Mother Goose Book Appraisal

Whitman 1959 Mother Goose: A Real Cloth Book

This is a vintage children's textile publication titled 'Mother Goose: A Real Cloth Book,' published by the Whitman Publishing Company of Racine, Wisconsin. The front cover features a vibrant red background with a central illustration of an anthropomorphic goose wearing a blue knitted shawl, a yellow bonnet with green ribbon, and dangling earrings. The cover art is credited to Florence Sarah Winship. The book is constructed from soft, flexible cotton or muslin fabric pages that are bound along the left edge with a distinctive yellow zig-zag machine-stitched reinforcement. The copyright date 'MCMLIX' (1959) is printed at the bottom left. The item shows significant signs of age and handling, including fraying at the top and bottom corners, notable fabric loss and tearing at the bottom right corner, and general surface soiling or staining particularly near the bottom edge. Despite the damage, the lithographic colors of the main illustration remain relatively bright. This type of 'rag book' was designed for durability and safety for very young children during the mid-20th century.