Simple Vintage Dumbo Illustrations

   Anyone who follows us on Twitter knows that we spend a big part of our weekends at garage sales, flea markets, and estate sales.  This is part of our ongoing "imagineering" of our home into a real life adventurers clubhouse.  It was at one of these estate sales this past weekend where wee picked up two gorgeous vintage children's books…one telling the Disney version of Pinocchio and the other of Dumbo.  
   It is very rare that we buy Disney items at these sales, but both books were just too pretty not to pick up. Plus, they were both dated around the times of the actual movie release.  Today I'm going to share some of my favorite illustrations from the Dumbo book, which was dated at 1942.

   One of my favorite parts about children's books are the terrific inside covers!  Here is a simple brightly colored circus parade that weaves between both pages.  The washed green background is classic and entirely effective. 

   The majority of the illustrations are simple charcoal drawings in black and white, though a pretty soft blues and greens show up now and then.  These illustrations are a great way to tell the story, simply supplementing the text and letting your imagination do most of the work. 

   These are just a handful of the the many illustrations in this wonderful book, and I'll make sure to post more of them eventually.  I can't get over how effective such unflourished work can be in forming an emotional narrative.  The one at the end gets me in my gut big time. 

   Is Dumbo one of your favorite Disney films?  Do you collect vintage Disney books?  Lets hear about it over on Twitter or Facebook!