Little Blue Books: Tiny Treasures of Populist Publishing

These are Little Blue Books, tiny treasures from the early 20th century, originally sold for just five cents and designed to fit in a shirt pocket. Published by the Haldeman-Julius Company in Kansas, they aimed to bring knowledge and culture to the populace. At the time Little Blue Books started getting published, 90% of Americans access lacked public education. These books were published to fill the gap and become the “poor man’s library.”

Though not government-issued, they read more like a public service with over 2,000 titles covering nearly every subject imaginable. Their topics weren’t just safe or mainstream; they tackled taboo subjects like birth control, atheism, racial equality, and labor rights - ideas that challenged the social norms of their time. They also offered practical guides on everything from learning a new language to better business writing, making self-improvement accessible on a shoestring budget.

They were published from the 1910s and reached a height of selling 300,000 copies a week by 1928. Little Blue Books died out by the 1970s.

Populist Roots

E. Haldeman-Julius, the publisher behind the series, was a socialist and freethinker who believed literacy and knowledge were the keys to a more just society. He described his Little Blue Books as “universities in print,” ensuring that even people who could barely afford a newspaper could own works by Tolstoy, Darwin, or Voltaire.

The publisher’s socialist beliefs aligned with the Progressive Era’s push for literacy, labor rights, and democratizing knowledge. They were formed from a populist publishing project rooted in the idea that education should be cheap, accessible, and everywhere. Little Blue Books empowered readers who were often excluded from traditional educational or cultural institutions.

Little Blue Books weren’t just charming pocket-sized books, but a radical response to America’s education inequality.