1938 Snow White Earl May Flower Advertising Envelope

This vintage envelope comes from the Earl E. May Seed Company of Shenandoah, Iowa. Measures 11.125” x 7.5". Imprint reads, "© 1938 Walt Disney Enterprises." Snow and the gang are pictured in a backyard with the dwarfs in amongst seven separate garden patches, each with his own type of flower.

The front panel reads, “Earl May presents Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in Flowers for Your Garden.” It also includes a letter from Dopey with pricing info for fall 1938--get 96 Dutch bulbs for only $2.95. The mailing label is still attached, pre-zip code era.

Images via purveyorium.

1961 Italian Song Book

Beginning with Cinderella in 1950, Edizioni Curci became the publisher of Disney songbooks in Italy, and they remained so until 1975. This Snow White songbook dates from 1961, but it continued to be reprinted up until 1992. Today all the Disney songs are published in Italy by Cafè Concerto Editions.

Image and information courtesy of the Nunziante Valoroso Collection.

Starting in 1962, the Curci label--Carosello Records--also distributed the Italian Disneyland series of record albums.

1960s Australian Souvenir Album

In the US, Snow White sheet music and songbooks were first published by Irving Berlin, Inc. and then later by the Bourne Company (which still today holds the rights to all the songs). In other countries, however, different publishers were often utilized.

This 40-page glossy cover songbook featuring nine Snow White tunes was issued in Australia by Allans Music Publishers. The small print on the cover reads, "Authorized for sale in Australia and New Zealand only."

No year is listed in the book, but because of the low price of just $1.75 and the fact that decimal currency came to Australia in 1966, it's a good bet that it dates from the late 1960s or early 70s. Printed on slightly heavier paper, it's quite a high quality publication. As the name implies, it is definitely a Souvenir Album containing a brief storyline and numerous illustrations. Publication No. B.9382. Measures 9.25" x 12".

Note that it includes the same story page as we saw in the 1955 Piano Songbook in previous post. It also appeared in the earlier Irving Berlin/Bourne Souvenir Albums.

Table of Contents.

Lots of illustrations were included in the book--several images from the actual film, plus others that were used in storybooks and in numerous promotional items.

Images and text copyright Disney/Allans/Bourne Co.

Special thanks to the John M. Collection of Australia for generously providing the image scans and additional information.

1955 Snow White Piano Songbook arr. by Ada Richter

The Ada Richter Snow White song book for piano dates from 1955. Licensed through the Bourne Company, it contains a total of 21 pages. Measures 12" x 9". Original retail price $1.50.

A story page proceeds the table of contents.

This "Snow White" number is one of several unused songs created for the film by Larry Morey and Frank Churchill. Even though it's not in the motion picture, the piece still finds its way on occasion into the movies' published sheet music.

Rear cover with advertisement for another songbook arranged by Ada Richter, Walt Disney's Classics.

Photos courtesy of the Michael Filippello Collection.

Ada Richter (1900-1988) was a teacher, composer, lecturer, and songbook author. Learn more about her at the University of Maryland Archives.