[Tuck, Raphael & Sons.]
Surprises from Fairyland (Movable Advertising Flap Booklet, No. 833)
London, Paris & New York: Raphael Tuck & Sons, ca. 1895. Designed at the studios in England and printed in Germany.
Small 8vo (approx. 4 x 6 inches). Eight pages, including color-printed die-cut wrappers.
Movable softcover advertising booklet containing four full-color fold-out flap pages. Each flap lifts to reveal a classic fairy tale illustration beneath: Goldilocks, Little Bo Peep, Dick Whittington, and Little Red Riding Hood. Rear wrapper includes printed advertisements for other Raphael Tuck publications. Staple-bound.
A charming and scarce movable booklet, Surprises from Fairyland was produced as a premium promotional giveaway by Raphael Tuck & Sons in collaboration with Sprague, Warner & Company of Chicago. A stamped imprint on the rear panel states: “These books given with AAAA Coffee and One Pound Can of Unrivaled Baking Powder.” The production quality—full-color chromolithography, interactive flaps, and die-cut design—indicates a premium marketing strategy aimed at affluent American households.
Condition: Very Good. Complete and well-bound with all flaps present and functional. The original color-lithographed glazed die-cut cover has a small notch tear; the glazed rear wrapper has a small corner chip. Bright interior and structurally sound. See photos for detail.
Collector’s Corner:
Surprises from Fairyland was issued as No. 833 in a short series of promotional flap books published by Raphael Tuck & Sons for Sprague, Warner & Co., a Chicago-based wholesale grocery firm. The other two titles in the set were Pleasant Surprises for Pets of all sizes (No. 832) and Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay (No. 834). These three are the only known movable booklets created by Tuck for the American market as part of a branded grocery promotion. While Sprague Warner would go on to distribute other children’s picture booklets, these three titles stand out for their mechanical interactivity.
Sprague, Warner & Company, founded in 1862, was one of the largest wholesale grocery concerns in the United States by the late 19th century. Known for their AAAA Coffee and Unrivaled Baking Powder, they pioneered brand-forward marketing techniques, including high-end printed premiums. The collaboration with Raphael Tuck reflects the firm’s ambitions: these little lavish, German-printed booklets were imported specifically to add prestige and desirability to household staples. According to advertising trade literature and preserved packaging stamps, similar booklets were distributed nationally with qualifying purchases.
Despite Tuck’s prolific output, Surprises from Fairyland and its companion titles are not currently documented in major institutional collections such as the British Library or WorldCat, nor are they listed individually on TuckDB Ephemera. This example may be among the few surviving complete movable copies in private hands.
Update note 10/04.2025: A copy of Pleasant Surprises for Pets of all sizes (No. 832) has appeared on the market WITHOUT a stamped advertisment - so we can now assume that not all of these adorable little books were created as a giveaway premium.
References:
Epstein, Jeffrey. “Throwback Thursday – Sprague Warner & Company.” Epstein Global News, August 13, 2015. https://www.epsteinglobal.com/news/throwback-thursday-sprague-warner-company.
“Sprague Warner & Co. Warehouse.” Chicagology. Accessed June 29, 2025. https://chicagology.com/skyscrapers/skyscrapers040.
“Sara Lee Corporation.” Wikipedia. Last modified June 21, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sara_Lee_Corporation.
Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS). “Can Cute Children and Clever Cats Sell?” SIRIS Blog, December 19, 2012.https://si-siris.blogspot.com/2012/12/can-cute-children-and-clever-cats-sell.html. ( A nearly identical ink-stamped imprint appears on another Raphael Tuck promotional booklet, Baby’s Letter, in the Smithsonian’s collections—confirming this distribution model)
Warner, Mason B. Sprague, Warner & Company, Incorporated: The Story of a Business and Its Times, 1857–1912. Chicago: R.R. Donnelley & Sons, 1912. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008723447.
“Advertisement.” Wisconsin State Journal, November 30, 1895.