Bob's School Days

Bob’s School Days is a story told in four-line stanzas, with a mostly abab rhyming pattern. The theme is a look back at “traditional” primary school days with a stern male teacher and a group of mischievous boys, of whom “Bob” is the most unruly. After many mishaps and bouts of corporal punishment, young Bob reforms and comes to like the strict teacher.

Each page of text alternates with a full color plate illustrating the unruly classroom antics. This children’s book portrays Bob’s school environment as an all-white milieu. Sadly, McLaughlin also produced a series that depicted African-American students as caricatured stereotypes.

Inside front cover pages are part of the text. The back cover advertises dozens of picture books that are available in the Aunt Louisa’s series, as well as paper dolls and game boards.

McLoughlin Bros., Inc. was a New York publishing firm active between 1858 and 1920. The company was a pioneer in color printing technologies in children's books. The company specialized in retellings of stories for children. The firm's publications served to popularize illustrators including Thomas Nast.

In 1851, John McLoughlin, Jr. took over his father’s printing business and started to publish picture books under his own name. In 1858, he formed a partnership with his brother Edmund and the company became known as McLoughlin Brothers, based in Manhattan. By the 1880s, McLoughlin books were regularly featuring titles in folio formats, illustrated by chromolithographs. The firm also published a wide range of items including cheap chapbooks, linen books, puzzles, games and paper dolls.

In 1920, McLoughlin Bros., Inc. was sold to Milton Bradley, and continued to publish children’s books until World War II. The McLoughlin line of children's books was sold to Grosset & Dunlap in 1954. Since that date, several books bearing the McLoughlin Bros. imprint were issued, but the name dropped out of print by the 1970s. Since 1970, McLoughlin products have enjoyed great popularity with collectors, and their visibility continues through displays at book fairs and in catalogs.

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