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155:. In 1920, aware that they must be approaching a saturation point, Scherman and Sackheim decided to diversify and formed the advertising firm of Sackheim & Scherman. Their experiences at the Little Leather Library Corporation taught them that although they had tapped a profitable wellspring of customers by operating outside retail outlets, they could not be profitable unless buyers were "hooked" to return for continuing purchases. They took these lessons with them to their next enterprise, the
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In 1920, Scherman and
Sackheim began marketing the books directly by mail. The mail-order scheme relied on a combination of publication advertising and direct circulating to reach those who bought only by mail as well as individuals who might never set foot in traditional bookstores . A 30-volume set
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Although its heyday was brief, the company’s successful marketing strategies meant that the market was flooded with millions of copies of the volumes. It is easy to find copies on the market; many families have incomplete or full sets passed down through the generations. A boxed set of 30 volumes
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During World War I, the Little
Leather Library Corporation marketed their volumes as gifts to send to soldiers and sailors overseas as “Something that will make their minds normal, and keep them normal.” A box, ready for shipping to overseas soldiers, was offered with the purchase of ten books.
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in the Little
Leather Library Corporation and renamed the company as published by the new Robert K. Haas, Inc. (Little Leather Library changed to Little Luxart Company, as embossed on the back cover of the new shiny red leatherette books.) But by 1925, the company was no longer publishing new
96:
for ten cents each. In 1917, it is estimated
Woolworth's ordered over 1 million copies. The Little Leather Library Corp. later issued a set of “Thirty World’s Greatest Masterpieces,” capitalizing on the clamor for access to liberal culture and providing consumers with a “handsome mahogany or
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of
Philadelphia and in 1916 proposed to Whitman's the concept of the “Library Package”, a box that would include a copy of a literary classic enclosed with Whitman's chocolates. Whitman’s Co. ordered a total of 15,000 copies of fifteen of
35:, and Max Sackheim. From 1916 to 1923(?) the Little Leather Library Corporation issued 101 literary classics in miniature editions and sold over 25 million little books through department stores, bookstores, drugstores, and by mail.
120:
Whitman’s modified its
Library Package and renamed it “Service Chocolates—Sweets with a book," a “vest-pocket edition of classics”, packed with the company’s chocolates, that could be purchased and sent overseas to American troops.
113:, the publishers switched to synthetic bindings which, it turned out, smelled bad in hot weather. Despite that setback, by 1920 the Little Leather Library had marketed over twenty-five million volumes, many of them by mail.
53:
The Little
Leather Library Corporation was conceived of by publisher brothers Charles and Albert Boni in about 1914. Inspired by the example of a cigarette company that gave away free miniature copies of works by
91:
The enterprise prospered. Scherman resigned from J. Walter
Thompson to become president of the Little Leather Library Corporation and oversee production. After the Whitman’s order came additional titles, sold by
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671:
38:
Sometime in the 1920s, Robert K. Haas acquired a controlling interest and he renamed the company Robert K. Haas, Inc., sometime before it stopped publishing new titles in 1925.
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The company was eventually bought out by Robert K. Haas, who worked for the mail-order subsidiary of J. Walter
Thompson. In 1922 he purchased a seventy-five-percent
97:
quartered oak bookrack ... attractive enough to ornament any library table” for purchasers to display their refinement. In the first year, sixty titles — all in the
109:
World War I affected production and distribution of the Little
Leather Library titles. As leather prices rose, primarily due to the demand for leather during
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contracted for 250,000 thirty-volume sets from Robert K. Haas, Inc, which they offered to send free to any subscriber who would promise to take
88:. The team scrambled to collect the $ 5,000 startup capital needed to print the books, which they acquired with the help of A. L. Pelton.
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In 1917, the Boni brothers sold their interest in the company and went on to other undertakings, including the founding of the
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Mary E. Abshire Collection, Dickinson Research Center, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
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The Charlotte M. Smith Collection of Miniature Books, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Iowa
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Scherman suggested approaching the manufacturer of a product the high cost of which might justify inclusion of a
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64:. In 1916 they showed their prototype to ad men Harry Scherman and Maxwell Sackheim, who worked at
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A Feeling for Books: The Book-of-the-Month Club, Literary Taste, and Middle-Class Desires
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A Feeling for Books: The Book-of-the-Month Club, Literary Taste, and Middle-Class Desire
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A Feeling for Books: The Book-of-the-Month Club, Literary Taste, and Middle-Class Desire
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A Feeling for Books: The Book-of-the-Month Club, Literary Taste, and Middle-Class Desire
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A Feeling for Books: The Book-of-the-Month Club, Literary Taste, and Middle-Class Desire
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with each tobacco purchase, the brothers created a prototype — a miniature copy of
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Stanley, Robert Jennings (1917). "Are Americans as Cultured as Europeans?".
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101:— were published, and one million were sold in a little over a year.
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509:. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. p. 159.
397:. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. p. 159.
339:. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. p. 159.
281:. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. p. 158.
220:. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. p. 158.
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607:. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. pp.
368:. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. pp.
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Advertisement for the Little Leather Library Corporation in
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A History of Book Publishing in the United States, Vol. III
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A History of Book Publishing in the United States (Vol. 3)
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Guide to the Little Leather Library Collection, 1920–1924
672:"The Charlotte M. Smith Collection of Miniature Books"
444:. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina. pp.
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568:A History of Book Publishing in the United States
246:A History of Book Publishing in the United States
203:"Library of Congress LCCN Permalink no2007104676"
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712:, at CalPoly Special Collections (calpoly.edu)
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570:. New York: R. R. Bowker Co. p. 288.
534:. New York: R. R. Bowker Co. p. 257.
306:. New York: R. R. Bowker Co. p. 288.
248:. New York: R. R. Bowker Co. p. 288.
741:Publishing companies of the United States
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41:Scherman, Sackheim, and Haas created the
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27:founded in New York City by Charles and
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716:Little Leather Library Corporation
21:Little Leather Library Corporation
14:
757:
693:
603:The Making of Middle-Brow Culture
485:"Milestones at Whitman's Candies"
469:"Who Thought of It--A Soldier?".
440:The Making of Middle-Brow Culture
364:The Making of Middle-Brow Culture
167:volumes. The publishing house of
79:, Scherman was familiar with the
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655:"A Vast Mail-Order Program".
302:Tebbel, John William (1981).
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599:Rubin, Joan Shelley (1992).
436:Rubin, Joan Shelley (1992).
360:Rubin, Joan Shelley (1992).
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632:Madison, Charles A (1966).
16:American publishing company
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636:Book Publishing in America
505:Radway, Janice A. (1997).
393:Radway, Janice A. (1997).
335:Radway, Janice A. (1997).
277:Radway, Janice A. (1997).
216:Radway, Janice A. (1997).
66:J. Walter Thompson Company
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181:21st Century Market Value
659:: 1420. 17 October 1925.
144:was marketed at $ 2.98.
81:Whitman's Candy Company
471:The Illustrated Review
157:Book-of-the-Month Club
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43:Book of the Month Club
657:The Publishers Weekly
564:Tebbel, John Williams
242:Tebbel, John Williams
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164:controlling interest
720:Library of Congress
174:The Literary Digest
169:Funk & Wagnalls
86:Shakespeare's plays
56:William Shakespeare
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125:Mail-Order Markets
25:publishing company
670:Neavill, Gordon.
577:978-0-8352-0499-6
541:978-0-8352-0499-6
313:978-0-8352-0499-6
255:978-0-8352-0499-6
75:. Growing up in
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640:. pp.
423:The Outlook
111:World War I
105:World War I
94:Woolworth's
29:Albert Boni
730:Categories
190:References
45:in 1926.
566:(1981).
244:(1981).
586:7786145
550:7786145
448:, 343.
322:7786145
264:7786145
73:premium
49:History
682:14 May
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151:with
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450:ISBN
399:ISBN
374:ISBN
341:ISBN
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250:ISBN
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19:The
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