Unlike these earlier examples, however, the pages in this book from the Netherlands contain illustrations to accompany the story. Also the individual stickers vary in size and feature images taken directly from the film.
The handsome cover art bustles with life. I really like this slightly different rendering of Snow White...
Front Cover shows Snow and the Dwarfs decorating for the holidays.
[CLICK ANY PIC FOR A BETTER LOOK AT THE DETAILS]
[CLICK ANY PIC FOR A BETTER LOOK AT THE DETAILS]
No date is printed on the book, but it does mention that it was sponsored by Margriet, a Dutch version of Good Housekeeping magazine. From H.P.'s research, we learn that the periodical dates from the 1950s when it had a collaboration with Disney to print one or two pages from the Snow White story per issue.
...and to publish special edition winter books to keep the children busy during the holidays. This is one of those books, which clarifies why the dwarfs are decorating their cottage on the cover, even though it’s not mentioned anywhere else in the book.
Front Endpaper
It's not exactly clear how the sticker cards were made available to the public. Were they released in weekly allotments with the magazine? Possibly monthly? Was it necessary to purchase them separately?
Each has a number and text written on the back, even an ad for the Donald Duck comic. Interestingly, the cards weren't actually "stickers" with pre-adhesive. They had to be glued by hand into the book. Below is a closer look at a few loose cards from the Pinocchio book in this same series.
Pinocchio "Sticker" Cards and Book
More from H.P. on the Snow White volume...
This particular book is quite special, it’s complete apart from one picture that has been lost in time. I was told by the previous owner that in those days not a lot of families had money to spare on these trivial things. And throughout my searches I have indeed found the books with as little as 3 to 4 pictures. The book itself has been passed down two generations of children and didn’t suffer any kind of artistic vandalism. Most books for children have had encounters with crayons and such. I had a good time reading it again. It holds true to the original story by Walt Disney.
The entire book follows in all its vintage illustrated splendor...
Title Page
The back cover features the Dwarfs marching home in a Gustaf Tenggren interpretation. The text at the bottom translates to: "A youth publication in collaboration with Margriet and Walt Disney."
Back Cover
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In the same series of sticker books, there was also a Pinocchio, Bambi and Peter Pan.
Image scans and information generously provided by H.P. Hogenboom.
