Motion Picture Chums War Spectacle 1916

📖 The Motion Picture Chums’ War Spectacle by Victor Appleton (Grosset & Dunlap, 1916) — the seventh and final volume in the Motion Picture Chums series, following young entrepreneurs Frank Durham, Randy Powell, and Pepperill Smith as they navigate the early motion picture business. This first edition copy is in “good plus” condition in original pictorial cloth.

QUICK FACTS

• Author: Victor Appleton (Stratemeyer Syndicate house pseudonym)
• Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap, New York
• Year: 1916 (first edition, confirmed by copyright page and series book lists)
• Format: Hardcover in pictorial cloth boards
• Pages: 20 chapters, 158+ pages
• Condition: Good Plus — see full report below

THE STORY

The Motion Picture Chums series (1913–1916, 7 volumes) follows three friends from Fairlands who open and operate movie theaters along the East Coast. Unlike other Stratemeyer Syndicate cinema series — the Moving Picture Boys (behind the camera) and the Moving Picture Girls (in front of it) — the Motion Picture Chums focused on the business side of early entertainment. Volume 7, “War Spectacle,” brings the series to a close as the chums work to produce and exhibit a major wartime film.

THIS EDITION

Grosset & Dunlap published this first edition in 1916 at the original retail price of 60 cents. The first five volumes were later retitled and reprinted as “The Moving Picture Boys” series (Garden City, 1926–27), but volumes 6 and 7 retained their original titles — making the Motion Picture Chums’ War Spectacle the final entry in the series as originally published. First edition points include the copyright page listing and the series book advertisements in the back matter.

COVER ART

The pictorial cloth boards feature a bold three-color illustration in grey, orange, and dark blue — characteristic of Grosset & Dunlap’s early 20th-century children’s series bindings. The front cover depicts a stylized cinema or exhibition hall with a large orange grid-domed structure (possibly a projection screen or architectural feature), figures in period suits and hats operating equipment, and decorative blue border elements with triangular corner ornaments. The spine displays the title in blue text on the light cloth, with “APPLETON” in orange and “GROSSET & DUNLAP” at the base. An orange “MOTION PICTURE CHUMS SERIES” label appears on the fore-edge. The illustration style is graphic and geometric, typical of early 1910s commercial art.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Final volume in a 7-volume Stratemeyer Syndicate series about the birth of the motion picture industry — a subject with growing historical and collector interest
• The Stratemeyer Syndicate was the most prolific children’s book publisher of the early 20th century, producing Tom Swift, the Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, and the Hardy Boys
• Scarce title — the last volume in any Stratemeyer series typically had the smallest print run, as fewer readers completed the full series

FREQUENTLY ASKED

What edition is this? First edition, Grosset & Dunlap, 1916. Confirmed by the copyright page and the presence of series book advertisements (including titles not yet published when the copyright was filed).

What condition is it in? Good Plus. Solid binding, no torn or loose pages. Board corners bumped (more so at bottoms), spine head and tail bumped. Pictorial cloth has minor rippling on the front board above the title. A triangular section of cloth on the upper back board is floating from the underlying board. Small remnants of a dust jacket may be adhered to the lower back corner.

Is it signed? No. There is a name carefully penciled on the front free endpaper (read as “Douglas Empire”). No other writing or marks.

FOR COLLECTORS

This is a rather scarce final title in an early Stratemeyer Syndicate series that documented the rise of the motion picture industry. The first five volumes were reissued under different names, but this volume was not — it exists only in its original 1916 printing. A pleasing copy of a book that rarely surfaces.

This is a “good plus” or better antique hardcover in pictorial cloth wrapped boards with black-and-white illustrated semi-glossy frontispiece published by Grosset & Dunlap in 1916.

First edition, identified by the copyright page lists and also series books lists in the back of the book.

Solid binding, no writing or marks aside from a name carefully penciled on the front free end paper.
No torn, folded or loose pages. Board corners are bumped, more so on the bottoms, some minimal wear to the cloth on the corner tips, not worn through. Spine head and tail bumped, but cloth is not frayed. The cloth wrapping is a little rippled on the front board above the title, and their is a triangular section on the upper portion of the back board where it is floating from the underlying board. Lower corner of back board has what looks to be remnants of the dust jacket adhered to it.

Not quite perfect, but still very pleasing copy of a rather scarce final title in this early Stratemeyer Syndicate series.

See accompanying images for full condition details.

Will make for a great gift for that special collector or perhaps an upgrade for your collection!

Will ship promptly, carefully packaged.

HFB-SEO-v1: 2026-07-03

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