This is the largest coloring book I own — 492 pages and only a few are colored. Coloring books from the 30s and 40s rarely have a theme, and the drawings are usually done by several different artists. It seems like Whitman and other publishers would just combine a group of pages by various artists, and then release a “new” coloring book with a different cover. I have several coloring books published in different years that contain some of the same pages. Not that I’m complaining — I love these old books and this is one of the best.
Today I have chosen several pages that I think may be early Eloise Wilkin drawings. Elliott and Emily loved the Golden Books “We Help Mommy” and “We Help Daddy” illustrated by Wilkin, but I could be wrong about these coloring book images — artists are not credited in these old coloring books, so it’s hard to know for sure. I just think they look like Wilkin — what do you think?
