Society in America - Book Series

  Eight U.S. Cities at Mid-Century 
   Those interested in collecting books published in a series, or readers curious about the social history of eight American cities around 75 years ago, will find these publications by E.P. Dutton worth considering.
   I suppose I should have led with the adjectives used to describe the citizens in six of the cities to attract your attention. Here they are and do you think you can match the adjective to a city without looking: "Amiable", "Lusty", "Proper", "Romantic", "Serene", and "Spectacular"? Apparently those living in Memphis and Washington are not so easily characterized.
  The purpose of the publisher was to “to portray the individual characteristics, to underscore the idiosyncrasies, and to trace the growth of sectional societies with special emphasis on local traditions and on the personalities who embodied them.”  You will likely recognize the title of the first book on the list below and will know about the author of it for other reasons.
  You will also probably associate Babe Ruth and Mencken with Baltimore, but not realize it was also the birthplace of Bromo-Seltzer. 
   It is doubtful that you know about Fanny Trollope's bizarre bazaar in Cincinnati in the 1830s, but the book is worth our attention for that reason alone. 
   All of these books are available via Amazon or AbeBooks, but before you buy them, you should know that some are fully available on the Internet Archive. That is true, as well for Fanny's thoughts which are found in "Domestic Manners of the Americans", which is also purchasable as a paperback from Penguin. If you live in London, The Proper Bostonians is in storage up at Western and more books by Amory are found there and are mentioned below.

The Proper Bostonians, Cleveland Amory.
From: "Books" Boston's Closed Corporation," Time, Oct. 20, 1947.
"In The Proper Bostonians, young (30) Cleveland Amory, a Social Registerite himself, has set out to examine his peers. The book is the first of a series which Dutton will publish about U.S. society (others to come: New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Santa Fe). Culled largely from First Family writings and conversations with Beacon Hill contemporaries, Amory’s smoothly phrased findings are not likely to ruffle the poise of the Cabots and the Lowells. Still, many a less proper Bostonian will find much here to delight him."

The Amiable Baltimoreans, Francis F.F. Beirne.

From: The blurb of the JHU Press reissue of the book in 1984. "The first umbrella in America and a Washington monument that predates the one in the nation's capital were raised in Baltimore. A renowned beauty of the city, Betsy Patterson, married Jerome Bonaparte, but was forbidden by her brother-in-law, Napoleon, from ever setting foot in France. A century later, Wallis Warfield, another Baltimorean, made her own assault on European royalty. Baltimore is the city of Babe Ruth and H.L. Mencken and the final resting-place of Edgar Allan Poe. "The gastronomic metropolis of the Union," according to Oliver Wendell Holmes, it is also the home of Bromo-Seltzer.

First published in 1951, The Amiable Baltimoreans presents 250 years of anecdotal history about the city—its buildings, its institutions, its customs, and most of all, its people. Informative, amusing, and sometimes discomforting, it offers an incomparable look into the city's past and revealing insight into the way it seemed to one informed observer thirty years ago."

The Serene Cincinnatians, Alvin F. Harlow. From: "Book Captures Cincinnati's Quirks at an Interesting Time for the City: Our History," Jeff Suess, The Enquirer, Jan. 22, 2023.
"The publication of the history book "The Serene Cincinnatians" by Alvin F. Harlow in October 1950 was the talk of the town. Shillito's department store and John G. Kidd & Son booksellers advertised to preorder copies for $4.50 in the local newspapers. A display of the book at the Cincinnati Public Library – that's the Old Main Library at 629 Vine St. – filled six street windows and several cases in the lobby. The Enquirer and the Cincinnati Post ran articles on the book's release, as well as reviews and commentary on the response. That's a lot of coverage for a history book....

The New York-based author spent months visiting local libraries, historical societies and The Enquirer, as well as hours in conversation with old-timers who filled his notebook with intimate knowledge and anecdotes. Cincinnati had a reputation for being old-fashioned. Harlow opened the book with the city's indignation over the then-recent coverage of the opening of the Terrace Plaza Hotel in 1948. The milestone modernist hotel was revolutionary for its time, yet Time magazine began its story: "Dowdy, old-fashioned Cincinnati gets a new hotel this week." Cincinnati was a place where you could still find chimney sweeps in 1950, a city that basked in its traditions, Harlow wrote. Yet, it also was a city of firsts – the first airmail by balloon, the first professional fire department, the first and only railroad to be owned by a municipality, the Cincinnati Southern Railway....

What sets Harlow's work apart were those gossipy anecdotes that reveal Cincinnatians may not have always been serene, but they were real people....

Details you won't find in other books. One highlight was Harlow's description of Frances Trollope's infamous bazaar. The Englishwoman had come to Cincinnati in 1828, drawn by the young city's reputation for culture, and hoped to make her fortune with her unique marketplace on Third Street near Broadway. There is continued fascination with this curiosity. Harlow called Trollope's Bazaar "a weird creation, predominantly Moorish-Arabesque, as one critic described it, with touches of Gothic and God-knows-what. "In its semi-basement was an elegant coffee-house and bar, the floor above was the store, with an ice cream and oyster parlor, also elegant, back of it, while the whole top floor was a ballroom ... "In the store, she stocked jewelry, pictures, laces, bric-a-brac and articles of virtu (rare objects), which she bought mostly at retail prices and marked up, naively supposing that in so colorful a setting and from a cultured Englishwoman, the dazzled bourgeoisie would buy at any price. But they did not." After the failure of the bazaar, Trollope returned to England and wrote a scathing account of her time here in "Domestic Manners of the Americans" (1832). Harlow spent several pages throughout the book countering many of Trollope's criticisms, thus "The Serene Cincinnatians" serves as something of a rebuttal some 118 years later."

Memphis Down in Dixie, Shields Mcilwaine. From: “Memphis, Tenn., Past and Present,” Turner Catledge, New York Times, June 6, 1948. “Mr. Mcilwaine struck it rich for both his regional thesis (that the way to understand America is region by region) and his story-telling ability when he dug into the past and present of Memphis, Tennessee. For Memphis is such a mine of anecdote, romance and important history that one can pick and choose as he pleases, and then organize his total story in a manner to prove almost anything, or simply to be entertaining.”

The Romantic New Orleanians, Robert Tallant. From: Kirkus Reviews, Jan. 1, 1949: "Fifth in the series launched by the tremendously successful The Proper Bostonians- and as predictably good as one knew a New Orleans' book by Robert Tallant would be. With the wealth of first rate writing that has been done about that provocatively fascinating city, it is astonishing that he has found so much new to be said- and, for the greater part, succeeded in making it interesting even to the outsider. For actually it is virtually a Burke's Peerage translated into terms of New Orleans' inner circle. The Creole aristocracy, unlike that of any other place, depended not a whit on worldly goods- and despite the relatively small number of Creoles in a preponderantly American city, the French, and to a lesser extent the Spanish flavor, the mores and traditions of the old Creole conservative society, the attitude towards women, the pace of living- all are still permeated by that tiny element. New Orleans and her people are portrayed in profiles of personalities of the past; in flavorsome bits about the balls, the carnivals, the snobbery, the clubs, in genealogy spiced with gossip; in colorful passages of the city's history; in the growth away from- and back to- the French Quarter."

The Spectacular San Franciscans, Julia Cooley Altrocchi.

For a lukewarm review see: "West Coast City; THE SPECTACULAR SAN FRANCISCANS. By Julia Cooley Altrocchi. Society in American Series. 398 pp. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co. $4.50, by Jack Foisie, New York Times, July 24, 1949.

The Lusty Texans of Dallas, John William Rogers. From Kirkus Reviews, Jan. 1, 1950 "Seventh in the Society in America Series, this more than flatteringly pictures the growth of a cluster of cabins on a river bank into a modern metropolis -- a progress which has not smothered either the individuality or the initiative of the city or its citizens. It is a story that encompasses all aspects of this development -- geographical, economic, social and fashionable, cultural, religious, educational and informative. It highlights the heritage of the far past, takes the story from the arrival of John Neely Bryan and his one man community which was incorporated in 1856 as Dallas, and carries on its history as a frontier town that grew up by not following the pattern of other southwest towns. From the conventions and customs of the early days on to those of today, with the folklore and legend given full play, this emphasizes the isolation that brought independence, the particular climate and tradition of life that effected the people who have lived, and who still live, there. A pretty insistent volume, this." See also: “Texas Culture,” Washington Post, Mar. 25, 1951 and “Deep in the Mind of Texas,” Hoffman Birney, New York Times, Jan.21, 1951

Washington Cavalcade, Charles Hurd. From: “Hurd Tackles a Tough One in This City: Washington Cavalcade,” Sterling North, Washington Post, Jan. 18, 1948 “Hurd has written a gay, shallow, non-stop gossip column dealing with costumes, customs and eccentricities which might have been subtitled: ‘From Dolly Madison to Dolly Gann – A Tempest in a Teapot."

Post Script:

In 1952 Dutton celebrated its 100th birthday. They also published, with J.M.Dent & Sons of London, the Everyman's Library. The New York Times contains this article which provides these interesting tidbits: "The record best-seller of the company was the controversial "Under Cover," written before World War II by an author who signed the name John Roy Carlson. It sold 650,000 copies in ten months. Next on the Dutton best-seller list have been the books of A. A. Milne. "When We Were Very Young," "Winnie-the-Pooh," "Now We Are Six" and "The House at Pooh Corner," published in that order, have sold altogether 1,500,000 copies. In 1850 a book selling 3,000 copies at 75 cents to $1 was a best seller. The sales requirement has risen to about 50,000 today, Mr. Macrae estimated, and the price has risen to $3 to $6. As long as the public refuses to buy worthy books in large numbers, he added, the price will have to stay up. The best seller must help pay for the worthy, poor-selling book." "E.P. Dutton Marks Its 100th Birthday..." Jan. 4, 1952.

The Bonus: Even if you were born in this century, you may have recognized the name 'Cleveland Amory' and he may be more interesting to you than the books mentioned above. He wrote others, including The Last Resorts, which includes a chapter on "Palm Beach" - a popular place right now and known as a sunny place for shady people. You may have heard of him in relation to animal rights and more about his involvement is easily found. He appears on YouTube and here is an example: Man Kind? "In 1974 the US Fish and Wildlife Service produced a 26 minute documentary short featuring an interesting interview with the great writer, critic and animal advocate, Cleveland Amory, who has just completed a book entitled "Man KInd?" about how badly wildlife is treated. Amory started The Fund for Animals." Source:

For more details about the "Society in America" book series see:

Series Americana: Post Depression-Era Regional Literature, 1938-1980: A Descriptive Bibliography: Including Biographies of the Authors, Illustrators, and Editors, by Carol Fitzgerald.

American Mountain Series

    For readers interested in mountains, this series will be attractive. It was identified in the very useful bibliography produced by Carol Fitzgerald and published by Oak Knoll: Series Americana: Post Depression-era Regional Literature, 1938-1980: a Descriptive Bibliography Including Biographies of the Authors, Illustrators, and Editors, ed. by Jean Fitzgerald. 2v. Oak Knoll/Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, 2009. 
   None of the books listed are in the public domain, but they can all be found on AbeBooks and elsewhere. The Western University catalogue was searched and five of the books found - the two bolded titles are in the Western Libraries (a search of the Western catalogue now includes the holding of some other Ontario university libraries and they are provided below.)The search was done in early 2025.
   In some cases, the contents are listed and a few reviews and other sources are noted. 

         "American Mountain Series" (Vanguard Publishing) ‒ Roderick Peattie,
          Editor,1942-1952.

"The Mountain series, edited by geologist Roderick Peattie and written by scientists and local experts of the day, includes nine volumes published between 1942 and 1952 . The books provide detailed, scholarly portraits of the major mountain ranges in the United States." 

   For more information about the editor, Roderick Peattie, see: “Roderick Peattie, Geographer and Romanticist, 1891-1955,’ by Guy-Harold Smith, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 1957-03, Vol.47, (1), pg.97.
  Roderick Peattie's brother has already been profiled in Mulcahy's Miscellany: See: 
 Donald Culross Peattie (1898 -1964). Some samples of his writing are found in No.7, The Pacific Coast Ranges. 

1.The Berkshires: The Purple Hills, W.P. Eaton, et al, - Guelph, Ottawa.

   Contents, [iii-v]; CONTENTS: What are the Berkshire hills? By W.P. Eaton.-With what the hills are clothed, by A.K. Simpson.-Four seasons of Berkshire bird lore, by G.J. Wallace.-Byways to pleasure, by Bartlett Hendricks.-Streams and casting, by Theodore Giddings.-Man changes the landscape through gardening, by A.K. Simpson.-Winter sports among the hills, by Bartlett Hendricks.-Indian legends, by Haydn Mason.-Two hundred and fifty years of history, by W.P. Eaton.-Berkshire folks and folkways, by W.S. Annin.-The invaders and what they have meant, by Margaret Cresson.-The Berkshire Festival, by Margaret Cresson.- Illustrations, p. [vii-ix]; Index, p. 401-414. - [Map] "Berkshire County", on front and back lining papers."

2. The Black Hills, Roderick Peattie, - Western - storage - F657.B6P4.
   Contents, [iii-iv]; CONTENTS: [1.] The Black Hills / by Badger Clark - [2.] Where B.C. means Before Custer / by Leland D. Case - [3.] History catches up / by Leland D. Case - [4.] Crazy Horse -the greatest among them / by Elmo Scott Watson - [5.] Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane / by Clarence S. Paine - [6.] "Don't fence me in!" / by Paul Friggens - [7.] The tourists come / by Badger Clark - [8.] The mountain that had its face lifted / by Badger Clark - [9.] The Black Hills -a storehouse of mineral treasure / by R.V. Hunkins - [10.] America's greatest gold mine -the Homestake / by R.V. Hunkins.Illustrations, p. [v-vi]; Index, p. 311-320]"

3.The Cascades: Mountains of the Pacific Northwest. N/A

4. The Friendly Mountains: Green, White, and Adirondacks, Roderick Peattie,- Guelph, Ottawa.  

5. The Great Smokies and the Blue Ridge: The Story of the Southern Appalachians, Roderick Peattie, Western - storage - F443.G7P4 

6. The Inverted Mountains: Canyons of the West, N/A
   Contents, p. v-viii; CONTENTS: Canyon review - by Weldon F. Heald; Features of the canyon country - by Edwin D. McKee; Fossil life of the canyon country - Edwin D. McKee; Three hundred years of Spain - By Weldon F. Heald; Indian life - past and present - by Harold S. Colton; The Americans come - by Weldon F. Heald; The Colorado River - by Weldon F. Heald; Riding Grand Canyon rapids - by Weldon F. Heald; The canyon wilderness - by Weldon F. Heald; On foot and in the saddle - by Edwin D. McKee; The canyon trails - by Edwin D. McKee; Environment controls life - by Edwin d. McKee; Illustrations, p. ix-x; Index, p. 379-390]"

7. The Pacific Coast Ranges, Roderick Peattie, - McMaster, York.
    Contents, p. v-ix; CONTENTS: "Father Serra's rosary" / by Donald Culross Peattie -The first inhabitants of the coast ranges / by John Walton Caughey - Footsteps of spring -a wild flower trail / by Donald Culross Peattie - Glimpses of wild life / by Aubrey Drury - Foothills / by Judy Van der Veer - Farm, rock, and vine folk / by Idwal Jones - Headlands in California writing / by John Walton Caughey - The wilderness mountains / by Lois Crisler - Timber / by Thomas Emerson Ripley - People of the Oregon Coast Range / by Archie Binns - People of the Washington Coast Range / by Archie Binns - The geologic story / by Daniel E. Willard - Climatic transitions and contrasts / by Richard Joel Russell.Illustrations, p. xi-xii; Maps of the Pacific coast ranges [by Guy-Harold Smith], p. [384-386]; Index, p. 387-402 

8. The Rocky Mountains, Wallace W. Atwood. N/A 

9. The Sierra Nevada: The Range of Light, N/A.
   For a positive review see: Ruth E. Baugh, Pacific Historical Review, Vol.- 17, No.2, p.223.

SEAPORT Book Series

    You will have noticed in MM posts that are about "Book Series" and here is another one. Those of you who like to read books about certain subjects, or collect all of the titles as an investment, should look at the "Seaport Series." The twelve volumes were published by Doubleday, Doran during the 1940s. 
   As well, you may simply find a book which provides a diversion during our divisive times and those interested in Canada will see three titles which relate to this country. That two of them apply to ports that are not really on the sea does not bother me.
   None of these books are yet in the public domain, with the exception of Leacock's Montreal which is available digitally from several providers and can be read from wherever you are. The others can be acquired via AbeBooks or a local bookseller.
   Along with some of the titles you will find brief notes to assist you with your decision making. Also provided are some of the university libraries in Ontario which have the books. (If you have access to the Western Libraries you will know that a search yields results from other participating libraries, from which the book may be borrowed.) Nine of the books are available and Western has seven of the titles. The ones about Gloucester, San Francisco and Honolulu don't seem to be in any of the libraries searched, but you should check with a Western Librarian. 

                                            The Seaport Series

1. Baltimore on the Chesapeake, Hamilton Owens.
(Guelph, Laurentian)

2. Boston: Cradle of Liberty, John Jennings.
(Western, Laurentian)

3. Harbor of the Sun: The Story of the Port of San Diego, Max Miller. 
Review by: Franklin Walker, Pacific Historical Review, Vol. 10, No. 3 (Sep., 1941), p. 383

4. Montreal: Seaport and City, Stephen Leacock.

(Western, King’s, other libraries, Digital versions on Canadiana, Project Gutenberg and Faded Page.)

5. Northwest Gateway: The Story of the Port of Seattle, Archie Binns.

(Western, Queen’s,York) See the review by Louis Gaffney in America, Vol.65, 1941.

"FOR one with a love of the cutting salt spray, the romance of the sea, the dash and color of the rugged west, Indian wars and the rush for gold—for such a

one Northwest Gateway will afford keen delight. This is the third book of the Seaport Series, preceded by Max Miller's story of San Diego, Harbor of the Sun.

It is not fiction, but history, and into the narrative is breathed a lightness and warmth of style that vivifies the cold historical facts."

6. Philadelphia: Holy Experiment, Burt Struthers.
(Western(2), Brock, Guelph, York)

7. The Port of Gloucester, James B. Connolly.  For a review see: America, Oct. 19, 1940. W.J. McGarry notes, "The Port of Gloucester is a book not to miss."   8. The Port of New Orleans, Harold Sinclair (Western) See: "Romantic Town Flayed," by John J. O'Connor, in America, Vol.67, No.18, 1940. "THIS latest addition to the Seaport Series is a hyper-critical chronicle of one of America's most romantic and exotic cities. In an introductory chapter, Mr. Sinclair describes New Orleans as "a Marseilles or a Shanghai, American style, shot through with overtones of Christy Minstrels, the code duello, white steamboats on a chocolate-colored river, coffee and cotton, wine in cobwebbed bottles, vine-festooned patios, and Basin Street jazz." But when Mr. Sinclair really warms to his work, the moonlight and clarinets vanish and we are introduced to a city which permitted its garbage to pile up in the streets and allowed its harbor to go to the dogs."

9. The Ports of British Columbia, Agnes Rothery. (Western, Algoma, Carleton, Brock) For a review see: The Pacific Northwest Quarterly, Vol. 34, No. 4 (Oct., 1943), pp. 403-404, by W. Kaye Lamb.  "It is essentially a character study of the cities of Vancouver and Victoria. Anyone who has ever visited them will remember that the contrasts between the two are many and varied....All this and much else Agnes Rothery has observed shrewdly, with humor, and with considerable penetration. Of the two studies, that of Victoria is the more successful, for the obvious reason that Victoria is in many respects more individual than its sister city on the mainland. But Vancouver is developing a personality of its own, and the British, American, and Canadian At the same time it is apparent that something of that character escaped her. Notably, she failed to sense the indelible impression left upon Vancouver, physically and spiritually, both by the hectic boom that preceded the first World War, and the depression of the nineteen thirties."10. Quebec: Historic Seaport, Mazo De la Roche

(Western Archives, Huron, other libraries)

11. San Francisco: Port of Gold, William Martin Camp.
(York)

12. Tropic Landfall: The Port of Honolulu, Clifford Gessler. Source:  For more about this series and others see: Series Americana: Post Depression-Era Regional Literature, 1938-1980: A Descriptive Bibliography: Including Biographies of the Authors, Illustrators, and Editors, by Carol Fitzgerald.

   For another "Book Series" post in MM see, for example: "American Customs."

Regional Murder Series

    I have offered a number of posts about books published in a series and you will find ones relating to, Roads, Trails, Rivers, Lakes, Highways and even Customs and Folkways.  "Murder" seems like an odd choice as a subject for an entire series, but between 1944 and 1948 Duell, Sloan & Pearce published nine volumes relating to homicides which were committed in cities scattered throughout the United States.
   The books listed below are all works of nonfiction and the over sixty murder cases contained within them were typically written by reporters and journalists. They will be of interest to murder mystery fans and other readers who prefer "true crime." They are listed in alphabetical order by the city in which the murders took place.
   One of the murderers profiled below was a doctor who had a practice in London on Dundas Street and killed a woman there.

1. Boston Murders
     This was the ninth (the last one published.) 
Contents, p. [5] ; Maria met a gentleman: The Bickford case, 1845, by Marjorie Carleton.--Twelve parts of a lady: The Chester S. Jordan case, 1908, by Paul Whelton.--He fought to kill: The Kid Carter case, 1913, by W.G. Schofield.--A man of too much distinction: The Harry Manster case, 1918, by Timothy Fuller.--The haunted man: The Kearney case, 1924, by Lawrence Dame.--The Brown Derby murder: The Corey-Price case, 1925, by J.A. Kelley.--Who killed Fastasia?: The Joseph Fantasia case, 1927, by John N. Makris.--A calandar of Boston murder trials; A Calendar of Boston Murder Trials, p. 209-220; Bibliography, p. 221-223]

2. Charleston Murders

3. Chicago Murders
   Readers of MM know that I always try to include some CANCON (Canadian content) and this volume has some LONCON (London content). The first story, "The Chicago Career of Dr. Cream" is about Thomas Neill Cream who murdered a woman here in London (click on the link provided at his name.)

4. Cleveland Murders
  For a brief review of the Cleveland Murders and the Charleston Murders see below.

5. Denver Murders

6. Detroit Murders

7. Los Angeles Murders
   One of the authors in this book is Erle Stanley Gardner. "The Rattlesnake Murder" can be read about in this gruesome Wikipedia entry: "Rattlesnake James."

8. New York Murders
   This is the first volume published in the series. 

9. San Francisco Murders
   For a review of San Francisco Murders and Los Angeles Murders see: "Western Mayhem, Plain and Fancy," Russel Crouse, NYT, Aug. 3, 1947.

Many reviews of the books in the series can be found in newspapers and magazines, but academic ones are rare. Here is one for two volumes in the series that is found in: The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Vol. 39, No.2, July/August, 1948.

Other sources:
  See this Wikipedia entry for: "Bloodhound Mysteries." The best source is Carol Fitzgerald's, Series Americana: Post Depression-Era Regional Literature, 1938-1980: A Descriptive Bibliography: Including Biographies of the Authors, Illustrators, and Editors.

All of the books can be found on AbeBooks and Amazon. For those who live in London and have access to the Western Libraries, some may be borrowed. Although the Western Libraries do not have any of them, seven of the nine volumes are available at other Ontario university libraries:
Boston Murders  (McMaster, Queen’s, York)
Cleveland Murders (Queen’s)
Denver Murders  (McMaster, Queen’s)
Detroit Murders  (McMaster, Queen’s, Guelph, York)
Los Angeles Murders (Queen’s)
New York Murders (Queen’s)
San Francisco Murders (Queen’s, York)

AMERICAN FOLKWAYS & ERSKINE CALDWELL

   
   For readers or book collectors here is another series to start before summer begins. "American Folkways" books were published between 1940 and 1958 and like the "American Customs Series", about which I have posted, the books will be of interest to those curious about regional histories and local folkways and customs.
   The volumes dealing with areas near our border are likely to be most appealing to Canadians. The review of Niagara Country, is found under this headline, "A Worthy Addition to Americana," and the reviewer notes:
   "There are three sets of books I would not be without: The River Series (Rinehart), The Lake Series (Boobs-Merrill) and The Folkways Series Duell, Sloan & Pearce). All three share an important secret -- the secret of making American regional history readable and fascinating." (Sterling North, The Washington Post, July 3, 1949.) The first two have already been covered in MM.

  The kind of wisdom to be found in such books is evident in the title of a review of Smoky Mountain Country, which is, "Blow Smoke in the Ears." That is how one cures a headache. Humour is also found in the mountains when a witness is asked what he knew about a recent killing:

  "All I know is this," the witness drawled. "We was all up thar at the big dance celebratin' Robert E. Lee's birthday. The fiddles was playin' and we were swinging corners, and the boys got to slappin' each other on the back as they swung. Finally one of them slapped too hard and the other knocked him down. His brother shot that feller, and that feller's brother cut t'other fellers throat, and the feller that was knocked down drawed his knife and cut that fellow's liver out; the old man of the house got mad and run to the bed, turned up the tick and grabbed his shotgun and turned both barrels loose on the crowd, and I saw there was goin' to be trouble and I left."

Good thing he left before the trouble started. (From the review by John N. Popham, New York Times, July 6, 1952.) 

  Twenty-eight volumes were produced for this series and most will be easily found on AbeBooks or elsewhere. Those who live in London and have access to the Western Libraries will only find eleven and a few of those are in other Ontario university libraries. The ones bolded below are the ones available.

                                             AMERICAN FOLKWAYS

Adirondack Country, William Chapman White

Big Country: Texas, Donald Day 

Blue Ridge Country, Jean Thomas 

Corn Country, Homer Croy

Deep Delta Country, Harnett Kane  

Desert Country, Edwin Corle 

Far North Country, Thames Williamson

Golden Gate Country, Gertrude Atherton  

Gulf Coast Country, Hodding Carter

High Border Country, Eric Thane 

High Sierra Country, Oscar Lewis 

The Other Illinois, Baker Brownell  

Old Kentucky Country, Clark McMeekin 

Lower Piedmont Country, H.C. Nixon   Contents Annals of the hills -- Civil War and after -- Worship of industry and business -- Small farms and country stores -- Cities and towns -- Sam Jones and the ol' time religion -- Songs of the hills -- Rustic wit and laughing stock -- Ol' corn liquor -- These are our lives -- Ups and downs between world wars -- Possum trot in wartime -- Labor stirs -- Piedmont politics -- The mind of the hills.

Mormon Country, Wallace Stegner  

Niagara Country, Lloyd Graham 

North Star Country, Meridel Le Sueur 

Ozark Country, Ernest Rayburn 

Palmetto Country, Stetson Kennedy 

Piñon Country, Haniel Long 

Pittsylvania Country, George Swetnam 

Redwood Country: The Lava Regions and the Redwoods, Alfred Powers

Rocky Mountain Country, Albert N. Williams 

Short Grass Country, Stanley Vestal  

Smoky Mountain Country, North Callahan  

Southern California Country: An Island on the Land, Carey McWilliams 

Town Meeting Country, Clarence Mertoun Webster Wheat Country, William B. Bracke

There is even a YouTube video devoted to the American Folkway Series.

The Bonus: Erskine Caldwell

The series was edited by the southern author, Erskine Caldwell. I associated him only with Tobacco Road and magazines such as Gent or Swank, but I was wrong and he is worth a look if you need more reading material. Some of his books were given lurid covers when they were published in paperback to make them sell better. Here are the books authored by Caldwell that are in the Western Libraries and there are more about him. See the Wiki entry for him and this biographical piece at the "Georgia Writers Hall of Fame." He was also married (for a while) to Margaret Bourke-White, with whom he published, You Have Seen Their Faces.

Selected Books by Erskine Caldwell

Afternoons in Mid-America : Observations and Impressions

All Night Long; A Novel of Guerrilla Warfare in Russia.

All-out on the Road to Smolensk.

American Earth.

Around About America.

The Caldwell Caravan : Novels and Stories

Call it Experience, The Years of Learning How to Write.

Certain Women.

Claudelle Inglish

Close to Home.

Complete Stories.

Conversations with Erskine Caldwell

The Courting of Susie Brown.

A Day's Wooing and Other Stories.

Deep South; Memory and Observation.

Episode in Palmetto.

Georgia Boy.

God's Little Acre.

Gulf Coast Stories.

In Search of Bisco.

Jackpot, the Short Stories of Erskine Caldwell.

Jenny by Nature.

Journeyman

Kneel to the Rising Sun, and Other Stories.

A Lamp for Nightfall.

The Last Night of Summer.

Men and Women; Twenty-two stories

Place called Estherville.

Poor Fool

Some American People.

The Sure Hand of God

This Very Earth.

Three by Caldwell: Tobacco Road; Georgia Boy: The Sure Hand of God

Tobacco Road

Tobacco Road : A Facsimile of the Final Chapter

Tragic ground.

Trouble in July.

We Are the Living

When You Think of Me

With All My Might: An Autobiography

You Have Seen Their Faces, (with Margaret Bourke-White)

American Customs Series

    Again, I am discussing a book series, this one about "American Customs." Considered are the customs and folkways of folks living in various regions of the United States. There are three books about the northeast (Cape Cod, Maine and New England), one for the mid-Atlantic area (Pennsylvania), one for the south (New Orleans) and two for the west (California and the Old Wild West.) The seven books were published by Vanguard Press during the years from 1946 to 1949. 

   These are unprofessional social histories, which means you are likely to enjoy them and find a good recipe-or-two, as well as some tales and yarns. The tables of contents of a few of the volumes are presented, as well as a some brief summaries. They are all still protected by copyright, which means that you cannot read complete digital copies of them. All are found on AbeBooks and some are inexpensive. 

It's An Old New England Custom

A listing and exploration of many customs associated with New England. Pie for breakfast, bundling, high excellence in epitaphs, phantom ships, haunted houses-these and many more are explored as to their sources and identification with the locale. A humorous and unusual historical curiosity of a regional nature, amusing prints, gay verses, bits of odd information, curious episodes- a characteristic Mitchell item. In format it has a slightly juvenile flavor which may limit the market. (Kirkus)

It's An Old California Custom

Informal chronicling of California's personality in terms of traits, inherited, adopted and native. Stories of old romances, gambling heritages, the large scale hospitality, the types of messiahs and cults, the pleasures of food and drink, the spirit of fiesta, are combined with material on gold hunting, bandits, hoaxes, real estate, the tendency for self deception, the playtimes of various clubs and groups, the exhibitionism, and the originality in solving problems of public works and civic questions. This traces, from the old land grants and the old families, the roots of California's individuality, independence and pride, and is a pleasant review, in conversational style, of the state's story....One of the numerous California books gauged to the interest generated by the centennial. Of regional appeal largely. (Kirkus)

It's An Old Pennsylvania Custom

There  are  two kinds  of historical writing: one is conceived  and  executed with fine attention  to  accuracy  of  facts  and  validity  of interpretation;  the other  is  conceived  and  executed  with  less  attention  both  to  the  facts  and their  interpretation.  The  former  is designed  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  the specialist, or at least  of the serious student; the other  is designed  to  satisfy the  nonspecialist,  or  the  "general"  reader.  Both  kinds  can  and  should  be attractively  presented, but the latter, having  for its primary  purpose popu-lar  appeal, emphasizes style  even  at  the  expense  of  content.It9s An  Old Pennsylvania Custom is clearly of the second kind. It  is indeed a fine example. It  was written  by Mr. Mitchell  in  an interesting style, is excellently  designed  by  Stefan  Salter,  and  was  well  manufactured  by  H.Wolff. It  presents  a wealth  of  historical  facts,  both  conventional  and  un-usual, relating  to Pennsylvania. At  the same time, it  arrives at  interpretations  of the  facts,  both  in general  and  in particular,  which  clearly  mark  it as  of the  second  kind  of historical  writing. 
(Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography)

It's An Old New Orleans Custom

Companion volume to It's An Old New England Custom and It's An Old Pennsylvania Custom, this somehow manages not to overlap to any considerable degree the other books on New Orleans which have been published in the year past. This is full of human interest bits, anecdotes, slices of history and biography. There's a brief survey of New Orleans history as the changes of flag went on. There's a section on the music  from street cries to the classics. The most interesting chapter, perhaps, is the one on commerce as it is pursued by the citizens, who prefer to cultivate the art of leisure. Some rather ironic comments on the beauty and the frailty of New Orleans women; some entertaining sidelights on gambling from cards to lotteries; the river front and its melodramatic contribution to the city's checkered career; weather, fire and water- and the parts they play; basis for the repute for wickedness --offset by equal repute for hospitality, and a genius for elegant living -- these represent some of the many facets that contribute to the unique flavor of this enchanting city. The section on food has some toothsome recipes; (yes, I copied three for future reference). (Kirkus)

It's An Old Wild West Custom

This book captures the colorful spirit of the American West in its history and quirks. Included are songs and stories, charts of brands used to mark cattle, and sketches of the boom and bust of the Old West. In one chapter, the author informs us that the Westerner left his names casually and naturally on the land and on each other, without ostentation. This led to names like Jerked Beef Butte or Rattlesnake Basin in Arizona, or nicknames for fellow cowboys like Crooked-Nose Pete and Three-Fingered Smith. 

Duncan Emrich was a professor and collector of American folklore, once a ranch hand and historian in the military. The American Art & Portrait Gallery copy of this book is signed by the author, and inscribed under his portrait as "old bag eyes, the Monday morning folklorist."   

It's An Old State of Maine Custom

Without the particular charm of the last in this series, It's An Old New England Custom, this still holds an interest for natives of or visitors to this region. In this miscellany of historical facts and special features, customs, legends, superstitions, you will pick up a good deal of information about the timber country and the logging and shipbuilding it produced; its other industries- quarrying and fishing; the scenic attractions of its gardens, old houses, islands, flowers, birds; the pleasures of the palate- lobsters, seafood, blueberry pies (with recipes); and the character of its native humor... A predictable, regional market for this. (Kirkus)

It's An Old Cape Cod Custom

From the New York Times, June 19, 1949, where the complete review will be found.

For a discussion of this series see: Series Americana: Post Depression-Era Regional Literature, 1938-1980: A Descriptive Bibliography: Including Biographies of the Authors, Illustrators, and Editors 1st Edition, by Carol Fitzgerald.

The Bonus:

  In its early days, Vanguard Press published radical books and during the later ones, such authors as Saul Bellow and Marshall McLuhan. It was bought by Random House in the 1980s.