2018 School Spending Survey Report
The Bookshop's Book Caravan
In the summers of 1920 and 1921, Bertha Mahony had a truck outfitted to sell books and trained two booksellers from her Bookshop for Boys and Girls to drive and maintain it.
The Caravan was outfitted to Bertha's specifications by Charles Hodgkins.This painting is probably his work.
In the summers of 1920 and 1921, Bertha Mahony had a truck outfitted to sell books and trained two booksellers from her Bookshop for Boys and Girls to drive and maintain it. Though the Book Caravan was a commercial flop, it got plenty of attention in its day, including featured stories by all the movie reel companies. In the slideshow below you can see images of the caravan and the diary its drivers kept in the summer of 1921. You can read about the caravan in detail in Barbara Bader's 1999 Horn Book Magazine article, "Treasure Island by the Roadside."
We also offer transcriptions of selected pages from the caravan diary and a selection of newspaper clippings.
Probably a preliminary sketch of the Caravan by Charles Hodgkins
In the summers of 1920 and 1921, two booksellers drove the Caravan around New England. Mary Frank is at the front of the car, Genevieve Washburn at the rear.
The Caravan's vehicle registration
The Caravan had an awning on one side to shield customers from the rain — or sun.
Before arriving at one of their selling destinations, the Caravan drivers stopped to clean the car.
Before arriving at one of their selling destinations, the Caravan drivers stopped to clean the car.
At some locations, business was brisk.
At other times, there were fewer customers.
Inside the Caravan were shelves and a bench.
A group reading aloud
The Caravan makes a city stop.
The drivers found that beaches brought plenty of browsers but not very many sales.
The Caravan drivers kept a diary. Read more diary pages and transcriptions by clicking on the link above.
A promotional flyer for the Caravan
The Caravan's first schedule
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Braden Bills
It's interesting to see how books were traded back in the day. I think it's fun to look back at how far we've come! From buying books from cars to buying them online!Posted : Mar 30, 2017 04:20