the book collector
the London Blitz in 1940–41. This marked an end to the tradition of the prize binding. Although books continued to be awarded as prizes throughout the 1940s and 1950s, no longer were specific prize books produced by publishers. The introduction of paper- back books for children in 1940 under the Pu Y n Books imprint facilitated book-buying for children, thus reducing the ‘special occasion’ that receiving a book once constituted. Furthermore, decreased Sunday school attendance and the push for schools to divert money to equipment for common use (i.e. reference books, paints etc.) also contributed to the prize book’s decline. As schools became concerned with the behaviourist idea of small incentives every day as opposed to formal ceremonies, they introduced new more economic ways to reward children, such as stamps, badges, stickers, charts and certificates. While the book as prize continued to be given in boarding and grammar schools as symbols of prestige, it was replaced by the book token in most other awarding institutions – a practice that still survives today. Since the mid-twentieth century, books have come to be some- what taken for granted and generally accepted as a part of our everyday life. Yet for working-class children in the nineteenth and early-twentieth century, the prize book was a source of great pride. The pristine condition in which many prize bindings still survive today stands as a testimony of just how cherished these books were by their owners. Through their designs and layouts, a tangible his- tory of the rise and fall of the British prize book movement can be established. While many awarding institutions no longer exist and recipients have passed on, these prize books remain as evidence of a practice that once played an essential role in the education of young children across Britain.
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