A Tour Through Their History: Julian Wehr

During the 1940s, Julian Wehr animated a number of movable books for several American publishers. His designs were all operated by tabs, which moved various parts of the illustration. While most tabs in early movables were located at the bottom of the pages and operated by pulling down, Wehr’s designs were more flexible than traditional “pull-the-tab” books. In Wehr’s books, the tabs are located at the bottom and the sides of the images, and are operable by moving the tabs back and forth along slits in the pages. Some tabs could be moved both back and forth, and up and down, to provide a variety of motions.

A red book cover containing an illustration of a giant old man, a space-like background over the back of his head. He is standing over Dorothy and her friends fom the Wizard of Oz. The title is at the top in yellow letters.

Illustration on the right page of an old man in a green robe holding the head of a scarecrow with the body right next to him. The left page contains text and a small illustration of Scarecrow.

A yellow book cover with the title covering half of it in red bubble letters. Under that are small illustrations of Popeye swinging his fist, the explosion in front of him containing the word Splat. On the left is a stack of bags with another figure sitting on top of it.

Page on the right is an illustration of a man and woman in Popeye cartoon animation. Popeye himself is inside of a well with a pipe in his mouth. A tree and water is behind them. The page on the left contains text.

Finnie the Fiddler tells the story of a musical youth who accidentally stows away on a ship and becomes the crew’s fiddler. Later, he is shipwrecked and plays his fiddle for friendly natives in an unknown land.

A yellow book cover with a blue illustration in the middle, with illustration of different male characters in it, including one playing the fiddle. The title is in the middle of it in red letters.

Photo open to two pages, on the left the page has text and the page on the right contains a movable illustration of a teacher scolding three children inside of a classroom.

In This Exhibit

Home
The Great Menagerie
Nineteenth Century
Twentieth Century
Exhibit Catalogue
Blue Ribbon Publishing
Tour Introduction
Dean and Son
French Movables
S. Louis Giraud
Voitech Kubasta
McLoughlin Brothers
Lothar Meggendorfer
Ernest Nister
S. and J. Fuller
1965 to Present
Raphael Tuck and Sons
Julian Wehr
Title Index

A Tour Through Their History: Julian Wehr

In This Exhibit

Partnerships

Mail

Contact

Additional Links