Western Publishing, also known as "Western Printing and Lithographing Co. " was a publishing firm based in Racine, Wisconsin, that was responsible for Golden Books. Wisconsin ( or wɪˈskɑnsɨn (French Ouisconsin) is one of the fifty United States of America, located in the north central part of the United States Western Publishing, also known as "Western Printing and Lithographing Co

History

The company was founded by brothers Edward Henry and Albert H. Wadewitz. It bought "West Side Printing Company" from a printer in September 1907 for $2,504 and changed its name in 1910. The firm was based in Racine, Wisconsin, with editorial offices in both New York City and Los Angeles, California, and another printing plant in Poughkeepsie, New York. Racine is a city in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States, located beside Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River. The City of New York Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West Poughkeepsie (pəˈkɪpsiː is a City in New York, USA and serves as the County seat of Dutchess County, located in the Hudson In 1915, the company bought out Chicago publisher Hammerung-Whitman Publishing Co, which became their subsidiary Whitman Publishing Company. Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. Another subsidiary was K. K. Publications, named after Kay Kamen, head of character merchandising at Walt Disney Studios from 1933-1949. K. K. Publications seemed to have ended in the mid/late 1960s.

Western Publishing also produced children's books and family related entertainment products as Golden Books Family Entertainment. ^[1]

• Comic Books. Western held licenses for the characters from Walt Disney Productions, Warner Brothers, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, Edgar Rice Burroughs and Walter Lantz Studio, and produced comics based on these characters (and others) as well as original works. Warner Bros Entertainment Inc (or Warner Bros, Warner Bros Pictures) is one of the world's largest producers of Film and Edgar Rice Burroughs ( September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author best known for his creation of the jungle hero Walter Lantz Productions was an American Animation studio It was in operation from 1929 to 1972 and was the principal supplier of animation for Universal Studios The editorial staff at the west coast office over the years included Eleanor Packer, Alice Cobb, Chase Craig, Zetta Devoe and Del Connell. Oscar LeBeck, Matt Murphy and Wally Green are among those who oversaw the east coast office. From 1938 to 1962, Western's comics came out under the Dell Comics imprint, who also handled the distribution and financing of the line. Dell Comics was the Comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in Pulp magazines. In 1962, Western decided to end its partnership with Dell and publish comics themselves, and set up Gold Key Comics. Gold Key Comics was an Imprint of Western Publishing created for Comic books distributed to Newsstands History Gold Key This continued until the late 1970s, after which newsstand distribution was discontinued in favor of distribution to toy stores etc. under the "Whitman Comics" banner. They stopped publishing comics in 1984, and all their licenses have since gone to other publishers. Some of their comics were published under that name, especially March of Comics. March of Comics was a long-running Comic book series published by Western Publishing. Dark Horse Comics has recently been doing some reprints of their original comic book properties, which are owned by Random House. Dark Horse Comics is one of the largest independent American Comic book publishers behind dominant publishers Marvel Comics and DC Comics

• Children's Books. Western published a wide range of children books (puzzle books, coloring books, Big Little Books, etc), mostly under the Golden Books and Whitman Publishing line since the 1920/30. Big Little Books series first published by the Whitman Publishing Company in Racine Wisconsin in 1932 The Little Golden Books was a very popular line. Little Golden Books is a popular series of Children's books. The first 12 titles were published October 1, 1942: Three Little Kittens Lucille Ogle helped develop the format for the 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. ^[2] 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 Men, Black Beauty, and Heidi, among many others. Little Women or Meg Jo Beth and Amy is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott (1832&ndash1888 Little Men or Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott, first published in 1871. Black Beauty (in full Black Beauty The Autobiography of a Horse, first published November 24, 1877) is Anna Sewell 's only Heidi's Years of Wandering and Learning ( German: Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre) usually abbreviated Heidi, is a novel about the events

• Older Juvenile Literature. Initially under its Whitman line, Western from the 1940s to the 1980s published several series of books for older children and young teenagers. Girls' mystery series included Trixie Belden, Ginny Gordon, Donna Parker, and Trudy Phillips. Trixie Belden is the title character in a series of 'girl detective' mysteries written between 1948 and 1986 Ginny Gordon was the title character of a series of books for girls published by the Whitman Publishing Company a subsidiary of Western Publishing of Racine Wisconsin Donna Parker is the lead character of a seven-volume Girls' series that was written by Marcia Levin from the 1950s through the 1960s Boys' series included the Walton Boys, Power Boys, and Troy Nesbit mysteries. The line 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, many television Westerns, and Walt Disney's Spin and Marty and Annette, (from the serial featuring Annette Funicello that aired on The Mickey Mouse Club) among many other titles. Lassie is an Emmy Award -winning American Television series that follows the adventures of a female rough collie named Lassie The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin is a Children's television program which ran on ABC from October 1954 until August 1959. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic The Western is a fiction Genre seen in Film, Television, Radio, Literature, Painting and other Visual arts. Walter Elias Disney (December 5 1901 – December 15 1966 was a multiple Academy Award -winning American Film producer, director, Screenwriter Spin and Marty was a popular series of television shorts that aired as part of the Mickey Mouse Club show of the mid-1950s produced by Walt Disney Name Anna is a Latin form of the Hebrew name Hannah ( Hebrew: חַנָּה or Channah, meaning "favor" or "grace Annette Joanne Funicello (born October 22, 1942) is an American Singer and Actress.

• Cookbooks. Golden Press for many years was publisher of various Betty Crocker cookbooks, reputed to have sold in the millions. Betty Crocker, an invented Persona and Cultural icon, is a Brand name and Trademark of American food company Often these were issued in a spiral binder format so recipe pages could be removed for easy consultation while cooking.

• Corporate annual reports. A very lucrative division which showcased Western's expertise in specialized, technically unique publishing formats.

• Auto Service Manuals. Western printed auto service manuals for Volvo up to at least 1989.

• Other. The popular line of nature guides, Golden Guide, were published under the Golden Press name. The Golden Guides, originally Golden Nature Guides, are a series of pocket-sized Books that were created by Western Publishing and published under their This line has since been revived by St. Martin's Press. St Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in the iconic Flatiron Building in New York City. They published a line of guidebooks for coin collectors under the Whitman name, which has gone to H.E. Harris. Henry Ellis (HE Harris ( January 21, 1902 – December 29, 1977) was a philatelist and Stamp dealer who through his company H

The company sponsored, (along with partners Dell and Simon & Schuster), the Story Book Shop on Main Street, U.S.A. in Disneyland which opened on July 17, 1955. The multinational technology company Dell Inc develops manufactures sells and supports Personal computers and other computer-related products Simon & Schuster Inc, a division of CBS Corporation, is a Publisher founded in New York in 1924 by Richard L Main Street USA is the first "themed land" inside the entrance of the many Magic Kingdom -style parks run by The Walt Disney Company around the Events 180 - Twelve inhabitants of Scillium in North Africa are executed for being Christians Year 1955 ( MCMLV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar) It closed in April 1995.

In the 1990s, at least three Golden Books Showcase Store locations were opened, which featured only Western Publishing products. The first was opened in the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois in November 1992; the second in CityWalk Center outside Universal Studios Hollywood in June 1993; and the third store was opened in Rockefeller Center in New York City in April 1994. Woodfield Mall is an upscale Shopping mall located in Schaumburg Illinois at the intersection of Golf Road and Illinois Route 53. Schaumburg is a village in Cook County. As of the 2000 census the village had a total population of 75386 Universal CityWalk is the name given to the entertainment and retail districts located adjacent to the theme parks of Universal Parks & Resorts. Universal Studios Hollywood is a Movie studio in the Universal City community of unincorporated Los Angeles County, California, Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering 22 acres between 48th and 51st streets in New York City. They have all since closed.

Mattel bought Western in 1982, then sold it off in 1984. Mattel Inc ( is the world's largest Toy importing company based on revenue Under new ownership, it renamed itself "Golden Books Family Entertainment" and tried to focus on children's books. It sold off the adult books (Golden Guide) to St. Martin's Press in 1999, and later the H.E. Harris coin company would buy Whitman Coin Products from St. The Golden Guides, originally Golden Nature Guides, are a series of pocket-sized Books that were created by Western Publishing and published under their St Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in the iconic Flatiron Building in New York City. Henry Ellis (HE Harris ( January 21, 1902 – December 29, 1977) was a philatelist and Stamp dealer who through his company H Martin’s Press in 2003 and rename as Whitman Publishing. By 1997, Western Publishing was absorbed into the name Golden Books Publishing Company.

Golden Books Family Entertainment was acquired by Classic Media Inc. and Random House in a bankruptcy court auction for $84. Classic Media Inc is an American Production company /distributor of family programming acquired in 2007 by UK-based rival Entertainment Rights. Random House Inc is the world's largest English-language general trade book publisher 4 million on August 16, 2001.

Slogans and taglines

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

See also

• Golden Book Encyclopedia

References

1. ^ Business Week stock snapshot
2. ^ New York Times obit for Lucille Ogle

• Random House Inc. and Classic Media Inc buys Golden Book
• Classic Media to Debut Animated Feature Film at AFM

External links

• Mark Evanier on the relationship between Dell Comics and Gold Key Comics
• Mark Evanier on the legacy of the book Walter Lantz Easy Way to Draw
• finding guide to Chase Craig collection held at the California State University-Northridge Oviatt Library Special Collections Department
• Comic Book Artist #22 (Oct. 2002)