Cover not available
Part of
Transnational Books for Children 1750-1900: Producers, consumers, encounters
Edited by Charlotte Appel, Nina Christensen and M.O. Grenby
[Children’s Literature, Culture, and Cognition 15] 2023
► pp. 198–223

Chapter 9
From Michaelmas-Day to Thanksgiving

The transatlantic transformation of Michaelmas Day

This chapter explores the appropriation, adaptation, and translation of the picturebook Grandmamma Easy’s Michaelmas Day, or The Fate of Poor Molly Goosey. Originally issued by London publisher Dean & Company c. 1843, it was reprinted three years later in Philadelphia by George S. Appleton. In about 1850, the text was Americanized and issued by Boston publisher Wier & White under the title Thanksgiving Day. Around 1870, New York publisher D. Appleton & Company translated the picturebook into Spanish and issued it as La Historia de La Gansa Amorosa (The Story of the Loving Goose) for sale in an emerging Hispanic book market, enlisting picturebook manufacturer McLoughlin Brothers. Tracing the transnational, translingual history of Molly, this study illuminates the use of recognized public holidays to reach new markets.
Article outline
  • Poor Molly Goosey, the unwitting “star” of Michaelmas Day
  • Molly Goosey meets the new “tradition” of American Thanksgiving
  • Molly Goosey becomes “La Gansa Amorosa”
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 8 August 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/clcc.15.09was
References (30)
References
Primary sources
Appleton’s Library Manual. 1847. New York: D. Appleton & Co.; Philadelphia: Geo. S. Appleton.Google Scholar
Brand, John. 1877. Observations on Popular Antiquities. London: Chatto and Windus.Google Scholar
Catalogue of D. Appleton & Company’s Publications. For Sale by Lee & Shepard, Boston. 1870. Boston: D. Appleton & Co.Google Scholar
Cenicentilla ó El Escarpin de Cristal. 1864. New York: D. Appleton & Co.Google Scholar
Cinderella or The Glass Slipper. 1863. New York: McLoughlin Bros.Google Scholar
Dame Bantry and Her Cat. n.d. but c. 1860. London: Dean & Son.Google Scholar
Descriptive Catalogue of School, Academic, and Collegiate Text-Books Published by D. Appleton & Company. 1855. New York: D. Appleton & Co.Google Scholar
Fiestas y Aguinaldos. 1866. La Cronica, 22 December.Google Scholar
From South America. 1869. New York World, 15 June.Google Scholar
George M. Fox Collection, San Francisco Public Library, Box P.3.3.
Grandmamma Easy’s Michaelmas-Day; or, The Fate of Poor Molly Goosey. n.d. but c. 1843–1847. London: Dean & Co.Google Scholar
Grandmamma Easy’s Michaelmas-Day; or, Poor Molly Goosey. n.d. but c. 1843–1849. Philadelphia: George S. Appleton.Google Scholar
Historia de la Gansa Amorosa. n.d., but c. 1870. New York: D. Appleton & Co.Google Scholar
Libros Publicados por D. Appleton & C. 1860. La Cronica. 26 December.Google Scholar
New Pictorial Toy Books. 1846. Saturday Courier (Philadelphia) 10 October.Google Scholar
Puss in Boots, Cinderella, Red Riding Hood. Aves Mayores. n.d. but c. 1903. New York: McLoughlin Bros.Google Scholar
Smith, Horatio. 1831. Festivals, Games and Amusements. Ancient and Modern. New York: J. & J. Harper.Google Scholar
Thanksgiving Day; or The Fate of Poor Molly Goosey. n.d. but c. 1850–1851. Boston: Wier & White.Google Scholar
Secondary sources
Chambers, R. (ed). 1864. The Book of Days. A Miscellany of Popular Antiquities in Connection with the Calendar. London: W. & R. Chambers.Google Scholar
Cohen, Hennig and Coffin, Tristram Potter (eds). 1987. The Folklore of American Holidays. Detroit: Gale Research Co.Google Scholar
Darton, F. J. Harvey. 1982. Children’s Books in England. 3rd edition revised by Brian Alderson. Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hewes, Lauren B. & Wasowicz, Laura E. 2017. Radiant with Color & Art. McLoughlin Brothers and the Business of Picture Books, 1858–1920. Worcester, MA: American Antiquarian Society.Google Scholar
Nissenbaum, Stephen. 1996. The Battle for Christmas. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.Google Scholar
Overton, Grant. 1925. Portrait of a Publisher and the First Hundred Years of the House of Appleton, 1825–1925. New York: D. Appleton & Co.Google Scholar
Patton, Elda Clayton. 1976. Sarmiento in the United States. Evansville, IN: University of Evansville Press.Google Scholar
Penn, Dorothy. 1936. Sarmiento: “School master president” of Argentina. Hispania 29: 386–389. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Perez, Lisandro. 2018. Sugar, Cigars & Revolution. The Making of Cuban New York. New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar
Shearer, James F. 1944. Pioneer publishers of textbooks for Hispanic America: The house of Appleton. Hispania 27: 21–28. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Silver, Joel. 2019. Early illustration for children: A long prologue and a short history in eight books. In A Shimmer of Joy. One Hundred Children’s Picture Books in America, Chris Loker (ed), 37–45. San Francisco: The Book Club of California.Google Scholar
Wasowicz, Laura E. 2017. McLoughlin Brothers’ conquest of the American picture book market, 1858–1920. In Radiant with Color & Art. McLoughlin Brothers and the Business of Picture Books, 1858–1920, Lauren B. Hewes & Laura E. Wasowicz (ed), 10–31. Worcester, MA: American Antiquarian Society.Google Scholar