McLoughlin Bros., Inc., Springfield, Mass.

John McLoughlin worked in the publishing industry beginning in 1819. In 1840 he was a partner in the Elton and Co. firm and by 1850 his son, John McLoughlin Jr. (1827-1905) who had apprenticed with the former firm, took over as the two senior partners retired. The new firm was named John McLoughlin (successors to Elton and Co.). Later in 1855 John's brother Edmund joined the firm and in 1858 the house was newly named McLoughlin Bros. When McLoughlin died in 1905, his sons took over the firm. In 1920 the firm was sold to Milton Bradley and moved to Springfield, Mass.

For a detailed description of the history of this company see http://www.americanantiquarian.org/mcloughlin.htm

Two Peck's Bad Boy items were published by this company in 1939. Both are offshoots of the Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus movie that was released in 1938. The little 6.75 x 5.25 92 page book has lithographed board covers. There is no relationship between this story and the Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus that was published in 1905 by Thompson and Thomas.

The second item is an oversized (11 x 16) coloring book. This book loosely follows the story and movie and was published in 1939. There are 48 pages of pictures to be colored.