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Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company, was a
Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River. Racine is situated 22 miles (35 km) south of Milwaukee and approximately 60 ...
, firm responsible for publishing the
Little Golden Books Little Golden Books is a series of children's books, published since 1942. ''The Poky Little Puppy'', the eighth release in the series, is the top-selling children's book of all time in the United States.. Many other Little Golden Books have b ...
. Its Golden Books Family Entertainment division also produced children's books and family-related entertainment products. The company had editorial offices in New York City and Los Angeles, California. Western Publishing became Golden Books Family Entertainment in 1996. As of 2013, ''
Little Golden Books Little Golden Books is a series of children's books, published since 1942. ''The Poky Little Puppy'', the eighth release in the series, is the top-selling children's book of all time in the United States.. Many other Little Golden Books have b ...
'' remains as an imprint of
Penguin Random House Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertels ...
.


History


Early years

Edward Henry Wadewitz, the 30-year-old son of German immigrants, worked at the West Side Printing Company in
Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River. Racine is situated 22 miles (35 km) south of Milwaukee and approximately 60 ...
. When the owner of that company was unable to pay Wadewitz his wages, Wadewitz took the opportunity in 1907 to purchase the company for $2,504, with some of the funds provided by his brother Albert. Knowing that the company needed staff with more knowledge of the business than he had, Wadewitz hired Roy A. Spencer, a printer at the Racine Journal Company. At the end of its first year sales were $5,000 and the company increased its staff of four to handle a growing number of commercial jobs. It installed a
cylinder press A rotary printing press is a printing press in which the images to be printed are curved around a cylinder. Printing can be done on various substrates, including paper, cardboard, and plastic. Substrates can be sheet feed or unwound on a continuo ...
, two smaller presses, and an automatic power cutter. In 1910, the company changed its name to Western Printing and Lithographing Company after the purchase of its first lithographic press. By 1914, sales were more than $127,000. The company installed a larger
offset press Offset printing is a common printing technique in which the inked image is transferred (or "offset") from a plate to a rubber blanket and then to the printing surface. When used in combination with the lithographic process, which is based on ...
and added
electrotyping Electrotyping (also galvanoplasty) is a chemical method for forming metal parts that exactly reproduce a model. The method was invented by Moritz von Jacobi Moritz Hermann or Boris Semyonovich (von) Jacobi (russian: Борис Семёнови ...
and
engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...
departments. Wadewitz was approached by the Hamming-Whitman Publishing Company of Chicago to print its line of children's books. Unable to pay its bills, Hamming-Whitman left Western with thousands of books. As a result, Western acquired Hamming-Whitman on February 9, 1916, and formed a subsidiary corporation, Whitman Publishing Company. It employed two salesmen and, in the first year, grossed more than $43,500 liquidating the remaining Hamming-Whitman books. In 1916, Sam Lowe joined Western. He convinced Western and Whitman to publish a 10-cent children's book in 1918 and convinced retailers that children's books could be sold year-round.


1920s

Western introduced boxed games and
jigsaw puzzle A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of often irregularly shaped interlocking and mosaiced pieces, each of which typically has a portion of a picture. When assembled, the puzzle pieces produce a complete picture. In th ...
s in 1923 after purchasing a 38-inch by 52-inch Potter offset press. By 1925, sales exceeded $1 million. Western added another subsidiary, the Western Playing Card Company after purchasing the Sheffer
Playing Card A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a fi ...
Company. In 1929, Western purchased a Chicago stationery and greeting card manufacturer, Stationer's Engraving Company. Another subsidiary was K.K. Publications, named after Kay Kamen, manager of character merchandising at Walt Disney Studios from 1933 to 1949. K.K. Publications became defunct during the mid/late 1960s.


1930s

During the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
between 1929 and 1933, Western introduced new products: The Whitman jigsaw puzzle became very popular during this period as did a new series of books called Big Little Books. Brought out in 1932, the 10-cent Big Little Books became very popular with people looking for inexpensive entertainment. The first Big Little Book was ''The Adventures of Dick Tracy.'' Western won exclusive book rights to all
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
licensed characters in 1933, and in 1934 established an eastern printing plant at the former
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factory site in
Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...
, New York. The printing plant allowed a close relationship to develop with the publishers
Dell Publishing Dell Publishing Company, Inc. is an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, that was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte Jr. with $10,000 (approx. $145,000 in 2021), two employees and one magazine title, ''I Confess'', and ...
Company and
Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...
, Inc. From 1938 to 1962 Dell Publishing and Western produced color comic books featuring many of Western's licensed characters. In 1938, the first joint effort between Western and Simon & Schuster, ''A Children's History,'' was published. In the 1930s, Western formed the Artists and Writers Guild Inc., located in New York City, to develop new children's books. Western expanded to the West Coast in the early 1940s, opening an office in Beverly Hills to make it easier to do business with studios that owned the characters the company licensed.


1940s

Georges Duplaix Georges may refer to: Places *Georges River, New South Wales, Australia *Georges Quay (Dublin) *Georges Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania Other uses * Georges (name) * ''Georges'' (novel), a novel by Alexandre Dumas * "Georges" (song), a 197 ...
replaced Sam Lowe as head of the Artists and Writers Guild in 1940 when Lowe left the company.
Dick Simon Richard Raymond Simon (born September 21, 1933) is retired American auto racing driver and racing team owner. Simon drove Indy cars in USAC and CART, and made 17 starts at the Indianapolis 500. At the 1988 Indianapolis 500, Simon set a record ...
, then head of Simon & Schuster, mentioned to Duplaix that he was interested in any new ideas for children's books. Duplaix had the idea to produce a colorful, more durable and affordable children's book than those being published at that time which sold for $2 to $3. With the help of Lucile Olge, also working at the Guild, Duplaix contacted Albert Leventhal, a vice president and sales manager at Simon & Schuster, and
Leon Shimkin Leon Shimkin (April 7, 1907 – May 25, 1988) was an American businessman who helped to build Simon & Schuster into a major publishing company. Shimkin was responsible for many self-help bestsellers turning Dale Carnegie's lectures into t ...
, also at Simon & Schuster, with his idea. The group decided to publish twelve titles for simultaneous release in what was to be called the
Little Golden Books Little Golden Books is a series of children's books, published since 1942. ''The Poky Little Puppy'', the eighth release in the series, is the top-selling children's book of all time in the United States.. Many other Little Golden Books have b ...
Series. Each book would have forty-two pages, twenty-eight printed in two-color, and fourteen in four-color. The books would be staple-bound. The group originally discussed a 50-cent price for the books, but Western did not want to compete with other 50-cent books already on the market. The group calculated that if the print run for each title was 50,000 copies instead of 25,000, the books could be sold for 25 cents each. In September 1942, the first 12 titles were printed and released to stores in October. Three editions totaling 1.5 million books sold out within five months of publication in 1942. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Western had a contract with the U.S. Army Map Service to produce maps for soldiers in the field and it also manufactured books and
playing card A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a fi ...
s which were sent overseas. In 1945, Western acquired another major printing plant, Wolff Printing Company of St. Louis.


1950s

Guild Press, Inc., a publisher of Catholic books, religious greeting cards, and gift wrap, was purchased in the early 1950s. In 1955, a new specialty printing plant was built in
Hannibal, Missouri Hannibal is a city along the Mississippi River in Marion and Ralls counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 17,312, making it the largest city in Marion County. The bulk of the city is in Mar ...
. Western achieved sales of $63 million in 1957, the year of its 50th anniversary. In the same year the company acquired Kable Printing Company, a large
rotogravure Rotogravure (or gravure for short) is a type of intaglio printing process, which involves engraving the image onto an image carrier. In gravure printing, the image is engraved onto a cylinder because, like offset printing and flexography, it ...
magazine printer. With partners Dell and Simon & Schuster, the company sponsored the Story Book Shop on
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, in
Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...
which opened on July 17, 1955, and closed April 1, 1995. In addition it was one of the initial investors in the park by virtue of being a part-owner of
Disneyland, Inc. Disneyland, Inc. (DLI) was a corporation formed to finance, build and run Disneyland park in Anaheim, California. History Start up Disneyland, Inc. was incorporated in the State of California in 1951 by Walt Disney. A companion company owned on ...
Western and
Pocket Books Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books. History Pocket Books produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in the United States in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing in ...
, Inc. formed Golden Press, Inc. at the end of 1958 following their joint purchase of all Golden Book properties from Simon and Schuster. The arrangement called for Western to continue to create and manufacture Golden Books which Pocket Books would promote, sell, and distribute. By 1959, over 150 Little Golden Book titles had sold at least a million copies, and more than 400 of the 1,000-plus Golden Book titles were in print in thirteen languages.


1960s

The 16-volume '' Golden Book Encyclopedia'', published in 1960, enjoyed sales of 60 million copies in two years, while sales of Golden Press books reached almost $39 million in 1960. In the same year, the name Western Publishing Company was adopted and common stock was issued with some eighty percent owned by management or employees. At this point Western had the distinction of being the largest creator and publisher of children's books, the largest producer/distributor of children's games made from paper or paper products, and the largest creator/producer of comic books. Western had operated at a profit every year since 1907, paid a dividend every year since 1934, and seen net sales increase from $40.5 million in 1950 to $123.8 million in 1960. During the same period, net profit had increased from $3.1 million to $7.4 million. In 1961, Western opened another printing plant, in
Cambridge, Maryland Cambridge is a city in Dorchester County, Maryland, United States. The population was 13,096 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Dorchester County and the county's largest municipality. Cambridge is the fourth most populous city in Maryl ...
, and in 1970 acquired several companies, including Odyssey Press, a high school and college textbook publisher. By 1963, 65 percent of Western's total revenues derived from juvenile literature (including games), 25 percent from commercial printing, and 10 percent from books produced for other publishers and miscellaneous activities. Whitman accounted for 35 percent of the company's revenue. The company's half-share in Golden Press, Inc. was a problem. It lost money in 1961 and 1962, and, in 1963, its sales sagged from $32.9 million the previous year to $22.5 million. Western bought Pocket Books' half-share in Golden Press in 1964 with 276,750 shares of its common stock valued at nearly $7.4 million. Odyssey took over the sales and distribution of adult Golden Books; Western did the same for children's titles. Western Printing & Lithographing, the largest company unit, accounted for about 40 percent of sales in 1965. Artists & Writers Press, Inc., one of fourteen active subsidiaries, created books for publishers and commercial customers including Golden Books,
Betty Crocker Betty Crocker is a brand and fictional character used in advertising campaigns for food and recipes. The character was originally created by the Washburn-Crosby Company in 1921 following a contest in the '' Saturday Evening Post''. In 1954, ...
cookbooks, the Arts of Mankind series for Golden Press, and the four-volume ''Harper Encyclopedia of Science'' for Harper & Row. Capitol Publishing, purchased in 1961, originated and produced educational materials and games for children, as well as toys and novelty products. The Kable Printing division produced over 125,000 monthly magazines, other periodicals, and catalogs. The Watkins-Strathmore Co., acquired in 1957, produced children's books and games, including Magic Slate. Meanwhile, Whitman published nearly every type of juvenile and adolescent books,
numismatic Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includ ...
books, coin cards, a wide variety of games, playing cards, crayons, and gift wrap. Western also had a Canadian subsidiary (established in 1959) and a French company (established in 1960). In 1967, the Justice Department charged Golden Press and seventeen other publishers with illegally fixing prices of library editions of children's books. Each agreed to the terms of a consent judgment forbidding them from submitting rigged bids or conspiring with wholesalers to fix prices of sales to schools, libraries, or government agencies. Western purchased Skil-Craft Playthings, Inc., a leader in craft kits and a manufacturer of laboratory science sets for children based in Chicago, for 100,000 shares of common stock in 1968.


1970s

In 1970, Western's sales reached $171.5 million but net profit fell to $3.9 million caused by the acquisition of a computerized typesetting facility and an eleven-week strike. As a result, the Hannibal plant was closed and the number of employees was reduced by 1,500 in mid-1974. Profits rose that year to $10.1 million; sales topped $215 million. In 1971 Western entered into an agreement with
Children's Television Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—including its first and best-know ...
to produce Golden Books featuring
the Muppets The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential style of variety- sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are the focus of a media franchise that encompasses ...
. In 1974, Dell Publishing Company signed a ten-year printing contract with Western worth more than $50 million. That same year construction began on a distribution and game-and-puzzle assembly center in
Fayetteville, North Carolina Fayetteville () is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a major U.S. Army installation northwest of the city. Fayetteville has received the All-America C ...
. Direct marketing accounted for twenty-five percent of Western's consumer product sales by 1976. This represented seventy percent of total sales. Driven by products such as the Betty Crocker Recipe Card Program, a monthly mailing of recipe cards to millions of customers, sales grew to $237.3 million in 1976 with net income of $10.8 million. In 1979, Western ceased to be an independent company when
Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...
Inc. purchased the company for $120.8 million in a cash/stock deal. By the late 1970s, Western was one of the largest commercial printers in the United States. It had four manufacturing plants and two distribution centers between Kansas and Maryland. It boasted of installing some of the first heatset web
offset printing Offset printing is a common printing technique in which the inked image is transferred (or "offset") from a plate to a rubber blanket and then to the printing surface. When used in combination with the lithographic process, which is based on t ...
presses in the US. As well, Western had the largest offset, sheet-fed presses, some exceeding 78 inches wide, printing in five colors, and one of the largest
bindery Bindery refers to a studio, workshop or factory where sheets of (usually) paper are fastened together to make books, but also where gold and other decorative elements are added to the exterior of books, where boxes or slipcases for books are made ...
operations in the United States. Among other things, it printed
mass-market paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, lea ...
books under contract, and was the primary manufacturer and distributor of the board game
Trivial Pursuit ''Trivial Pursuit'' is a board game in which winning is determined by a player's ability to answer trivia and popular culture questions. Players move their pieces around a board, the squares they land on determining the subject of a question t ...
, as well as other tabletop games. It developed and printed specialty cookbooks, premiums, and material for many
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clients. At one time, Western printed almost everything from "business cards to billboards", and employed over 2500 full-time employees.


1980s

1980 saw the launch of the Sesame Street Book Club and the relocation of the Skil-Craft manufacturing plant from Chicago to Fayetteville. Sales climbed to $278 million in 1981. Mattel's investment in Western soon soured. In fiscal 1983 (ending January 31, 1983) Western had sales of $246 million with an operating loss of $2.4 million after a $7.5 million charge relating to closing the Poughkeepsie printing plant. Mattel had its own financial issues and, strapped for cash, sold Western in December 1983 to Richard A. Bernstein, a New York City real estate investor, for $75 million plus the assumption of certain liabilities later thought to be $40 million. Bernstein reincorporated the firm as the Western Publishing Group; Western Publishing Co., now a subsidiary, continued to be based in Racine. Bernstein oversaw the introduction of eight
videocassettes Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually Sound recording and reproduction, sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog signal, analog or Digital signal (signal processing), digital signal. Vi ...
that featured Golden Books characters in 1985. A total of 2.5 million were shipped. Western developed and produced games under license for
Tonka Tonka is an American producer of toy trucks. The company is known for making steel toy models of construction type trucks and machinery. Maisto International, which makes diecast vehicles, acquired the rights to use the Tonka name in a line of ...
and
Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of ...
, and developed storybooks containing company logos as promotional items; Bernstein referred to this as "sponsored publishing". In 1986, Penn Corporation, which produced party paper and advertising specialities, was purchased for $108 million. Bernstein took Western public in April 1986 and made more than $70 million on his original $5 million investment; he retained twenty-one percent of the stock. The company continued to prosper. For the fiscal year ending January 31, 1989, sales were $551 million produced earnings of nearly $30 million.


1990s

In 1990, sales dropped to $508 million and earnings fell to $23 million. Analysts attributed some of this decline to falling sales of
Pictionary ''Pictionary'' (, ) is a charades-inspired word-guessing game invented by Robert Angel with graphic design by Gary Everson and first published in 1985 by Angel Games Inc. Angel Games licensed Pictionary to Western Publishing. Hasbro purchase ...
, a popular Western board game introduced in 1985. Sales fell from $118 million to $42 million. In fiscal 1991 (ending January 31, 1991) sales had declined to $491 million with earnings of only $8 million. By late 1991, Western's share price had dropped to $9 from a high of $28. In 1992, Western celebrated the 50th anniversary of the introduction of Little Golden Books publishing a
boxed set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...
of the twelve original titles for $19.95. Special editions of all-time favorites, and new books by popular artists and illustrators of children's books were also published to mark the occasion. The Golden Little Nugget Book line was introduced and sold more than 1.9 million units in six months. Golden management decided to publish trade books for children for the first time in 1993. These titles were published under the imprint Artists and Writers Guild Books and sold in general book and toy stores. Western's net sales recovered in fiscal 1992 to $552.4 million with net income of $13.7 million, and $649.1 million with $17.5 million net income in 1993. In 1993, Western decided to close the advertising specialty division and took a $21.8 million
writedown A write-off is a reduction of the recognized value of something. In accounting, this is a recognition of the reduced or zero value of an asset. In income tax statements, this is a reduction of taxable income, as a recognition of certain expenses ...
. A further $10 million was spent setting up and running bookstores in
Toys "R" Us Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids (doing business as Tru Kids Brands) and various others. The company was founded in 1957; its first store was built in April 1948, with its headquarters loc ...
stores; the company decided ultimately to run the departments itself. Bernstein wanted to sell Western's products in discount stores and supermarket and drugstore chains and spent $20 million to do so. The school book club, started in 1990, also lost money. The net effect was a $55.8 million loss on sales of $613.5 million for fiscal 1994 (ending January 1994). Three Golden Books Showcase Store locations were opened, which featured only Western Publishing products. The first was opened in the
Woodfield Mall Woodfield Mall is a shopping mall located in the northwest Chicago suburb of Schaumburg, Illinois, United States, at the intersection of Golf Road and Interstate 290. The mall is the largest shopping mall in the state of Illinois, the second lar ...
in
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, in November 1992; the second in CityWalk Center outside
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during June 1993; and the third store was opened in
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in New York City during April 1994. They have all since closed. By the mid-1990s, most of its printing plants were closed and its print operations consolidated in Racine. These losses raised Western's debt to $250 million; its negative cash flow caused its bonds to be downgraded to junk status. Unable to sell the company, Bernstein began a major restructuring of Western. Hasbro Inc. purchased the games and puzzles division for $105 million and the Fayetteville distribution center which handled them was put up for sale. Troll purchased the school book club division for $4.3 million. Ritepoint and Adtrend, parts of Penn Corporation's advertising specialty division, were sold as was its direct-marketing continuity-club business. Staff was reduced by 28 percent. Bernstein continued the concept of developing book sections within stores and introduced 100 Just For Kids sections in
Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
locations which sold video and music along with books. Western lost $11.6 million on revenues of $303.9 million during the first three quarters of 1994. Its common stock, which had traded as high as $21 a share in 1993, had fallen to below $10 in April 1995. No dividend had been paid since the company had been acquired by Bernstein from Mattel in 1984. At this point he owned or controlled nearly 20 percent of the common stock, the Gabelli Group held about 17 percent, and
Prudential Insurance Company of America Prudential Financial, Inc. is an American Fortune Global 500 and Fortune 500 company whose subsidiaries provide insurance, retirement planning, investment management, and other products and services to both retail and institutional customers t ...
owned 8.6 percent. Long-term debt was $249.8 million. By mid-1996, under the supervision of ex-Simon & Schuster executive
Richard E. Snyder Richard Elliot “Dick” Snyder (born 1933) in Brooklyn, New York is an American publishing executive best known for his tenures at Simon & SchusterYardley, Jonathan (June 20, 1994). A Publishing Tycoon's Lasting Imprint. ''The Washington Post'' a ...
, it was renamed Golden Books Family Entertainment and focused on publishing children's books. Bernstein resigned all his positions at the company but retained his stock. It sold the adult books (
Golden Guide The Golden Guides, originally Golden Nature Guides, were a series of 160-page, pocket-sized books created by Western Publishing and published under their "Golden Press" line (primarily a children's book imprint) from 1949. Edited by Herbert S. Zim ...
) to
St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...
in 1999.


2000s

In June 2001,
DIC Entertainment DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions), branded as The Incredible World of DIC, was an international film and television production comp ...
announced they would purchase Golden Books Family Entertainment for $170 Million and send them out of bankruptcy. However, DIC would pass off the purchase due to high costs and instead Golden Books Family Entertainment was eventually acquired jointly by
Classic Media Classic Media, LLC, doing business as DreamWorks Classics, is an American entertainment company owned by DreamWorks Animation, which is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures and a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was founded as Classic Media ...
, owner of the catalog of
United Productions of America United Productions of America, better known as UPA, was an American animation studio active from the 1940s through the 1970s. Beginning with industrial and World War II training films, UPA eventually produced theatrical shorts for Columbia Picture ...
(UPA) and book publisher
Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
in a bankruptcy auction for the $84.4 million on August 16, 2001. In turn, Random House, and Classic Media gained ownership of Golden Books' entertainment catalog (including the family entertainment catalog of
Broadway Video Broadway Video is an American multimedia entertainment studio founded by Lorne Michaels, creator of the sketch comedy TV series ''Saturday Night Live'' and producer of other television programs and movies. Broadway Video also held the rights to ...
which includes the pre-1974 library of Rankin/Bass Productions and the library of
Total Television Total Television was an American animation studio founded in 1959 by Buck Biggers, Chester "Chet" Stover,p.478 Erickson,Hal ''Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 through 2003'' McFarland & Co., 2005 Joe Harris, and Trea ...
) as well as production, licensing and merchandising rights for Golden Books' characters and the
Gold Key Comics Gold Key Comics was originally an imprint of American company Western Publishing, created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated this way from 1962 to 1984. Currently, Gold Key Comics is owned b ...
and
Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark"Wh ...
catalogs, while Random House gained Golden Books' book publishing properties. The H. E. Harris stamp and coin company bought Whitman Coin Products from St. Martin's Press in 2003 and renamed it Whitman Publishing. On July 23, 2012, Classic Media was acquired by
DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios and simply known as DreamWorks) is an American animation studio that produces animated films and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division ...
for $155 million and renamed
DreamWorks Classics Classic Media, LLC, doing business as DreamWorks Classics, is an American entertainment company owned by DreamWorks Animation, which is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures and a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was founded as Classic Medi ...
. On July 1, 2013, Random House merged with the
Penguin Group Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a merger that was finalised on 1 July 2013, with Bertelsmann initial ...
, forming a new company called
Penguin Random House Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertels ...
. In April 2016, the acquisition of DreamWorks Animation (owner of DreamWorks Classics) by
NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primari ...
was announced. Historian Michael Barrier has lamented the apparent loss of Western's business records for future use by researchers.


Divisions


Comic books

With licenses for characters from
Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
,
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
,
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
,
Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he ...
and
Walter Lantz Studio Walter Lantz Productions was an American animation studio. It was in operation from 1928 to 1972 and was the principal supplier of animation for Universal Studios. The studio was originally formed as Universal Cartoon Studios on the initiative o ...
, Western produced comics based on these characters, as well as original works. The editorial staff at the West Coast office over the years included: Eleanor Packer, Alice Cobb,
Chase Craig Wingate Chase Craig (August 28, 1910 – December 2, 2001) was an American writer-cartoonist who worked principally on comic strips and comic books. From the mid-1940s to mid-1970s he was a prolific editor and scripter for Western Publishing' ...
, Zetta Devoe, Del Connell and
Bill Spicer Bill Spicer (born October 1, 1937) is an editor and publisher who spearheaded the 1960s movement away from commercial comics, opening the gateway to underground, alternative, and independent comics, notably with his publication '' Graphic Story Mag ...
. Bernie Zuber was an editorial artist, a position similar to that of a
production artist A production artist is a technical and creative position in a creative profession. The job title originated at advertising agencies, assigning what was known as paste-up work (now prepress production) to the position. Production artists work clos ...
, from 1957 until 1982.
Oskar Lebeck Oskar Lebeck (August 30, 1903 – December 20, 1966) was a stage designer and an illustrator, writer and editor (mostly of children's literature) who is best known for his role in establishing Dell Comics during the 1930s and 1940s period known a ...
, Matt Murphy and Wally Green are among those who oversaw the East Coast office. From 1938 to 1962, Western's properties were published under a partnership with
Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark"Wh ...
, which also handled the distribution and financing of the comic books. In 1962, Western ended this partnership and published comics itself, establishing the
imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...
Gold Key Comics Gold Key Comics was originally an imprint of American company Western Publishing, created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated this way from 1962 to 1984. Currently, Gold Key Comics is owned b ...
. As Murphy explained the split: This imprint continued until the late 1970s, after which newsstand distribution was discontinued in favor of distribution to toy stores under the "Whitman Comics" banner. The company stopped publishing comics in 1984, and all of its licenses have since gone to other publishers. Many of these new licensees have included among their offerings reprints of stories originally published by Western. Prior to 1962, in addition to comics published through Dell, Western published some comics under its own name, particularly giveaways such as ''
March of Comics ''March of Comics'' was a comic book series published by Western Publishing. 488 issues were published from 1946 to 1982. Comic book writer Mark Evanier has described it as "...one of the most widely-circulated comic books in the history of mankind ...
'' and the annual kite safety title (which featured an array of licensed characters) published over a span of 32 years for power utility companies. Both series had print runs in the hundreds of thousands. In the 1990s, the Western/Gold Key characters
Magnus Magnus, meaning "Great" in Latin, was used as cognomen of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus in the first century BC. The best-known use of the name during the Roman Empire is for the fourth-century Western Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus. The name gained wid ...
,
Turok Turok is a fictional character who first appeared in American comic books published by Western Publishing through licensee Dell Comics. He first appeared in ''Four Color Comics'' #596 (October/November 1954). After a second ''Four Color'' appear ...
and Dr. Solar were licensed to
Valiant Comics Valiant Comics is an American comic book publisher. The company was founded in 1989 by former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter along with lawyer and businessman Steven Massarsky. In 1994, the company was sold to Acclaim Entertainment ...
, who published modified versions of the characters to great success. However, by the mid-1990s, Valiant's sales had slumped due to the decade's speculative boom collapsing, and the company ceased publishing in 1999. In 2004,
Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...
began reprinting some of Western's original comic book properties, which by then were owned by
Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
, along with
Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...
from the
Jesse Marsh Jesse Marsh (July 27, 1907 – April 28, 1966) was an American comics artist and animator. His main claim to fame is his work on the early ''Tarzan'' and related books for Western Publishing that saw print through Dell Comics and later Gold K ...
era. In 2009, the company announced plans to launch new versions of various Gold Key characters, with former Valiant editor-in-chief
Jim Shooter James Shooter (born September 27, 1951) is an American writer, editor and publisher for various comic books. He started professionally in the medium at the age of 14, and he is most notable for his successful and controversial run as Marvel Comic ...
as head writer.


Children's books

Beginning in the 1920s and 1930s, Western published a wide range of children's books (puzzle books, coloring books, Tell-a-Tale books, Big Little Books), mostly under the Golden Books and Whitman Publishing brand names. The
Little Golden Books Little Golden Books is a series of children's books, published since 1942. ''The Poky Little Puppy'', the eighth release in the series, is the top-selling children's book of all time in the United States.. Many other Little Golden Books have b ...
was a very popular series. Lucille Ogle helped develop the format for these low-priced books, which told simple stories and were among the first children's books with full-color illustrations. The first was published in 1942. Beginning as the "Whitman Famous Classics", and later renamed the "Golden Press" imprint, Western published a series of (public domain) classics, such as ''
Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). Alcott wrote the book, originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869, at the request of her publisher. The story follows the lives ...
,'' ''
Little Men ''Little Men,'' or ''Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys,'' is a children's novel by American author Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888), which was first published in 1871 by Roberts Brothers. The book reprises characters from her 1868–69 two-volume ...
,'' ''
Black Beauty ''Black Beauty: His Grooms and Companions, the Autobiography of a Horse'' is an 1877 novel by English author Anna Sewell. It was composed in the last years of her life, during which she was bedridden and seriously ill.Merriam-Webster (1995). ...
'' and ''
Heidi ''Heidi'' (; ) is a work of children's fiction published in 1881 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri, originally published in two parts as ''Heidi: Her Years of Wandering and Learning'' (german: Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre) and ''Heidi: How She Used ...
''. In the late 1960s, Golden Books were bound in the Goldencraft reinforced library bindings and sold to schools and libraries in the United States by a group of independent sales representatives. The library bound books were very popular with the schools and libraries. Offices were set up in Wayne, New Jersey, and the reinforced library books were warehoused in Wayne and distributed from that location. There were about 80 sales representatives in the United States under the general manager, Roy Spahr.


Older children's literature

From the 1940s to the 1980s, Western published several series of books for older children and young teenagers, initially under its Whitman line. Girls' mystery series included
Trixie Belden Trixie Belden is the title character in a series of "detective" mysteries written between 1948 and 1986. The first six books were written by Julie Campbell Tatham, who also wrote the Ginny Gordon series; the stories were then continued by variou ...
,
Ginny Gordon Ginny Gordon is the main character in a series of five mystery books for adolescent girls published by the Whitman Publishing Whitman Publishing is an American book publishing company which started as a subsidiary of the Western Printing & Lit ...
, Donna Parker, Meg Duncan and Trudy Phillips. Boys' series included the Walton Boys, Power Boys, Brains Benton, and Troy Nesbit mysteries. The series, published from the 1950s to the 1970s, also included a number of titles licensed from popular movies and television shows: '' Lassie,'' ''
The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin ''The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin'' is an American children's television series in the Western genre that aired from October 1954 to May 1959 on the ABC television network. In all, 164 episodes aired. The show starred Lee Aaker as Rusty, a boy orph ...
'', many television
Westerns The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred ...
, and Walt Disney's ''Spin and Marty'' and ''Annette'' (from the serial featuring Annette Funicello that aired on ''The Mickey Mouse Club''. The company was also the original American publisher of ''The Adventures of Tintin'', issuing six titles in English translation in 1959 and 1960, before discontinuing further releases because of what were considered disappointing sales.


Magazines

In 1937, Western, at the request of Kay Kamen (who oversaw licensing and marketing at Disney), assumed production of the newsstand version of ''Mickey Mouse Magazine'', which, in October 1940, was succeeded by the comic book ''Walt Disney's Comics and Stories''. 1936-1954 Story Parade, Inc. (a Western subsidiary) published ''Story Parade: A Magazine for Boys and Girls'' with a children's literature orientation. Then in late 1955, Western initiated ''Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Club Magazine'' with content produced by Disney Studio staff members. It was intended to promote ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' television series. Eventually the name was changed to ''Walt Disney's Magazine'' and the focus shifted to contemporary Disney movie and television productions. In a similar vein, they printed Gulf Oil's ''Wonderful World of Disney'' premium (1969-1970) which was edited by Disney's George Sherman (comics), George Sherman.Cathy Sherman Freeman. ''A Disney Childhood: Comic Books to Sailing Ships''. Duncan, OK: BearManor Media, 2012. During the 1960s, Western published ''The Golden Magazine for Boys and Girls'' with Cracky the Parrot as its mascot.


Miscellaneous

For many years Golden Press was publisher of
Betty Crocker Betty Crocker is a brand and fictional character used in advertising campaigns for food and recipes. The character was originally created by the Washburn-Crosby Company in 1921 following a contest in the '' Saturday Evening Post''. In 1954, ...
cookbooks. Often these were issued in a three-ring binder format so recipe pages could be removed for easy consultation while cooking. Western produced games such as
Trivial Pursuit ''Trivial Pursuit'' is a board game in which winning is determined by a player's ability to answer trivia and popular culture questions. Players move their pieces around a board, the squares they land on determining the subject of a question t ...
and
Pictionary ''Pictionary'' (, ) is a charades-inspired word-guessing game invented by Robert Angel with graphic design by Gary Everson and first published in 1985 by Angel Games Inc. Angel Games licensed Pictionary to Western Publishing. Hasbro purchase ...
until
Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of ...
bought that division in 1994. The company published the children's science books ''The World of Science (Golden book), The World of Science'' and ''The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments'', while the
Golden Guide The Golden Guides, originally Golden Nature Guides, were a series of 160-page, pocket-sized books created by Western Publishing and published under their "Golden Press" line (primarily a children's book imprint) from 1949. Edited by Herbert S. Zim ...
nature guides were published with the Golden Press name.


Slogans and taglines

* I grew up with Golden Books! (1980s) * Silence isn't Golden. Reading to your child is. (1997)


Trademarks

Western Publishing Company Inc. owned dozens of trademarks over the years, many of which have now expired. A sampling of Western's trademarks follows. Some like "Golden" for example were registered multiple times for different uses (separated by "/"). Refer to the website cited for a complete listing of all trademarks. *FIRST FUN - Children's Workbooks *MIRROR MANIA - Equipment Sold as a Unit for Playing a Board Game *A GOLDEN BLOCK BOOK - Children's Miniature Books *POP-UP GAME - Equipment Sold as a Unit for Playing a Board Type Parlor Game *V.I.P. - Jigsaw Puzzles *IMAGE - Coloring Books / Juvenile Books / Jigsaw Puzzles / Children's Books / Pre-recorded Audio Tape Cassettes *GOLDEN - Coloring Books / Retail Mail-Order Services in the Field of Housewares, Giftwares, and Personal Care Products / Jigsaw Puzzles / Crayons / Equipment Sold As Units For the Purpose of Playing Board or Parlor Games / Juvenile Books-Namely, Storybooks, Picture Books, Preschool and School Activity Books, Coloring Books and Painting Books... *GOLDEN PRESS SHOPPER'S SERVICE - Retail Mail Order Services in the Field of Books *DRIVE AWAY - Children's Books *SPONSORED PUBLISHING - Advertising, Marketing, and Publishing Services Offered to Clients for the Purpose of Enabling Such Clients to Promote the... *SP - Promoting the Goods and Services of Others by Producing and Distributing Specialty Products *PICTURE PARADE - Illustrated Books for Children *DOODLE BUG - Children's Books *PAINT WITH WATER - Children's Paint Books *A GOLDEN MELODY BOOK - Children's Books which Emit an Electronically Produced Melody *GOLDEN MELODY - Children's Books which Emit an Electronically Produced Melody *KING'S COURT - Equipment Sold as a Unit for Playing a Card Game *PRETTY AS A PICTURE - Equipment Sold in Units for the Purpose of Playing a Board- or Parlor-Type Game *GOLDEN STEP AHEAD - Educational, Color-Illustrated Workbooks Intended to Be Used by Children of Preschool and Elementary School Age in the Classroom.../ Children's Educational Workbooks Intended for Use in School or Home / Pre-Recorded Audio Tape Cassettes Packaged in Combination with Children's Workbooks and Sold as Units in the Form of Combination... *IT ACTUALLY PLAYS MUSIC – Children's Books Which Emit an Electronically Produced Melody *STEP AHEAD - Children's Printed Educational Flash Cards *MAGIC SLATE - Toy and Amusement Apparatus for Temporarily Receiving Written Impressions *GOLDEN MINIATURE - Jigsaw Puzzles *WHITMAN CLASSIC – Coin Folders, Namely, Hinged Books or Fold-Out Albums Intended for Storage and Display of Coins and Coin Collections *A GOLDEN SUPER ADVENTURE BOOK – A Series of Children's Books *A GOLDEN THINKABOUT BOOK – A Series of Children's Books


References


External links


Golden Books official website



"At Western: It's Fun, Games And Profit". ''Milwaukee Sentinel'' June 3, 1974
* ''The Westerner'' Western Publishing House organ, #194 (Jan. 1966) Golden Anniversary Issue; v.3 #2 (Winter 1982), Commemorative Issu


"The Comic World"
by Charles Beaumont, ''Fortnight'' May 1955.
Trademarks Owned by Western Publishing Company
{{Authority control DreamWorks Classics Western Publishing American companies established in 1907 American companies disestablished in 2001 Defunct publishing companies of the United States Children's book publishers Comic book publishing companies of the United States Magazine publishing companies of the United States Companies based in Racine, Wisconsin Publishing companies established in 1907 Publishing companies disestablished in 2001 1907 establishments in Wisconsin 2001 disestablishments in Wisconsin Defunct companies based in Wisconsin Disney comics publishers Penguin Random House Former Mattel subsidiaries