Das Neue Universum, Volume 67 (1950)

 

Das Neue Universum (The New Universe) was a German science annual series aimed at older children.

From the German Wikipedia site (translated) : "The New Universe is a German children's literature series with themes in the fields of knowledge , research , adventure and entertainment . In addition to factual topics , Das Neue Universum also publishes fictional texts, e.g. by Isaac Asimov , Hans Dominik , and Michael K. Iwoleit . The choice of topic and content design were traditionally characterized by optimism about the future , science and feasibility from – nowadays also supplemented by more critical elements. While early volumes were aimed at the "mature youth" as a target group, today's readership, according to the publisher, consists of young people aged 15 and over and adults. Published since 1880 with 120 volumes up to 2020."

This annual had many interesting spaceflight articles over the years. In this 1950 volume (#67) they highlighted space stations with an article about a fictional voyage, with factual data.. They had a beautiful fold-out illustration in the front of the book. My friends shared their copy with me, which they treasured growing up.

DETAILS OF THE SPACE STATION ILLUSTRATION

"The New Universe 67 – 1950 Front folding panel: The artificial moon orbits 1,300 kilometers from Earth. Watercolor by K. Bürgle"

Incident with Heliopolis. A true story from 1958. By Heinz Gartman

The Solar System Pop-up Book (1978?)

 

My first Greek space book. This is a fun pop-up book I found recently. It is pretty basic but I really like space pop-up books for their design and impact.

Adelva. The Solar System Pop-up Book. Greece: Dotam International. 12 pp. 1978

Gumby and Pokey Coloring Book (1966)

 

Since part of this blog is reliving the joys of my childhood I need to talk about Gumby and Pokey. Gumby was a television show for children that ran (at least for me) from 1953-1969. It was stop-motion animated adventures of two figures made of "clay." It was a highlight of my youth because of its emphasis on imagination. There would be all kinds of adventures but my favorite were when they would go inside books to experience the books adventures. I was an early and avid reader so this was an exciting idea to me. So when Gumby and Pokey had space flight adventures I was captivated. So these drawings from the coloring book are pretty primitive but still bring back some great memories.

Gumby on the Moon -https://youtu.be/eJDJ1ALa9Eo

Gumby-Moon Trip (1956)- https://youtu.be/wt87rvCPViQ

Gumby and Pokey Coloring Book (Whitman #1141). Drawings by Ben Greenberg. Whitman Press. 1966.

Building Reading Skills (1951)

Today is a series of school spelling workbooks. What does that have to do with space? They chose an aerospace theme for their series of books and since spaceflight was the trend for children they "branded" them.  Truly these are pretty dull books even with a couple of space pictures but the covers are interesting. The themes were: Speedboat, JATO Car, Jet Plane, Rocket, Atomic Gyro, and Space Ship.

Armstrong, Leila and Hargrave, Rowena. Building Reading Skills. Wichita, KS : McCormick-Mathers. 64 p. 1951.