We were on the road yesterday, and Barbara asked me about the origin of Book Clubs, since we do carry some book club editions in our store. She again won the game of “Stump the Chump,’ but as usual, I prevailed, and offer you the following not-so-trivial information about the last club standing, Book-of-the-Month Club:
BOMC was founded in 1926 by Harry Scherman, an advertising copywriter, who co-founded the Little Leather Library in 1916, with his colleagues Robert Haas and Maxwell Sackheim. The LLL lasted just a few years, but the terrific trio tried again in April, 1926, with their launch of the BOMC, which sent books to just 4,750 members. By the end of the year, the club membership had increased almost ten-fold to 46,000-plus members, mostly due to the lack of easy access to local bookstores, and by 1928, the membership had more than doubled again.
Contrary to the current thinking, BOMC books were held in very high regard, and enjoyed a certain prestige, even though they were sold at full publisher’s price plus postage. Membership continued to grow, and during the World War II years - 1939 to 1946 - circulation grew to over 800,000 members. The Club shipped out its 100 millionth book in 1949, and by the middle 1950s, was selling close to 5 million books a year !
There will not be a test, even though I did scatter a huge number of dates and facts through the above paragraphs. But what about today, you ask. Well…
(To be Continued)
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