Stringer's Books and EphemeraNorman Stringer

$450.00 (CAD)

Washington, D.C.: Presentation Branch Office of Strategic Service, 1944. Oblong small 4to. (10 ½” x 8”), staple-bound wrappers, 56 pages with illustrations. Condition is better than very good but not quite near fine with small chip front cover top right corner, slight edge wear, slight wear to spine ends, slight edge wear to back cover.

Original, and scarce, OSS presentation book for The Brodie System. From the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame, to which inventor of the Brodie System, James Brodie, was inducted to in 2017, "As an Army Lieutenant (later Captain) in the early days of WW II, he witnessed German submarines devastating merchant convoys. Unlike American submarines, the German diesel-electric subs preferred to make surface attacks to make use of their superior speed—when forced to submerge, the convoys could easily outrun them. The problem—how to put aircraft up over convoys to keep the submarines submerged?

"Though not yet a pilot, Brodie came up with the idea of designing a “trapeze” that could be fitted to merchant ships—enabling liaison aircraft to spot subs and keep them submerged. Though initially rebuffed by the Navy, he eventually was given approval by the Navy...

"...The military focused on using the system on board Landing Craft-Tank (LST) ships in preparation for amphibious landings on remote islands. The system distinguished itself in the battle for Okinawa by scouting defenses, including Japanese suicide boats. Twenty-Five LSTs were equipped with the Brodie system for the invasion of Japan. The system also found use in jungle area, where airstrips could not be built. Brodie received the Legion of Merit award for his invention. After the war, helicopters made the use of the system obsolete. An example of the Brodie system on an L-5 aircraft is on display at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum."

This book with “Restricted” and “OSS Presentation” printed on the front cover details the deploying and setting up of the system.

Interestingly, this book has the name Oliver Lundquist embossed on the front cover (small). Lundquist served as a Navy lieutenant in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War Two, collaborating directly with architect Eero Saarinen to prepare visual presentations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Washington press corps.

$500.00 (CAD)

Chicago: Chicago Tribune, (1929). 8vo. (6” x 9”), illustrated wrappers, 87 pages with photos. Condition is good only with soiling and scuffing to covers, wear to corners and spine ends, soiling to some of the pages as well, first page has some nick right side.

From the Foreword, "Here begins the story of the gangsters of boozedom and what they have done to Chicago. It is the story of quiet, sinister John Torrio; boisterous, brutal Dean O'Banion; slick Al Capone, and the ruthless Genna brothers, ...

"It is important to see them as they are - criminals in business and business men in crime, pimps and bawdy house keepers and safecrackers turned bootleggers - and not as just cheery racketeers whom supposedly reputable officials are not ashamed to palter with and dine with and traffic for votes with.

"So here begins the story which purposes the debunking of the gangsters of boozedom."

A very scarce contemporary look on the roaring twenties of Chicago by James O’Donnell Bennett for the Chicago Tribune.

$475.00 (CAD)

Chicago: Robert Ross, Publisher, 1933. First printing, second issue (first printing, first issue has price of 25¢ printed on the front cover). 8vo., pictorial wrappers, 124 pages with photos. Condition for this softcover book is better than very good but not quite near fine with a bit of smudging on the back cover, slight edge wear, slight wear to spine ends.

Contemporary coverage of Al Capone's two court trials during the early 1930s in Chicago. The contempt of court, he was convicted, and the trial that put him out of the gangster business the tax evasion trial.

Scarce publication.

$400.00 (CAD)

Chicago: The Spot Publishing Co., c. 1930. First printing, second issue (first issue has a five-line addendum at the very end of the magazine, see bibliographic note at end of listing). Magazine, 8 ½” x 11”, 64 pages with numerous photos. Condition for this magazine is better than very good but not quite near fine with a bit of soiling to the covers, some wear to corners and spine ends, a bit of darkening along the spine. With price label of 50c affixed to the front cover.

According to a 1930 issue of “The Chicagoan”, a short-lived magazine modeled after The New Yorker that ran from 1926 to 1935, "It hadn't been on the stands long before robust-looking gentlemen with hats down over their eyes would appear, jerk their thumbs briefly at the display, and corner-lip to the frightened clerk the command: 'Off the stand'".

Published in 1930 with no mention of an author (Hal Andrews) this magazine became infamous right after publication. More than just an exposé of the Chicago gangsters this magazine was the first of many that depicted through photographs the demise of those inhabits of underworld life. “X Marks the Spot” refers to the then newspaper use of an “X” to mark the spot on a photo of where a gangster was found dead on some street or back alley. The makers of this magazine made a conscience choice to remove that “X” and show how many in this life ended up: dead, lying in a gutter, slouched over in some car, etc. It was first sold on the newsstands of Chicago, with a cover price of $1.00, quite a lot for the period, it quickly disappeared from the newsstands though, not from sales but from threats to the newsvendors, mostly from Al Capone’s goons. The author than chose to sell the magazine through mail order and took out ads in various detective magazines and lowered the cover price by covering the original price with sticker labels to 50cents, then 25cents. We have for sale here an issue with the 50cent sticker applied over the original $1.0o price.

The magazine is also an in-depth contemporary history of the Chicago underworld scene during Prohibition, from the beginning, the murder of Big Jim Colosimo, which allowed Johnny Torrio and Al Capone to take over his rackets, through the battles between Capone and the North Side Gang and others culminating in the murder of newsmen Jake Lingle (1930). There is quite a lot of coverage, of course, of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre that took place February 14th, 1929, where seven men (all but one, members or associates of the North Side gang, the one, an optometrist, enjoyed hanging out with gangsters) were surprised by “police officers”, lined up against a wall and mowed down with machine guns and shotgun. The photos of this act, as one can imagine, are quite gruesome.

A bibliographical note: Back in the mid-1990s while working for Woods Industries, I was sent for EFT training to Oakland, California, while there I went through an antique store in what looked like a relatively new strip mall. I asked the clerk there if they had any old magazines or books. She could not remember anything but an old magazine about Chicago. She showed me a copy of “X Marks the Spot”, in perfect condition, yet this issue had a 5-line addendum at the very end of the magazine that I had never seen before. Later, I made my yearly trip to buy true crime material from Patterson Smith of Montclair, New Jersey, the premier true crime dealer in maybe the world(?). I’d known and bought from Pat for many years. I brought this magazine along to show him the addendum. He’d seen issues of this magazine as well but never with the addendum. The addendum states that a bar owner who initially told the writer that he bought his beer from Capone came to his senses and stated to the writer that he was wrongly quoted, and that he never met Capone. Subsequent printings do not have the addendum and in the section with the bar owner he is stated as never having meant Capone. Both Pat and I feel that the issue with the addendum was the first printing, the issues without the addendum and with the bar owner denying ever knowing Al Capone, being first printing, second issue. This copy for sale is a second issue without the addendum.

$165.00 (CAD)

New York: War Books, Inc., (1941). Magazine, 4to. (10 ½” x 13 ½”), pictorial wrappers, 32 pages, profusely illustrated. Condition for this magazine is better than very good but not quite near fine with some wear to corners, some wear to spine ends with a very small tear along the base of the spine, slight darkening along the edges of the front cover.

"On the pages of this magazine is the irrefutable record of Nazi treachery and perfidy in the United States and the world. Pictures do not lie... Look at the photographs in this magazine, read its pages and you will agree - America must Awake - We must re-arm."

A scarce magazine warning Americans of the coming tragedy, with a striking illustrated cover of a German paratrooper exiting a plane to begin his descent into New York City.

Magazine covers the How the Blitzkrieg works, the Christian Front, New York Nazi Spy Trials, and other threats to America from within. Includes a photo of the J D Lambert head of the Canadian branch of the Christian Front.

$475.00 (CAD)

Detroit: Cadillac Motor Car Co., (1914). 8vo. (6 ¼” x 10”), staple-bound card covers, 32 pages with illustrations throughout. Condition for this catalogue is very good with some wear to edges, some wear to corners.

Original 1914 Cadillac catalogue. A highly informative catalogue from the top of the class automaker Cadillac. The catalogue begins with “The Story of the Cadillac” with information on what makes a Cadillac a Cadillac, the standards, the policies and everything else. The catalogue then discusses the various parts of the Cadillac automobile, the engine, lubrication, the clutch, carburetor, electrical system, transmission, steering mechanism, two-speed direct drive axle, suspension, brakes, bodies, the finish, the tops, fenders, and seat covers (options with prices).

The catalogue then covers seven different models available with prices.

A scarce catalogue from the premier maker of American cars.

$275.00 (CAD)

Milwaukee: Harley-Davidson Motor Co., (1947). Oblong 8vo. (7 ½”x 5 ½”), 12 pages including covers with photos. Condition is near fine with slight edge wear, slight wear to corners, slight wear along the spine, a bit of rusting to staples.

Original 1947 sales booklet for Harley-Davidson. Includes 45 Twin, 61 and 74 OHV, 74 Side Valve, the Police Model, servi-cars, side cars and accessories. Scarce.

$295.00

Elkhart, IN: Crow-Elkhart Motor Co., (1917). 8vo. (6” x 9”), staple-bound pictorial wrappers, 16 pages with illustrations. A bit of offsetting to the catalogue front cover right side otherwise near fine.

Scarce catalogue from this Indiana-based automobile company that lasted from 1909 to 1924. Catalogue contains company policy, information, models available with prices, vehicle equipment information, a nice bird’s eye-view of the factory in Indiana.

$650.00 (CAD)

Washington, D.C.: Federal Bureau of Investigation U.S. Department of Justice, (1937). Thin card stock, 8” x 8”. Condition for this wanted mailer is very good with fold across middle as usual, slight edge wear and slight wear to corners, a bit of tanning to the flyer, there is a pencil (grease pencil?) date of apprehension notation on the front of flyer. The reverse of the mailer is addressed to the Chief of Police for the city of Kent, Ohio.

Original FBI wanted mailer for Louis “Lepke” Buchalter (1897 – 1944), the highest ranking mob boss ever to be executed in the United States.

“Born on New York’s Lower East Side, Buchalter derived his nickname from ‘Lepkeleh’ (Yiddish for ‘Little Louis’). As a youth he was already into shoplifting and burglary and, by the age of 22 in 1919, had served two prison terms. In the 1920s he ganged up with a collection of Jewish, Irish, and Italian mobsters engaged mainly in extortion and labour racketeering, but also murder. Between 1932 and 1934 he allied with Lucky Luciano in founding the national crime syndicate. About 1933 he put together his best killer-enforcers, under the command of such gunmen as Albert Anastasia and Abe ‘Kid Twist’ Reles, and established as a sideline an organization that would kill—or beat or mutilate—anyone (except syndicate members) for a price. As an associate would comment, ‘Lep loves to hurt people.’ The outfit was later popularly dubbed Murder, Inc.” (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

This mailer from the FBI was issued November 17, 1937 for the arrest of Lepke who had fled while out on bail for violating federal anti-trust laws. While on the run Lepke was charged by the City of New York as having been involved in a series of unsolved gangland murders (Murder Inc.). As noted on the flyer Lepke was apprehended August 24, 1939.

$350.00 (CAD) for both books and photocopied letter

KARPIS, Alvin as told to Bill Trent. PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE THE ALVIN KARPIS STORY. Signed by Alvin Karpis, with witness signature of Robert Livesey.
Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1971. 8vo., cloth, 256 pages with photos. Condition for the book is near fine with price-clipped dustjacket that has slight edge wear, some wear to spine ends, some scuffing and soiling, but still nice dustjacket.

KARPIS, Alvin as told to Robert Livesey. ON THE ROCK. TWENTY-FIVE YEARS IN ALCATRAZ. Signed by Robert Livesey.
Mississauga: LBS, 1988. Paperback, 306 pages with photos. Condition for the paperback is very good+ with a bit of edge wear and wear to the corners.

Included is a photocopy of a letter from co-author of ON THE ROCK Robert Livesey. The letter states that Livesey, when doing interviews with Karpis for the book, had purchased copies of Karpis's previous "as told to" book PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE and had him sign some copies which Liversey also signed as a witness. Karpis, unfortunately for Livesey, died before the publication of the book ON THE ROCK.

From the Canadian Encyclopedia: "Alvin Karpis, gangster (b Albin Karpowicz at Montréal 1908; d at Torremolinos, Spain 26 Aug 1979). Nicknamed Old Creepy, he was among the most notorious of the Depression-era bandits in the US. As a henchman of the infamous Barker Gang, he robbed numerous banks and participated in 2 sensational kidnappings. After the FBI broke up the Barker Gang and killed such legendary hoodlums as John Dillinger and George "Baby Face" Nelson, Karpis became Public Enemy No 1. He was captured in New Orleans in 1936, allegedly by J. Edgar Hoover, chief of the FBI. After serving a long prison term, including a record 26 years in Alcatraz, Karpis was paroled and deported to his native Canada in 1969. His autobiography, "Public Enemy Number One" (1971), is a graphic and chilling account of his criminal career."

$450.00 (CAD)

Chicopee Falls, MA: Stevens Duryea Co., 1909. 8v0. (6” x 9”), embossed card covers, 32 pages with illustrations. Condition for this catalogue is very good with slight edge wear, small stain evident at the top of spine that is visible on the first 3 pages and the last 5 pages, some rusting to staples.

“Stevens-Duryea was an American manufacturer of Veteran and Brass Era automobiles in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, between 1901 and 1915 and Vintage Cars from 1919 to 1927.” (Wikipedia)

This catalogue is for their Model “X” which was produced from 1909 to 1915. The company lasted until 1927.

$265.00 (CAD)

Flint, MI: Buick Motor Co., (1924). 4to. (8 ½” x 11”), staple-bound pictorial card wrappers, 32 pages with illustrations. Condition for this sales catalogue is very good, with minor soiling and scuffing to covers, rusting to staples.

A wonderful, and quite informative, catalogue featuring 14 different Buick models for the 1924 season with specs and prices.

$125.00 (CAD)

NP: 135th Regiment, no date (late 1944, early 1945). Large 8vo. (7 ½” x 10”), staple-bound wrappers, 11pp with illustrations throughout. Condition for this booklet is about very good with some soiling to covers, slight wear to corners and spine ends.

A welcome booklet printed near the end of World War 2 for new recruits to the 135th Infantry, 34th Division (Red Bull) of the U.S. Army. The booklet contains info on where to eat, mail call, food, cigarettes, passes, etc., the difference between the sound of German and Allied artillery, and a brief history of the regiment’s experience from North Africa, through Cassino, Anzio, the liberation of Rome, to the Gothic Line.

$325.00 (CAD)

New York: E.P. Dutton, 1931. First edition. 8vo., textured cloth, 335 pages with photos. Condition is near fine with slight shelf wear, minor foxing to rear endpaper.

Although he worked for the Chicago Tribune Lingle never wrote an article, he was the guy the reporters went to for deep information in regard to gangsters, politicians, and the police. Even though he wasn’t paid a lot as a reporter he lived a lavish lifestyle. On the morning of June 8, 1930 while walking in a crowded underground passageway Lingle was shot in the back of the head. Dead. Written by a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, John Boettiger, this book thoroughly covers the in-depth investigation that went into the hunt for Lingle’s killer, culminating in the arrest and conviction of Leo Vincent Brothers.

An excellent contemporary look at the workings of the underworld of Chicago.

$150.00 (CAD)

Westfield, MA: Westfield Manufacturing Co., no date (circa 1940s-1950s). 4to. (8 ½” x 11”), staple-bound wrappers, 16 pages (including wrappers) with colour illustrations. Also included are 9 single page plates, size is 9” x 7” with colour illustration are one side and bicycle model details on reverse. All are in near fine condition.

Original catalogue from Columbia bicycles featuring Streamline, Roadster, plus other models. The laid-in 9 plates of bicycles are of various models. Scarce.

$175.00 (CAD)

Flint, MI: Buick Motor Co., (1929). 4to. (9” x 12”), illustrated wrappers with affixed title label, 46 pages with illustrations throughout. Condition is better than very good but not quite near fine, with some darkening along the edges of the covers, some wear along the spine. Someone has written the various prices of the cars offered in pencil.

A large format catalogue celebrating Buick’s 25th anniversary in 1929. The catalogue contains the following chapters, "The Silver Anniversary Buicks", "The Greatest Engine in the World", "No Other Car is so Easy to Drive", "A Chassis without a rival", "Service wherever you go", "The next best car to a new Buick", and "In brief - Specifications".

Scarce.

$75.00 (CAD)

Montreal: Electrolux (Canada) Limited, (1934). 8vo. (6” x 9”), wrappers, 32 pages. With illustrations. Condition for this instruction manual is near fine with slight edge wear, slight wear to corners and spine ends.

A wonderfully illustrated instruction from 1934 showing the proper methods on vacuuming with an Electrolux. The 2 centre pages contain an extensive list of “Some Well Known Canadian and International Users of Electrolux Cleaner Equipment.”

$75.00 (CAD)

(Montreal): Northern Electric Company Ltd., (1959). 4to. (8” x 10”), thin card covers, 32 pages with photos. Condition for this book is about very good with some edge wear, some wear to corners and spine ends, some wear along the spine.

“The choice of a career is one of the most important decisions of your life. This booklet has been prepared to assist you in this choice and to help you decide if your New Engineering Career should be a Northern Electric Career.”

Contains information on various engineering career paths in Northern Electric: research and development; design engineering; manufacturing; wiring and cable; and more. Includes various locations available for future employees, but the main focus is on Montreal with city and cultural advantages for relocating. Scarce.

$95.00

Flint, MI: Buick Motor Company, no date (1916). 8vo. (5 ¾” x 7 ½”), pictorial wrappers, 16 pages with illustrations. Condition is very good with slight edge wear, slight wear to corners and spine ends, a bit of rusting to the staples, a couple of small stains on the back cover.

Original 1916 Buick Sixes sales booklet.

$75.00 (CAD)

NP: Published by Division Info-Educ Office, (1945). Small oblong 8vo. (7” x 5”), staple-bound pictorial wrappers, 12 pages with illustrations. Condition for this booklet is very good with a bit of soiling to the covers, slight wear to corners and spine ends.

Original booklet given out to new recruits to the U.S. Army’s 85th Division, the Custer Division (CD). Published probably in early 1945 the booklet gives new arrivals to the division a brief history, info on service time, spreading rumours, the enemy and combat advice, and the “Big Picture”. Scarce.

$75.00(CAD)

(Mediterranean Theater of Operations): United States Army, (1945). Oblong, small 8vo. (6 ¾” x 4 ½”), pictorial wrappers, 20 pages with illustrations. A bit of soiling to the wrappers, light crease down middle, a bit of tanning to the pages, better than very good but not quite near fine.

U.S. Army booklet on what is next after the defeat of Germany, what is expected from the soldiers (continued discipline), and the continued war with Japan.

$50.00 (CAD)

(Montreal): Canadian National Railway, (1959). 4to. (8 ½” x 12”), pictorial, card covers, 39 pages with illustrations and folding map affixed in rear (map size is 31” x 11 ¾”). Condition is near fine with slight edge wear, slight wear to corners and spine ends.

Official report from CNR for the year 1958, covering financial results, traffic and revenues, operating expenses, growth and progress, and more.

We also have available the CNR reports for 1954 and 1955 for the same price.