1960s Children’s Books Archives

1961 P.D. Eastman’s “Go Dog Go?”: 131 ppm Lead + 11 ppm Arsenic! Are your kid’s books safe? Are they vintage?

January 30, 2020November 22, 2023

For those new to this website: Tamara Rubin is a multiple-federal-award-winning independent advocate for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety, and a documentary filmmaker. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children (two of her sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005). Since 2009, Tamara has been using XRF technology (a scientific method…

Folks have been asking if Lead in vintage books is a real poisoning concern. Here’s my response.

January 30, 2020November 20, 2023

21 Comments

This is an ad-free article. To make a contribution to help us keep our most widely-read articles ad-free, click here. Thank you. For those new to this website: Tamara Rubin is a multiple-federal-award-winning independent advocate for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety, and a documentary filmmaker. She is also a mother of…

1960 P.D. Eastman’s “Are You My Mother?”: 58 ppm Lead + 971 ppm Antimony! Are your kid’s books safe? Are they vintage?

January 29, 2020January 29, 2020

8 Comments

Introduction (for those new to this website): Tamara Rubin is an independent advocate for consumer goods safety. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children. She began testing consumer goods for toxicants in 2009 and was the parent-advocate responsible for finding Lead in the popular fidget spinner toys in 2017. Tamara uses XRF testing (a scientific…

1960 Book Club Edition Dr. Seuss’ “One fish two fish red fish blue fish”: 97 ppm Lead. Are your kid’s books safe?

January 24, 2020November 22, 2023

4 Comments

For those new to this website: Tamara Rubin is a multiple-federal-award-winning independent advocate for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety and a documentary filmmaker. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children (two of her sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005). Since 2009, Tamara has been using XRF technology (a scientific method…

1966 Hardcover Book, “It’s Wonderful To Be In Love”: 387 ppm Lead

November 4, 2018January 24, 2020

1 Comment

1966 Book, “It’s Wonderful To Be In Love” by Rosalind Welcher. When tested with an XRF instrument this book had the following readings: Front Cover: Lead (Pb): 387 +/- 21 ppm Arsenic (As): 39 +/- 15 ppm Barium (Ba): 317 +/- 150 Chromium (Cr): 372 +/- 72 ppm Bromine (Br): 6 +/- 3 ppm Zinc…

#Leaded: 1963 Hardcover Printing of “Volume 14 of The American Heritage New Illustrated History Of The United States; The Roosevelt Era”

June 24, 2018January 24, 2020

2 Comments

Most vintage books have at least some amount of lead. The amount of lead that is considered toxic in a modern item manufactured and intended to be used by children is 90 ppm or higher in the coating (or paint) and 100 ppm (or higher) in the substrate. This 1963 printing of “The Roosevelt Era”…

#Leaded: 1965 Great Detective Stories Hardcover Book

June 24, 2018January 24, 2020

Most vintage books have at least some amount of lead. The amount of lead that is considered toxic in a modern item manufactured and intended to be used by children is 90 ppm or higher in the coating (or paint) and 100 ppm (or higher) in the substrate. This 1965 printing of “Great Detective Stories”…

#LeadSafe: 1969 Hardy Boys Book

March 7, 2018January 24, 2020

1969 Hardy Boys Book. The Secret Of Wildcat Swamp. Hardcover. Book Cover: 27 +/- 8 ppm lead. Interior pages: ND (non-detect) for lead. Tested with an XRF instrument. Personally I avoid letting my children use vintage books, because they almost always test positive for lead (plus we live near Powell’s, one of the largest book…