Bookmark for Tad Lincoln written by Wayne Whipple

Book and publishing house advertisements certainly come in all shapes and sizes. Calendars, broadsides, pamphlets, envelopes etc. are all part of the ephemera landscape. Here is something I have not shown before-a bookmark.
This bookmark promotes the Tad Lincoln book written by Wayne Whipple and published by George Sully and Company. The bookmark dates to 1926.


Wayne Whipple was the author of numerous books. He wrote seven different series (http://waynewhipple.com/wwseries.html) including the American History Makers and Patriotic Series both published by Altemus as well as the Radio Boy Series and the Bill Brown Series. He penned ten non-series books three of which were Lincoln related.( http://waynewhipple.com/wwnonseries.html)

Among his accomplishments include designing the Peace Flag. This flag won a national contest circa 1912. It was the best of 500 entries submitted and was selected by William Taft. Regardless of the contest results, Whipple's flag never replaced old glory and has been relegated to the footnote pile of forgettable trivia.

Wayne Whipple, the Patriot Series and the Peace Flag

Wayne Whipple (1856-1942) was the author of three juvenile series as well as three series not for juveniles and 10 non series books. http://waynewhipple.com/index.html

He served as an editor with D. Lothrop Company and several newspapers including the Kansas City Mail.

Although mostly known for his literary work, his design of the Whipple Flag is quite interesting. In 1912 he submitted an entry to a nationwide contest The contest was to find the flag that most represented American history. Whipple submitted a flag which he named the Whipple Peace Flag. It was in tribute to the global peace movement which preceded World War I. Of the more than 500 flags submitted, Whipple's won.

The design of Whipple's flag reveals a centrally located six pointed 13 star group representing the 13 original colonies surrounded by a large circle made up of the remaining 35 stars. The stripes are similar to other American flags.




Although it was a contest winner, it never caught on. It is just a blip on the memory screen today. It can however still be seen on one of Whipple's book covers. In the three volume Patriotic Series published by Henry Altemus Company
(http://henryaltemus.com/series/series139.htm) the first book "The Story of the American Flag" was first published in 1910. The first edition of this book has a picture of the American flag on it. The later editions of this title have a picture of the Whipple Peace Flag.


For more information on the flag see:
http://www.whipple.org/blaine/whippleflag.html