Dreams Come True!

[New York and Memphis: Black and White Company, 1940. Very good.. 28pp. Original pictorial wrappers, stapled. Minor toning, light soiling to wrappers. A rare pamphlet promoting the beauty products of the Black and White Company. According to the introductory text: "'Dreams Come True' is presented for your entertainment and pleasure by the makers of the popular Black and White Beauty Preparations. This book takes its name from illustrated, true-to-life stories of great persons who dreamed great dreams. By their work and intelligence they made their dreams come true. 'Dreams Come True,' packed from cover to cover with interesting stories and pictures, will thrill, mystify and inspire you." The stories are essentially biographical passages of famous African-American historical figures, illustrated graphically much like comic strips.

The artist for the stories was George L. Lee, who is described here as a "well-known race artist of Chicago" who was "the creator of 'Interesting People,' a picture story that is published weekly by many Negro newspapers throughout the nation." The notable figures whose stories are recounted here include Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, William C. Handy, Frederick Douglass, and Fats Waller, among others. These biographical picture stories are interspersed with promotional passages for the Black and White Company's beauty and hair products. An unusual approach to advertising to the African-American community, but quite appealing.

OCLC reports just four institutional copies, at the Bancroft, Yale, Emory, and the Detroit Public Library.