompany the 22 stories. All pop-ups are double-page printed on both front and back. The first model in the book is shown above.

Bobby bear.[JPG 97K] "Magic Action" Book. Racine, Wisconsin, Whitman Publishing Co., 1935.
Description: 19 x 19 cm. 25 numbered pages. Bozo, the Teddy Bear, wants to leave the toy shop for a real home, but after he is purchased, he faces a number of unexpected adventures. The illustrated bear on the cover is a humanized grizzly bear, presumably Bobby, but the bear throughout the book is a cuddly Teddy Bear named Bozo. In addition to this pop-up inside the front cover, there is a center pop-up of the toy shop, and a third pop-up inside the back cover of Bozo being blown by the wind.

Picnic day. [JPG 155K] By Martha Paulsen. A. Schenk, animator. Akron, Ohio, Saalfield Publishing Co., 1946.
Description: 19 x 26 cm. 28 pages. Issued with a dust cover, this book is spiral bound and the text and illustrations are printed parallel to the spine. A family spends the day having a picnic at the fair grounds. Each of the three colorful pop-ups includes part of the illustration on a fine wooden dowel. The reader can turn the dowel to move the horses on the carousel (as shown here), twirl the trapeze artist, or spin the riders suspended in an overhead ride.

Play time in action. [JPG 121K] William Kemp Tilley, illustrator. Newton, Massachusetts, Walter P. Phillips, 1949.
Description: 21 x 25 cm. 18 pages. Spiral bound. Issued in a lightweight cardboard box. Includes poems by Celia Mary Kennedy, "The candy shop," and "Workmanship"; story by Louise Dyer Harris, "The queeriest pocket"; and words and music to "Here we go 'round the mulberry bush." Five double-page, fanfolded pop-ups. Text printed parallel to the spine. The illustration displayed is a simple fanfolded pop-up entitled "Helping on the farm," with children gathering apples and milking the cow.

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