Remembering Dick and Jane

See Dick run.
Run Dick run.
Jane can run too.
Look how fast they run!

That’s right, it’s the old Fun with Dick and Jane readers. Now try and remember the other members of the family.
There was father and mother, sister Sally, and her teddy bear Tim, Spot the dog, and Puff the cat.
Don’t forget grandmother and grandfather who lived on the farm. And let’s not forget father’s green, nineteen-something-or-other model, torpedo-shaped car.

These little passion plays are back, and hot-as-a-pistol with collectors. They are taking a coveted place right alongside the brisk nostalgia markets for Barbie dolls, Lionel trains, comic books, baseball cards, and PEZ dispensers.

    Viewed from the perspective of recent brain based research and cognitive development, many prominent educational advocates are now emphasizing a more intense contextual learning experience for K-8 students with ample opportunities for children to use their imaginations and interpretations. Using both words and pictures to enhance the learning experience was a very wise and futuristic move seventy years ago by the designers and publishers of the Dick and Jane readers-some of whom were Scott, Foresman consultants and sales agents very much in tune with the day-to-day happenings in the classroom. To this extent, the readers were an innovative answer to the needs of teachers. They theorized,and rightly so, that as adults, people are surrounded by text and pictorial images and use them both to make sense of their world. And children should be able to do the same, in both an enjoyable and educational manner. Thus, the series had its central, highly successful theme.
    In addition to basic readers or primers, which contained simple and meaningful stories, the series also incorporated pre-primers, and junior primers. These introductory volumes emphasized pictures and student imagination exercises more than words to prepare students for the more word intensive primers that followed in short order. The stories in the 1940s/50s editions were quite similar. The 1962/65 editions were somewhat different to reflect the changing racial landscape of the country, with minority children role models now the focus of many of the stories. But many critics of the period believed the series was too slow to change with the burgeoning racial diversity of the times, and this may have been the ultimate reason for the demise of the popular books.

    Dick and Jane also became the focus of a national debate centered on how a lack of phonics teaching with the books was seriously undermining the ability of children to read well. I do remember phonics being taught in my Newark NJ grammar school, so I could not understand what the fuss was all about when the controversy hit its stride in the mid 1960s. Perhaps other schools failed to do such important teaching, but at Abington Avenue School we sounded those words out, and were required to keep a dictionary with the pronunciation for all the big words-and write 3 different sentences for each word. And of course spell them correctly on a weekly test. You did not mess with Mrs. Williams, my first grade teacher. She was pretty, but all business. What a woman!

    Remember those big paper workbooks...the Think-and-Do volumes, where page after page of word association and vocabulary exercises, matched to the stories in the readers, drilled those words into our heads? You did your workbook lesson every day, tore out the pages, and handed it in for teacher to review. When the pages were returned to you, there was usually a gold, silver, red or blue star affixed to the top, indicating how correct your work had been. I also distinctly remember after group reading lessons, Mrs. Williams asking each of us to individually come to her desk so we could tell her in our own words what the story had meant. This of course tested our comprehension, and reinforced our mastery of vocabulary words and their correct pronunciation.
    From the 1930s to the late 1960s, somewhere between 80 and 100 million children learned to read with these books. During their heydays, in the 1950s, most of the schools in the country used them. There were Canadian and French versions, as well as Spanish. If you went to School, then you probably learned to read from the 1952 edition of Fun with Jean and John, a liturgically approved adaptation of Fun with Dick and Jane. Most of the upper grade readers of the series were also adapted for Catholic students. Dick and Jane certainly got around, now returning to claim their rightful place in American folklore.

Reliving the Memories

    I started collecting the old editions about 10 years ago, purchasing titles here and there. Then, I could pick up a nice clean 1940s/50s primer for about $15-$25. Today those same pieces of nostalgia are typically selling for $60-$100; with the coveted pre-primers and junior primers easily costing hundreds of dollars, depending upon condition and rarity. I have witnessed a mint condition, 1951 edition, junior primer fetch $250.
    Do you remember those big flip chart books the teacher used in front of the whole class? Well, hold onto your seats. Those babies can go for $750-$1,000. Here’s the part where you suck in your breath. Care to guess what the books originally cost the schools? According to a copy of a 1957 Scott, Foresman and Company advertising piece, the price of a Dick and Jane primer was $1.44. The pre-primers and junior primers went for about $.50-$1.30. Think-and-Do workbooks cost $.30-$.50. My biggest Dick and Jane find was a copy of the 1951 edition junior primer that I mentioned above. It was so clean, the binding cracked when I opened it; and it had never been issued to anyone or any school. There were no school stamps anywhere inside the volume. It was as mint as it gets. I deliriously paid $1 for it at a used book sale, becoming slightly woozy while carrying it back to the car.
    What’s fueling such price increases? First and foremost, us boomers are now reaching out for some youthful remembrances. The old story of supply and demand comes into the picture. Besides, it’s fun to re-read those old stories again, and share them with our grandchildren-perhaps even remembering our parents, once again young, in the roles of mother and father. I always thought the actor Robert Young from the TV series Father Knows Best would have made a great role model for father. Perhaps he was cast in the TV series with just that in mind.
    Another cause for the price increase is the home schooling crowd. They have discovered the simplicity and durability of the books, and often share in the initial cost of these artifacts with other home schoolers, ending with a group investment in American folklore to boot at the end. Folks who teach at home are not professional teachers, and generally seek out books that are simple and straightforward in their approach. That was the essence of the Dick and Jane readers.
    And let’s face it folks, the professional collectors have discovered the value of the series. They have helped fuel a brisk trade in the books, including some tough trading on Internet auction sites. My advice to you would be stay away from the auction sites, unless you know what you are doing or can afford to buy anything you want. Prices can be driven up quite capriciously. There are plenty of Dick and Jane, and related volumes out there to buy. Be patient and surf the web. That’s part of the fun. Some sites even have chat rooms to learn more about the history of the series.
    Go ahead and get on the Internet and tour some of the used book sites. Many have pictures of the old texts right next to the prices. With the advent of the Internet, my ability to locate the old books just took off. I can easily type in the titles or keywords, zero-in on what I am looking for, and start checking prices and quality of books offered. If I find something I want,I send the store an e-mail asking them to hold the book for me. Then, I mail in the money, and the book arrives a few days later. Used book stores across the nation are nicely organized for such electronic searches, making this procedure quite pleasant. During the search, you also learn from the descriptions of the books how volumes are related or perhaps are part of a larger series. This is where the fun comes in as your interest gets aroused, prompting you to branch out into related volumes.

    In addition to the Fun With Dick and Jane flagship series, and the second through eighth grade readers that followed, there were other volumes grouped together for subjects like history, health, and science-all done with the look and feel of the basic primers. Many of these books are readily available on the Internet. To many collectors like myself, the period artwork is as enjoyable as the stories, characters, and subjects. It’s the look and feel of these volumes that in combination evokes the memories of my childhood.

    Dick and Jane helped us understand our roles in life, taught us about our communities, and dispensed some simple guidance about life. In actuality though, Dick and Jane were basically a first grade experience. By second grade, we were reading about other young children, usually Dick and Jane’s friends. By third grade, even the occasional cameo appearances by Dick and Jane waned and we were on our way to such venerable books as Streets and Roads, People and Progress, and Days and Deeds, all part of the Scott, Foresman Basic Reading Curriculum which spanned the first through eighth grades. I’ll always remember two later stories: the one about the three goats and the old troll under the bridge; and, Bartholomew and his 500 hats.

    One of the memorable things about the Scott, Foresman book series was the attention paid to the teachers and the guidance dispensed within the volumes. Aside from the usual teacher’s edition which is actually two books in one, the complete children’s book and a chapter by chapter analysis and guideline for teaching the unit, each student book contains information at the end summarizing the controlled vocabulary introduced in the book, as well as a listing of other books in the series. As you obtain the books, each one is a key to others within a series. Come to think of it, the teacher’s book itself may have been another important innovation of the series.

    You may have guessed this by now. It will cost you more to buy a teacher’s edition rather than a regular reader. Collectors have become somewhat specialized in their acquisitions. Some just collect the teacher’s editions. Others like myself will collect both. Start small like I did, shop around. There are still bargains to be had. Just beware the nostalgia bug. It is a powerful bite.
    Recently I even went back to my old school and gave the eighth graders a talk on science and engineering, ...stopping in to see my first grade classroom. Standing at the door, I could smell Mrs. Williams's perfume, almost hearing myself reading along with my classmates. That night I opened the old books, and visited my favorite childhood friends. We had much to talk about. You will too. They will be glad to hear from you.