Soldiers huddle in a tank, or a tent in the rain, desperate to divert their thoughts from the battle to come. But what to do?
The nearest movie theater is hundreds of miles away, and it’s difficult to find a radio to listen to, this deep in the front lines.
Yet, there is still one form of entertainment, accessible to any soldier, no matter where he is. All he has to do is reach into his pocket and pull out a teeny, tiny Quick Reader paperback book
The answer was found stateside, shortly after the war began. Here, the battle for morale, both at home and abroad, was nearly as big as the actual fight itself. Booksellers, publishers and librarians across the country banded together to create the Council on Books in Wartime. The goal of this organization was to ensure that soldiers had access to reading material, no matter where they were.
Out of this effort came two different types of small paperbacks. Each could be easily transported anywhere.
These beautiful paperbacks were designed to look like their larger counterparts yet shrunk down to a compact size of4.5” X 4.”
Each cover featured a fantastic color design, and the publisher scattered a series of illustrations throughout each issue.
Titles ranged from romance, to mysteries, to suspense stories, to humor.
Some of the offerings were a little saucy, guaranteed to entertain the troops on the front lines.
There was another advantage to these little books. They offered the folks back home a chance to directly cheer up a serviceman. Printed on the back of this humorous issue are directions to send a Quick Reader to a soldier in need for only pennies in postage.
Here are some examples of the wide range of titles offered.
Quick Readers help win the battle! This little slice of war time life is brought to you by GVS, Glorious Vintage Stuff!
