Thompson and Thomas, Chicago (1900-1908)

Not much is known about this publishing house.

Charles C. Thompson (1867-1914) was born in Albion, Wisconsin. He was involved in the book publishing/selling business in Rutland, Illinois prior to becoming a named partner in the Thompson and Thomas publishing house in 1897. I have seen a book as early as 1890 with the C. C. Thompson/Rutland, Illinois imprint. The firm name was changed to Charles C. Thompson and Co. in 1909. A short bout of pneumonia was the cause of Thompson's demise.

I have no significant information about the other named partner, C. E. Thomas. There is evidence that Thomas published titles on his own imprint in the late teens.

It appears that this firm was at 267 Wabash from the late 1890's until about 1903 when it moved to 338 Wabash (Chicago).

1904 Thompson and and Thomas envelope advertises "The Hoosier School-Master"

1908

Thompson and Thomas published a number of combination books as well as the first editions of four Peck titles. The combination books include a Thompson and Thomas title page which noted all the titles that were part of the omnibus book. All of this publisher's books originally came with dust jackets. Unfortunately, they are extremely scarce.

It appears that this firm also published Sunbeams. I have not seen a copy of this book.

Thompson and Thomas also published a number of Peck's Bad Boy comics. Originally these "books" were copyrighted by Joseph W. Bowles. Bowles apparently hired the cartoonist Walt McDougall to draw the Peck character for use in a syndicated comic for newspapers between June, 1906-June, 1907. Thompson and Thomas obtained the copyright from Bowles for the stories based on the comics as well as the comics themselves. See below.

Bowles held the original copyright for three of the four first editions that Thompson and Thomas printed.
Peck's Bad Boy Abroad- Bowles 1904/1905 copyright
Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus - Bowles 1905 copyright
Peck's Bad Boy with the Cowboys - Bowles 1905/ 1906

These books had for the most part been syndicated and serialized in various newspapers with Joseph W. Bowles holding the copyrights.

(Some of this information is from an excellent website: http://strippersguide.blogspot.com/2009/11/obscurity-of-day-adventures-of-pecks.html .)

Thompson and Thomas published the comics between 1906 and 1908. See below.

Combination Books

Three combination title books were published by Thompson and Thomas.

In 1900 a book containing Peck's Uncle Ike and the Red Headed Boy as well as Sunbeams was printed. In 1901 the same combination book was published. Both books are 8.5 by 7.0 with identical contents.

1900
1901

Here is the title page for the post-1901 Thompson and Thomas editions. Note that although the the cover and text is identical to the 1901 edition, the title page does not mention Sunbeams.

Post-1901 title page

In 1900 Thompson and Thomas published a large complete edition of Peck's Bad Boy and His Pa called Peck's Bad Boy and His Pa Complete and Compendium of Fun. This book contained Peck's Bad Boy No. 1, Peck's Bad Boy, No. 2 and Peck's Sunshine. It was priced at $2.50. This book is exactly the same as the previously published Conkey book with the same title. It is 8.5 x 7.

This publisher also published a copy of this book with a half Morocco binding with gold stamping.

A third combination book has the cover title of How Private Peck Put Down the Rebellion. The book contains the title story as well as Peck's Boss Book. This 8.5 x 6.75 volume is not dated but was published in 1900 or later.

This firm produced a number of Peck books which were first editions. The titles were initially published in hardcover in quarto size at $1.00 and in wraps with lithographed paper covers at 25 cents.

Peck's Bad Boy Abroad (Thompson and Thomas copyright 1905)
Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus (Thomas and Thomas copyright 1906)
Peck's Bad Boy with the Cowboys (Thompson and Thomas copyright 1907)
Peck's Bad Boy in an Airship (Thompson and Thomas copyright 1908). Note the original copyright was held by W. G. Chapman also in 1908. Chapman was a book agent as well as being with the International Press Bureau in Chicago. How he came to have the copyright for this book is unclear at this point.

Three hardcover formats and one paperback format have been seen. There is also evidence that a copy of "Abroad" was published with half leather and gold stamping. It is called the "Library Edition".

Hardcover format #1.
These large (8.5 x 6.75) have been seen with red or blue covers. It is presumed that these are the first editions. This format was published between 1905 and 1908. The first edition of Peck's Bad Boy Abroad has been seen in two different variations. The earlier book has 471 pages. The later book only has the first 379 pages.

First edition title page

Later edition title page

The format below has only been seen with the "Cowboys" book but it was probably used for all four of the titles. Note that the only difference between this book and the Cowboys book above is that this book does not have the 1907 date on the title page that the first edition has. It was most likely published in the 1908-1909 era. It is considerably more uncommon than the first edition.

The versions below probably were used for all four Peck titles also. These titles were published in the same format by the Charles C. Thompson Co., the successor to Thompson and Thomas.

Thus this format was probably published later than the formats shown above. That would be in about 1909.

The four books were published in wraps. Except for some minor cover color variations, these titles published by Thompson and Thomas, Charles C. Thompson Company, Stanton and Van Vliet and John R. Stanton are all the same. See those publishers for more information.

Comics

There were two different size comic books published by Thompson and Thomas.

Four small comic books were printed in the "Series of The Adventures of Peck's Bad Boy and the Country Cousins". They each have 8 pages (16 sides) of cartoon illustrations. They are 11 x 5.5. They are all copyrighted by Joseph W. Bowles in 1906 and Thompson and Thomas in 1906-1907. Walter McDougall did the art work.

Their Adventures with the Teddy Bears
Their Balloon Trip to the Country
With the Teddy Bear Show
With the Billy Whiskers Goats

The larger size comics are 16.5 x 11. These books have either 16 pages or 32 pages.

Adventures of Peck's Bad Boy 32 pages
Copyright 1906 (in Great Britain) by Joseph W. Bowles
Copyright 1906 by Thompson and Thomas
Title page dated-1906

Adventures of Peck's Bad Boy 32 pages
Copyright 1906 (in Great Britain) by Joseph W. Bowles
Copyright 1906 by Thompson and Thomas
Title page not dated

Peck's Bad Boy and His Chums 32 pages
Copyright by Joseph W. Bowles 1907
Copyright by Thompson and Thomas 1908
Title page not dated but since Thompson and Thomas went out of business in 1909, this book is either a 1908 or 1909 publication.

Peck's Bad Boy and His Country Cousin Cynthia 16 pages
Copyright Joseph W. Bowles 1906
Copyright Thompson and Thomas 1907
Picture below is from a Charles C. Thompson (1909-1913) copy.

Salesman Sample Book

Here is a salesman's sample book that advertised several different books that Thompson and Thomas published. Although the sample imprint is the American Publishing House, Chicago, the advertisements are clearly for Thompson and Thomas. The latter company is the only one that published Peck's Bad Boy Abroad in this format.