Publishers Gave Away 122,951,031 Books During World War II

[didymus]

Interesting article from the Atlantic:

**Publishers Gave Away 122,951,031 Books During World War II

**In 1943, in the middle of the Second World War, America’s book publishers took an audacious gamble. They decided to sell the armed forces cheap paperbacks, shipped to units scattered around the globe. Instead of printing only the books soldiers and sailors actually wanted to read, though, publishers decided to send them the best they had to offer. Over the next four years, publishers gave away 122,951,031 copies of their most valuable titles.

Serious books were hard to find before the war. An industry study in 1931 highlighted the book trade’s limited audience. Nineteen out of every 20 books sold by the major publishing houses cost more than two dollars, a luxury even before the Depression. Those who could afford them often struggled to find them. Two out of three counties in America lacked any bookstore, or even so much as a department store, drugstore, or other retailer selling enough books to have an account with a publishing house. In rural areas, small towns, and even mid-sized cities, dedicated customers bought their books the way they bought other household goods, picking the titles out of mail-order catalogs. Most did not bother.

There was another, less-reputable class of books, though, that enjoyed broader distribution. Cheap mysteries, westerns, and comics could be snapped up at newsstands in paperbound editions that cost far less to produce than hardcover books. Throughout the 1920s and '30s, publishers tried to take advantage of this format to publish a wider range of books. Most efforts failed. Then, in 1939, two new entrants changed the equation. Pocket Books and Penguin Books each offered a mix of new titles and reprints of hardcover books, including some of a literary bent. More importantly, they sold these paperback books on magazine racks.

Americans could put down a quarter and pick up a book all over town, from train stations and drugstores. Within a year, Americans bought 6 million paperback books. By 1943, Pocket Books alone printed 38 million copies. “It’s unbelievable,” said the head of Random House. “It’s frightening.”

Back when I was young I owned a used book store (1989-95) & Armed Forces Editions were quite in demand both as collector’s items and just for nostalgia. I think (someone correct me) that fatigues had a side pocket like cargo pants that the books were designed to fit into ~6" wide & 21/2 high with double columns.

As the article states, some were literary works or even philosophy – not what you might think of as foxhole reading. Very few were what book dealers call “fine” or even “good” so they definitely got read.

My Dad never talked about the war – I wonder if he ever read any?

 

[DoGodsBidding]

It is an interesting article, and it was a nice thing for the publishers to do for our troops.

DGB

 

[gam197]

Interesting article from the Atlantic:

Back when I was young I owned a used book store (1989-95) & Armed Forces Editions were quite in demand both as collector’s items and just for nostalgia. I think (someone correct me) that fatigues had a side pocket like cargo pants that the books were designed to fit into ~6" wide & 21/2 high with double columns.

As the article states, some were literary works or even philosophy – not what you might think of as foxhole reading. Very few were what book dealers call “fine” or even “good” so they definitely got read.

My Dad never talked about the war – I wonder if he ever read any?

Today, they’d be arguing over whose books to send.

 

[didymus]

Today, they’d be arguing over whose books to send.

Now there is a volunteer organisation, Books for Soldiers that sends books to servicemen. I used to be involved – there were actually requests for books from Marines