Popular Information

This collection draws together material which attempts to provide easily understood information or guidance for the lay person. Until the twentieth century, almanacs were a principal source of information in the home. The Nye holds over 350 issues of more than 100 almanac titles dating between 1804 and the 1920's.

For the popularization of information, nothing in American publishing history rivals the blue book. Emmanuel Haldeman- Julius began publishing blue books in 1919. Over the next several decades 6,000 titles were available for sale through the mail. Topics ranged from joke books and manuals to classic literary works. The Nye collection features over 2,000 Little Blue Books, 600 Big Blue Books, and an assortment of other Haldeman-Julius publications. A wide sample of nineteenth and twentieth century books of advice on etiquette, health, life and love, marriage, success, and elocution are also featured. Advice books with a religious intent have recently been added. Additionally, there are over 2,000 textbooks spanning the years 1810 to 1960.

Special Collections Division

Michigan State University Libraries .