Pop-ups in Full Bloom

Beginning in the 1960s, the production of pop-up books reflected an increasingly bold and extravagant aesthetic.  The prolific Czech paper engineer Vojtěch Kubašta (whose works are featured elsewhere in this exhibition) began the trend, illustrating pop-up fairy tales published mainly in Czechoslovakia, Germany, and England, but also in the United States.  In this country, Waldo Hunt established Graphics International in the 1960s (which he sold to Hallmark Cards) and Intervisual Communications in 1974, engaging numerous talented paper engineers to create pop-up books that featured increasingly sophisticated mechanisms and ever widening subject matter.

The appeal for pop-up books soared, and several publishers produced pop-up book series to address the demand.  Among those, the Goralnick Pop-up Book Collection is particularly rich in titles from Hallmark, Random House, and National Geographic.

Hallmark Cards, Inc.

Hallmark Cards began producing pop-up books when the company acquired Waldo Hunt’s Graphics International.  Hunt stayed with the firm when it relocated to Kansas City until the early 1970s.
Hallmark published more than seventy pop-up book titles from the mid-1960s to 1980.

Hallmark Animal Pop-up Books.  Kansas City:  Hallmark Cards, 1966.

A boxed set including: The Backyard Zoo; The Kingdom of the Sea; The Terrible Lizards; The World of Horses.

The four books shown here represent the earliest pop-ups that Hallmark produced.

Karen Ravn’s The Hallmark Monster Pop-up Book.  Kansas City, Mo.:  Hallmark, 1978.

Illustrated by Marianne Smith; paper mechanics by Dick Dudley.

David L. Harrison’s Peter Pan.  Kansas City, Mo.:  Hallmark, 1970.

An adaptation of Barrie’s classic tale, illustrated by Bob Brackman.

Peter S. Seymour’s Mr. Backer’s Amazing Marching Band.  Kansas City, Mo.:  Hallmark, 1973.

Illustrated by Rosalyn Schanzer; paper mechanics by Dick Dudley.

Charles M. Schulz’s The Peanuts Philosophers.  Kansas City, Mo.:  Hallmark, 1972.

Illustrated by Marianne Smith; paper mechanics by Dick Dudley.

Random House

Benett Cerf, then president at Random House, authored the first pop-up that Waldo Hunt produced.  The first issue (1965) served as a promotion for Maxwell House Coffee and was then revised and reissued in 1967 as Random House’s “Pop-up Book no. 1”: Bennett Cerf’s Pop-up Riddles (shown below).
Subsequently, Hunt and Christopher Cerf (Bennett’s son) created forty-five pop-up books in the Random House series, including those that featured Sesame Street characters, Babar the Elephant, Buck Rogers, and Star Wars.  Early on, the publisher characterized these as “dimensional books.”

Bennett Cerf’s Pop-up Riddles.  New York:  Random House, 1967.

“Pop-up Book no. 1” in the Random House series.

Pop-up Fairy Tales.  New York:  Random House, 1970.

A set of four pop-up books: Hansel and Gretel; Little Red Riding Hood; The Three Little Pigs; The Emperor’s New Clothes.  Retold by Albert Miller; illustrated by Gwen Gordon and John Strejan; designed by Paul Lawson Taylor and John Strejan.

Star Wars.  New York:  Random House, 1978.

Illustrated by Wayne Barlowe; paper engineering by Ib Penick.

Big Bird’s Rhyming Book.  New York:  Random House, 1979.

Illustrated by Normand Chartier; paper engineering by Ib Penick.

Superman.  New York:  Random House, 1979.

Illustrated by Curt Swan et al.; paper engineering by Ib Penick.

National Geographic Action Books

The National Geographic Society published a series of twenty pop-up books for young readers between 1985 and 1994 (“National Geographic Action Books”).  These books differed from most pop-up series in their intentionally didactic focus—they were designed for learning as much as for fun, integrating pop-ups within the illustrated page.
Centering mainly on the animal kingdom and its habitat, these books reflected the same publishing values of polished, colorful printing as were in evidence in Society’s mainstay National Geographic Magazine.

Hide and Seek.  Washington, D.C.:  National Geographic Soc., 1985.

Illustrated by Barbara Gibson; paper engineering by James Roger Diaz, John Strejan, and Rodger Smith.
The first in the National Geographic Action Book series.

Amazing Monkeys.  Washington, D.C.:  National Geographic Soc., 1985.

Illustrated by Robert Hynes; paper engineering by James Roger Diaz, John Strejan, and Rodger Smith.

Creatures of the Desert World.  Washington, D.C.:  National Geographic Soc., 1987.

Illustrated by Barbara Gibson; paper engineering by John Strejan and James Roger Diaz.

Explore a Tropical Forest.  Washington, D.C.:  National Geographic Soc., 1989.

Illustrated by Barbara Gibson; paper engineering by John Strejan.

Whales: Mighty Giants of the Sea.  Washington, D.C.:  National Geographic Soc., 1990.

Illustrated by Ned and Rosalie Seidler; paper engineering by James Roger Diaz and Rick Morrison.

Dinosaur Babies.  Washington, D.C.:  National Geographic Soc., 1991.

Illustrated by Ely Kish; paper engineering by James Roger Diaz.

Lion Cubs and their World.  Washington, D.C.:  National Geographic Soc., 1992.

Illustrated by Biruta Akerbergs Hansen; paper engineering by James Roger Diaz.

African Animal Giants.  Washington, D.C.:  National Geographic Soc., 1994.

Illustrated by Robert Cremins; paper engineering by Rick Morrison.