Export Author - Daomi Winston

A recent correspondent (thanks, Ken) has pointed out that a book published by Canadian publisher Export Publishing Enterprises in 1949 is the first from prolific American author Daoma Winston. In Adam's Country is one of 156 New Stand Library titles Export published between mid 1948 and early 1951. In typical Export fashion the author name is wrong. 

Four years later the story, with a revised text, was published by New York's Universal Publishing and Distributing under a new title - The Other Stranger. The cover copy is not correct but Universal may not have known about the obscure Canadian version.

News Stand Library 87 - November, 1949

News Stand Library 87 back

Royal Giant 17 - 1953

Royal Giant 17 back

Export Publishing Enterprises Artists Part VI

Canada's Export Publishing Enterprises published 190 books between 1946 and 1951. There were 198 different covers on the books. Thirteen covers were reused in the US series leaving 177 unique covers plus the dust jackets seen on 21 books in the US series. Only 30 (15%) of the covers were signed. The artists are:

Sid Dyke           17
D. Rickard          8
Wes Chapman    3
George Shane     1
?i?                    1

I've done a post on George Shane and just completed a series on Sid Dyke. Here's the one book by an artist whose signature isn't legible. The only clear letter is the "i", maybe "m" to start the name.

News Stand Library 155 

News Stand Library 155 - January 1951

Export Publishing Enterprises Artists Part V - Sid Dyke (4)

Here are the last four (of 17) covers for Export Publishing Enterprises that Sid Dyke signed.

News Stand Library 117

News Stand Library 19A - February 1950

News Stand Library 20A - February 1950

News Stand Library 116 & 27A - July 1950

News Stand Library 117 & 28A - July 1950

Export Publishing Enterprises Artists Part III - Sid Dyke (3)

The fourth Sid Dyke cover for New Toronto paperback publisher Export Publishing Enterprises was nearly 1 1/2 years after the third. It was followed immediately by the fifth through seventh.

One more piece of information on Dyke - the Canadian Heritage Information Network's Artists in Canada has a brief listing which says that he was in Vancouver in 1985.

News Stand Library 104

News Stand Library 104 - April 1950

News Stand Library 105 - April 1950

News Stand Library 106 - May 1950

News Stand Library 107 - May 1950

Export Publishing Enterprises Artists Part II - Sid Dyke (2)

In the first post I introduced early Canadian paperback artist Sid Dyke and his two Export Publishing Enterprise's western covers. He is also listed as Sydney Dyke in Export's December 1950 three issue Junior Weekly series as art director.

Here are his first three covers for Export. They are the only covers he signed "Sid Dyke".

News Stand Library R15

News Stand Library R15 - November 1948

News Stand Library 16 - December 1948

News Stand Library 17 - December 1948

Export Publishing Enterprises Artists Part I - Sid Dyke (1)

Sid Dyke signed more covers for the early Canadian paperback publisher Export Publishing Enterprises than any other artist, 17. There is very little that I have found about Dyke. He is not listed in the Index of Canadian Illustrators but is in the Toronto City Directory for two years - 1948 and 1949. The listing reads "Sydney L. Dyke, commercial artist Bomac Engravers, residence Port Credit." A listing for a work of art (1967) says he was born in Calgary in 1916.

Here are the two westerns he did for Export.

News Stand Library 121



News Stand Library 120 - July 1950

News Stand Library 121 - July 1950

Artists Who Worked For The Three Large Paperback Publishers Part I

Two artists did covers for the three large Canadian paperback publishers in the 1940s and 50s.

George Shane did the fewest covers, just five, one for Export Publishing Enterprises (News Stand Library), one for Wm. Collins Sons & Co. Canada (White Circle) and three for Harlequin Books. Four were signed "Shane" and one "George Shane".

News Stand Library 42

News Stand Library 42 - May 1949

White Circle CD 465 - 1950

Harlequin 116 - May 1951

The Owners of Export Publishing Enterprises Part II

In part I I noted the three owner/managers of the late 40s/early 50s Toronto paperback publisher Export Publishing Enterprises Ltd and discussed the President. Here is the little bit I have found about the Vice-president, Frank R. Steele.

From Toronto City Directories:

1947 Power cable estimator - residence 202 Pacific Avenue,
1948 same,
1949 Vice-president, Export Publishing Enterprises - residence 202 Pacific Avenue,
1950 same,
1951 Vice-president, Export Publishing Enterprises - residence 126 Lakeshore Drive,
1952 no occupation - residence 126 Lakeshore Drive,
1953 Vice-president and sales manager, Periodical Publishers & Printers - residence 126 Lakeshore Drive,
1954 and 1955 no occupation but listings for "Harry M. Steele", who was an employee at Export, have Harry as an employee of "Frank R. Steele Publicity Service".

Steele's change in occupation from "power cable estimator" to publishing "executive" is the most interesting aspect of this biography and likely a first. How did he hook up with the other two owners?

His first residence, 202 Pacific Avenue, is walking distance from Export's first address at 3079 Dundas Street West and his second, 126 Lakeshore Drive, is a short drive from Export's second at 240 Birmingham Street. I can find nothing on "Periodical Publishers & Printers".

Here are three Export offerings from March 1949.

News Stand Library 30 - March 1949

News Stand Library 30 back

News Stand Library 31 - March 1949

New Stand Library 31 back

News Stand Library 32 - March 1949

News Stand Library 32 back

The Owners of Export Publishing Enterprises Part I

In November 1946 Letters Patent for Export Publishing Enterprises Ltd were granted by the Secretary of State for Canada. Subsequent Annual Summaries filed with the Secretary note the three directors as Stanley Roland Schrag, Martin Kastner and Frank R. Steele. They were also the officers and owners of the company. In this post I'll introduce Schrag, about whom I can find very little.

Stanley R. Schrag's listings in Toronto City Directories:

1946 no occupation listed - residence 759 Indian Road,
1947 no occupation listed - residence 90 Delemere Avenue,
1948 President Export Publishing Enterprises - residence 120 Ellins Avenue,
1949 same,
1950 President Export Publishing Enterprises - residence Park Plaza Hotel,
1951 President Export Publishing Enterprises - residence Port Credit,
1952 not listed,
1953 Manager publishing Studio Publications - residence not listed. This is the from the listing for Studio, there is no separate listing for Schrag,
1954 and 1955 not listed.

A couple of comments. One is how unstable Schrag's home life was - five residences in six years. And this is the first documentary evidence of his connection to another Canadian publisher, Studio Publications. More on this in another post.

When we next see Schrag he's in Florida crossing paths with the well known author Richard S. Prather here and here in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The story is told here. Below are examples of his Export work and his later US efforts.

News Stand Library 119 - July 1950

News Stand Library 119 back

News Stand Library 48 - June 1949

News Stand Library 48 back

Neva Paperbacks Playtime Reading 760-S - 1966

Neva Paperbacks Playtime Reading 760-S back

Export and the "Bomb"

"The automatic atom-splitting process can be likened to loading nervous and high-spirited horses into a corral."

So says Richard Gerstell in the appendix in his How to Survive an Atomic Bomb (New York: Bantam, 1950). In addition to being absurdly optimistic and simple-minded ("reading it will actually make you feel better") about its topic the book was already out of date as thermonuclear bombs are not mentioned.

Earlier in 1950 Export Publishing Enterprises Ltd of New Toronto published Let Out the Beast - "the World destroyed by Atomic Blast in 1965". It is the story of a "peace-loving journalist" who lives after the "world is suddenly enveloped in the blasting flames of a gigantic atomic explosion".

Bantam 845 - September 1950

Bantam 845 back

News Stand Library 18A with DJ - January 1950

News Stand Library 18A with DJ back

Second Two News Stand Pocket Library Editions

The first two News Stand Library Pocket Editions from Export Publishing Enterprises Ltd were published in the summer 1948. So were the second two, the first to be numbered.

Number 03 is The Ravager by David Lord, first published New York: Frederick Fell, 1947. The binding is seven stapled signatures - the first five are 12 leaves each and the last two 16 each for a total of 92 or 184 pages. The first printing is undated but the second printing has June 1948 for the first and October 1948 for the second. The page count for the second printing jumps to 192 or 96 leaves - six signatures of 16 leaves each. The second printing's number is R03. The first printing is 173 x 114 mm and the second is 173 x 106 mm.

Number 04 is Possess Me Not by Fan Nichols. The first edition is New York: Frederick Fell, 1946. There are two undated Export variants, the second likely an unacknowledged second printing. The first variant is 173 x 114 mm with 232 pages, the second 173 x 108 mm and 240 pages. The first variant's collation is 1-5¹² 6-7¹⁶ 8-9¹²;  the second variant's is 1-3¹⁶ 4¹² 5-7¹⁶ 8¹². The spine lettering is black on the first variant, red on the second.

News Stand Library 03

News Stand Library 03 back

News Stand Library R03

News Stand Library R03 back

News Stand Library 04 first variant

News Stand Library 04 first variant back

News Stand Library 04 second variant

News Stand Library 04 second variant back