Ottenheimer Publishers, Inc. was a

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

, publisher founded in 1890 and which closed in 2002. The publisher was primarily a packager known for children's books, especially pop-up and board books, as well as cookbooks. It was a printer for

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Ma ...

. It also republished the works of

Nancy Stouffer Since first coming to wide notice in the late 1990s, the ''Harry Potter'' book series by J. K. Rowling has been the subject of a number of legal disputes. Rowling, her various publishers and Time Warner, the owner of the rights to the ''Harry Po ...

. Stouffer authored ''The Legend of Rah and the Muggles'' as well as ''Larry Potter and His Best Friend Lilly''. She filed an unsuccessful

trademark infringement Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attached to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees (provided that such authorization was within the scope of the licence). Infringement may ...

lawsuit in 2000 against ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students at ...

'' author J.K. Rowling and U.S. publisher Scholastic. In the 1980s Ottenheimer Publishers was the U.S. publisher of the

Mr. Men ''Mr. Men'' is a British series of children's books by English author Roger Hargreaves which began publication in August 1971. From 1981, an accompanying series of Little Miss books by the same author (but with female characters) was published. ...

and Little Miss books with U.S. distribution by Price Stern Sloan, and later Price Stern Sloan acquired 100% of the U.S. rights.

History

Ottenheimer Publishers was founded in 1890 by brothers Isaac and Moses Ottenheimer while they were both still in their teens. Per family legend, the business began with a one hundred dollar loan from an aunt. The Ottenheimer brothers could use the funds toward any business of their choosing, provided it did not interfere with the Sabbath. Though their business originally centered on selling remaindered books, they soon made a name for themselves by selling compilations of joke books, parlor games, and fortune-telling manuals. The joke books in particular were quite popular, with some estimates that over one million copies were sold; compact and retailing for ten cents, they were cheap and portable. The brothers later admitted that the jokes they published were not original; instead, they would have one of their employees attend performances by leading

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolish (as in slapstick), or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audienc ...

s and write down the jokes that received the best audience reaction. The joke books were often thematically arranged, with books devoted to topics such as

ethnic humor An ethnic joke is a remark aiming at humor relating to an ethnic, racial or cultural group, often referring to an ethnic stereotype of the group in question for its punchline. Perceptions of ethnic jokes are ambivalent. Christie Davies gives e ...

, married life, and the then-modern automobile. The joke books sold well until the early 1930s, at which time the company began to produce reference works and

cookbook A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (appetizer, first cour ...

s. The printing plates used for producing the joke books were donated to scrap drives 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The company filed for bankruptcy in November 2001 and closed in 2002.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Collection of Ottenheimer Publications at the George Peabody Library
Publishing companies established in 1890 Defunct book publishing companies of the United States

History

See also

References

External links