Adventures of Seesik and Trampo by T.L. Sappington

A week ago, mentioned that I received some money from a magazine who wanted to use a few of my photos in an upcoming article of theirs.  With the money burning a hole in my pocket, I went to St. Vinnie's and rewarded myself with lots of books at their half price sale.  ("CLICK HERE" to read more about that.)  

While there, I noticed this vintage book, Adventures of Seesik and Trampo.  Published in 1932 by The World Syndicate Publishing Company of New York, N.Y. and written by T. L. Sappington, it wasn't included in the half price sale, and it cost $25.00 so I passed it up that day.  Still, there was a sticky note on the back that kept me thinking about the book:

My friend Peter, from over at "Peter's Blog", left me a comment on the post about my book finds and said this:  "Let me give you some advice, buy the 1932 book before it is sold to someone else! So far you spent less than $32 of your well deserved $150. So give yourself a present. And, do me favor, shoot a few more of those beautiful pictures" :) 

Peter's comment was the boost that I needed, though it took me until Wednesday to get back to the store.  The book was off the shelf, but the book lady led me back to where they keep the old books and it hadn't yet been sold.   So, I bought it.  I think it was meant to be. 

The story is about Seesik the Sailor, who retires from the sea and goes to work for a rich guy with a couple of kids.  The kids are Chub and Cherry, and Seesik becomes their gardener and tells them stories of his adventures.  Trampo is the estate handyman, and he has a few of his own tales to share with the children.  I haven't read it yet, but skimmed through to see what it was about.  It looks like a very interesting book, and one to read aloud to children.

The color illustrator in the version that I purchased is E.B. Curtz. I wonder if Curtz was Mary Engelbriet's inspiration when she was beginning her career?  So far, I can't find anything out about E.B. Curtz by just Googling, and he/she isn't even given credit in the book.  I had to use a magnifying glass to even get that much information, but the pictures are very charming.  Nor could I easily find out anything about the author. 

The other illustrator, Leo Nowak, did the ink drawings for Adventures of Seesik and Trampo and he turned out to be quite famous later.  Nowak went on to illustrate Superman comic books, and for a bit more about him, you can "CLICK HERE".

As I was buying the book, the cashier explained the $150 note.  She told me that the store looks stuff up on Ebay, Amazon and other places to determine if items appear to have value.  When I got home, I did the same.  There are several different covers of this book.  The one I bought appears to be the oldest one.  There is also a brown cover that came out later.  I wonder if Curtz's pictures are included in that version, does anybody out there know?  Amazon stated that the average price for this book was between $25 - $35 (so I am okay there) and that there is a collectors version worth $150.  I would consider selling this book if it is worth a lot, otherwise, I think that I will keep it.

So that is my story about finding this neat book, and I am sticking to it.  I am happy that I took Peter's advice.  Have you done something nice for yourself lately?  Please leave a comment, and tell us all about it!

~ Kathy M.

At Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy, if you miss a day, you miss a lot!  All material on this post is copyrighted and not for use without my permission ...Please click here to go to my home page and see what is happening in Mayberry today.