NARRATOR - At the turn of the century, Southeast Kansas was known for its socialist politics and social reforms. The eight- hour work day, abolition of child labor, and pure food and drug laws all received major support from this part of the state. And in 1919, Southeast Kansas became known for reforms of a different kind. Girard publisher, E. Haldeman-Julius set out to reform America's reading tastes by making great literary works available to everyone at a price that anyone could afford. He began publishing America's first pocket paperbacks, The Little Blue Books.
GENE DeGRUSON - It was at the request of Marianne Horton, the head of the English Department, of the People's College in Fort Scott for an inexpensive textbook that Haldeman-Julius started The Little Blue Books. And so, the first Little Blue Books consisted of not only socialist tracks, but of literary works as well. And all of these to be used at the People's College in Fort Scott, KS. Haldeman-Julius then advertised the Little Blue Books in the Haldeman-Julius Weekly, and was astounded at the response because hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of people sent in their $5.00 for the first fifty titles to be published there. And so that was the beginning of a new career.
NARRATOR - E Haldeman-Julius was born of Emmanuel Julius in Philadelphia in 1889. In 1915 he moved to Girard, KS to accept an editorial position at the Appeal to Reason. Which at the time was the most prestigious socialist newspaper in the country. By 1919, Emmanuel Julius had married Marset Haldeman. The young couple had purchased the Appeal to Reason, and with the publication of the first Little Blue books, Emmanuel Haldeman- Julius, the once idealistic socialist, was well on his way to becoming a capitalist publishing genius.
GENE DeGRUSON - Although he was putting aside his socialist politics, Haldeman- Julius was doing reform work of another nature and he soon saw that this could be a university in print. He could make available to people a little booklet, affordable to anybody on any subject.
NARRATOR - The first books published were actually titled the Appeals Pocket Series, and the People's Pocket Series. They cost 25 cents each. Next came the Appeal Pocket Series which sold for 15 cents, followed by the 10 cent pocket series, the 5 cent pocket series, the pocket series, and finally in 1923, the Little Blue Books, which still cost a nickel apiece. At first, the books had to be ordered from the plant in Girard. But soon, Little Blue Book stores appeared all over the country, where you could find books on any subject from the works of Shakespeare, to jam and jelly making. And while most of the early books contained previously published material, as time went by, Haldeman-Julius began commissioning more and more original work.
GENE DeGRUSON - And so he contacted Margaret Sanger, for example. He knew that she was passing out pamphlets which she had printed at her own expense on birth control and sex education. And he said, "Write me a book on sex education". And so Mrs. Sanger wrote this beautiful little book called "What Every Young Girl Should Know, #14". Which says that it is up to the mother to explain sex to her daughter. She's not going to get the information at school, she's not going to get it from her church, and it's a beautifully written little book. While in Kansas City, he heard a young man lecture on philosophy. He went up to the young man and said, "Who's your publisher?" That man says, "I don't have a publisher," he says, "I'm a lecturer, I'm a teacher." Haldeman- Julius said, "Send me your lectures, I want to bring them out in Little Blue Book form." The result of that, 11 Chapters of what was to become The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant, appeared first of all in Girard, Kansas. The term university imprint is not an exaggeration, it's not an overstatement. You name the subject and you can find it in the Little Blue Book format.
NARRATOR - While the Little Blue Books were changing America's literary tastes, Haldeman-Julius also made an impact on the careers of other publishers and writers.
GENE DeGRUSON - The sequel to that story came about when Haldeman-Julius went to New York a few years later, 1925, late 1925. And two young publishers had made an appointment to visit with him. They were going down the tube, they were losing money right and left, and so these young publishers wanted to know why they, in the publishing center of America, New York City, they were going broke. And he, in podunk USA, in Kansas of all places, was making not only headlines, but lots of money. Haldeman-Julius asked for samples of their wares and saw that they were publishing crossword puzzle books. And so he suggested that they take these Little Blue Books by Will Durant and bring them out in hardback form. And so, in 1926, Simon and Shuster brought out their first hardback, The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant. And if you look on the copyright page, you'll find that the book is copyrighted by Simon and Shuster, and E. Haldeman-Julius.
GENE DeGRUSON - In 1970, Tansell and Johnson conducted a study for the bibliographical society of America, published in their journal. And they studied 500 authors published by Haldeman- Julius, either his original writings or his reprints. And their conclusion was, these writers which include Henry James, Jane Austin, had more readers in the Haldeman-Julius edition than any other publisher. And, so many of the writers, H.G. Wells for example, said they received more monetary remuneration from Haldeman-Julius than they did from any other publisher.
NARRATOR - One of the reasons why Haldeman-Julius sold so many books, is that he had developed a unique and somewhat misleading marketing strategy.
GENE DeGRUSON - As time went on, if a Little Blue Book did not sell 10,000 copies a year, first of all, it was revised, it's cover title was revised, nothing else. And so, for example, The Story of the Argonauts, was not selling at all. Haldeman-Julius changed the cover title, not the inside title, and not one word of the text, to In Search of a Blonde Mistress. And, the Little Blue Book sold, sold, sold, sold, and was still in stock, when the plant burned down in 1978. If with doctoring, the title would not sell, then he discarded it and added a new title in it's stead. As the years went round, Haldeman-Julius became more and more sure of the reading public. The magnificent Greek plays, he had every single Greek play known, extent of the time in print. The American public stopped buying them. And so, he substituted things instead, that they would buy. Best Jewish jokes, best Doctor jokes, best Lawyer jokes, etc. And so that's the sad side of the story. But, he did publish them, he did make them available, and they did influence many, many people. One exception to the discard rule, was the works of Shakespeare, and he said he would never discard a work of Shakespeare. It would always be available for, if there were only one child, who wanted to read the complete works of Shakespeare, it would be available to that child for a nickel.
NARRATOR - Emmanuel Haldeman-Julius died in 1951, and at that
time, over 2,000 different titles had been published in Little
Blue Book form. And many of these books were still available in
1978, when the Girard Printing Plant was destroyed by fire.
Haldeman-Julius had achieved his dream with a zeal of a socialist
reformer. He had established his university in print, making
great literary works available to anyone, for a nickel.