This post is less about this particular Bogie Book listing than about Dennison Bogie Books in general. Dennison was clever in that they tried to speak directly to end consumers by giving them decorating ideas, maximizing the utility of the crepe, seals, cut-outs, illuminated silhouettes, etc. that Dennison was so fecund in sending to market. Once a consumer’s head was filled to bursting with ways to enhance their planned event, Dennison would allow individuals to send in their own orders directly to the firm. Of course, if a consumer wished to browse a retail establishment, Dennison had stand-alone “brick and mortars” and also supplied their wares to generalized stationers.
The Bogie Books helped this strategy along AND Dennison made money on them, selling them for a nickel or dime depending on the year. Today, when Bogie Books come available, their typical condition is what you see with this listing - truly used. These nearly annual publications were a wealth of information for those long-ago consumers and for today’s collectors an invaluable source of knowledge of what Dennison made available over the years.
Dennison’s business strategy didn’t emerge fully formed. Their first Bogie Book, in 1909, seemed a tentative effort - so tentative, in fact, that they didn’t see the commercial possibilities of these publications for three years. (There seems to be only a single copy of the 1909 Bogie Book extant. You can see it on page 135.) From 1912 through 1917, a Bogie appeared each year. 1918 was a miss almost certainly due to WWI. From 1919 through 1926 the annual publications were titled Bogie Books. After that, Dennison couldn’t seem to settle on a title blithely flitting from one to another.
Not all Bogie’s are created equal. In terms of very specific information on what was being produced with what stock numbers, the best ones are from 1914-1922.
The rarest copies before the 1920 edition are, in order, 1909, 1913, 1912, 1914, 1916, 1915. (I have yet to find a 1913 edition for the collection.)
There are even masochists like myself that torment themselves with a quest to collect the envelopes in which the Bogies were mailed to consumers. I have assembled almost a complete collection after many years.
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Mark B. Ledenbach's vintage Halloween collectibles blog.