McLOUGHLIN BROTHERS (attributed).
Panorama Nursery Alphabet (Movable Panorama Toy)
New York: McLoughlin Bros., ca. 1870. First edition.
Moving panorama toy printed on three conjoined strips, housed in a toy theatre consisting of a box with wooden sides and cardboard front and back, measuring 160 × 140 × 40 mm. Strip advances smoothly between two hidden wooden spools controlled by the original turned wood handles extending through the box top. Panorama rolls from left to right, with twenty-six alphabet tableaux:
A – Apple, acid, ale
B – Bed, best
C – Church, chapel
D – Dan, digging
E – Engine, Express (depicting an American locomotive)
F – Fuchsia, flower
G – Grapes, Green
H – House, Home
I – Italian, Images (depicting a street crier)
J – Jug, Jelly
K – Kate, Kitchen
L – Letters, Learning
M – Mast, Merry
N – Nelly, Nutting
O – Obelisk, Object
P – Papa, Pleasant
Q – Quinces, Quail
R – Rooster, Red
S – Sheep, Shy
T – Turkey, Tender
U – Umbrella
V – Vase, Vain
W – Wheelbarrow
X – Xerxes
Y – Yacht
Z – Zany
The front panel proscenium shows children playing with toys under a curtain, behind which a schoolmaster watches disapprovingly. The artist’s initials “R.H.” appear in the lower right-hand corner, but remain unidentified.
Condition:
Good and complete. One letter (G) is damaged and the adjoining letter F has a tape mark. Panorama strip is complete and advances properly. Original wood rollers intact and functioning. Light soiling and rubbing to the box consistent with age and use. There is some light pencil scribbling on back with the name "Rob McDavitt" in nineteeth century script.
Collector’s Corner:
This charming and scarce scrolling alphabet toy is closely related to McLoughlin Brothers’ illustrated book Major’s Alphabet (1870) and likely represents an early adaptation of the same visual material into a moving format. According to The Game Catalog: U.S. Games Through 1950, 8th Edition, an official publication of the American Game Collectors Association, this panorama was manufactured by McLoughlin Bros. in 1870. The publisher’s Trade List Annual (1876) states that “each style of panorama has a proscenium, and the larger ones are enclosed in pasteboard cases,” suggesting that smaller examples like this were not originally issued with additional outer casing.
References:
Tucker, Rick, ed. The Game Catalog: U.S. Games Through 1950 (With AGCA Archives Instruction Availability Noted). 8th ed. Dresher, PA: Official Publication of the American Game Collectors Association (AGCA), October 1998. http://agca.com.
Collect them all !
McLoughlin's scrolling panoramas include:
Menagerie of Wild Animals Panorama: featuring lithographed images of wild animals in their natural habitats.
Minstrels Panorama: featuring lithographed images of minstrels and musicians.
Zoological Panorama: featuring lithographed images of various animals, including elephants, lions, and monkeys.
Panorama of the Greatest Show on Earth (circus): featuring lithographed images of circus performers, animals, and scenes.
Cinderella Grand Panorama: featuring lithographed images of scenes from the fairy tale of Cinderella.
Uncle Sam's panorama of Rip van Winkle and Yankee Doodle: featuring lithographed images of scenes from the stories of Rip van Winkle and Yankee Doodle.
Humpty Dumpty Panorama: featuring lithographed images of scenes from the nursery rhyme of Humpty Dumpty.
Uncle Sam Panorama: featuring lithographed images of Uncle Sam and patriotic scenes.
Major's Panorama Alphabet: featuring lithographed images of the letters of the alphabet, each with an accompanying image.
Panorama Nursery Alphabet: featuring lithographed images of the letters of the alphabet, each with an accompanying nursery rhyme.
About McLoughlin Brothers:
McLoughlin Brothers, founded by John McLoughlin Jr. and his brother Edmund, specialized in children's literature and educational materials, including toy books, comic almanacs, and valentines. The firm was notable for its innovative use of color in illustrations, progressing from hand-stenciling to more advanced techniques like chromolithography.
McLoughlin Bros was a New York publisher of books, puzzles, games and paper dolls. Savvy about modern marketing and production, McLoughlin was able to pirate and copyright titles by greats such as JF Schreiber and Dean & Son for the American market as well as produce their own originals. They were in business from 1828 until 1920 when they were bought out by Milton Bradley, Inc. Milton Bradley continued to use the brand “Mcloughlin brothers”, including the 1930’s 40’s series of pop-up books - "Jolly Jump-Ups" but the McLoughlin division of Milton Bradley shut down during World War II . In 1951, the McLoughlin Bros. brand was bought by New York toy manufacturer Julius Kushner. Some of the the Jolly Jump-Ups were reissued at that time. Finally sold to Grosset & Dunlap in 1954. Several more Mcloughlin books were issued, but we ceased seeing the imprint by the 1970s.
We will soon publish a more detailed bio under our Movable Book History section