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McLoughlin, Successor to Elton & Co.” McLoughlin eventually became known as the leading
publisher of brightly hand-colored paper toy books as well as games, alphabet cards, and valentines.
The company moved to Beekman Street after the original factory burned down. McLoughlin’s
brother, Edmund, became a partner in 1855, and the company expanded.

Printing Innovators
Because John McLoughlin kept abreast of the technological improvements in printing,
McLoughlin Bros. is credited with pioneering the systematic use of color printing technologies
for children’s books. McLoughlin publications are particularly well known for their use of
colored illustrations, which were hand-stenciled during
the firm’s early years. John McLoughlin introduced a
process whereby oil colors were applied directly to the
photographic engravings—a revolutionary practice at
that time—and in 1870 they opened the largest color
printing factory in the United States in New York City
to produce their books and publish/reprint others. By
the 1880s, McLoughlin books were regularly featuring
titles in folio formats, with illustrations printed using
chromolithography.
Color printing allowed the Brothers to expand their
business in other ways – for the printing of game box
covers and game boards, cards, and toys, as the company
expanded into new markets under Edmund’s
stewardship. In 1885, Edmund McLoughlin retired Cover of Mother Goose, circa 1900
from the company and later died in 1889. By 1886, the photo: etsy.com
firm was producing a wide range of items, including illustrations were usually unknown.
toy books or chapbooks, large folio picture books and Around the time of the American Civil
linen books, as well as puzzles, paper dolls, blocks, War, McLoughlin Brothers began to print the
cards, and board games, including many of the earliest names of a few illustrators on the covers of its
board games in America. books. Men like Justin H. Howard (1856–
John McLoughlin, Jr. carried on the business with
the assistance of his sons, Charles and James Gregory. 1890) and Thomas Nast (1840–1902) had
Framed “Electro-Grain Gravure” 16 x 20 inch already gained reputations for their visual
He continued to produce a great variety of work
print circa 1905 photo: etsy.com contributions to both comic periodicals and
including traditional stories, moralistic stories, religious
stories, educational works, items with a strictly American theme, pop-ups, and games. When the illustrated press and would have been
known to a broad segment of American
John McLoughlin, Jr. died in 1905, his sons, Charles and James Gregory, took over the company. society. Promoting the names of artists like
In the McLoughlin Bros. 81st annual catalog, published in 1909, over 60 pages were dedicated Nast, who was extremely well known in his
to “Games,” reflecting the company’s successful diversification from children’s books to lifetime, added caché to McLoughlin Bros.
children’s toys and games. books for children. Eventually, many women
By 1919, both McLoughlin’s sons had died or retired and H.F. Stewart was listed as
president, with Gregory McLoughlin, son of James Gregory McLoughlin, as vice president. In illustrators would be employed by the firm as
well, and several of these, including Sarah
1920 the company was sold to Milton Bradley, their chief competitor. The Brooklyn factory was Noble Ives (1864–1944) and Ida Waugh
closed and the company was moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, and the McLoughlin division (1846–1919), would be credited for their
ceased with the onset of World War II. contributions. For collectors, McLoughlin

The McLoughlin Illustrators Bros. books illustrated by known and noted
artists are the most desirable finds.
Many of the company’s early books were based on “pirate”
editions of picture books issued in England by firms like George
Routledge & Sons, which the Company was free to reprint since
foreign books were not protected at that time by United States
copyright. This also extended to the books’ illustrations, introducing
Americans to such noted British illustrators as Kate Greenaway,
Randolph Caldecott, and Walter Crane. The American Civil War,
however, isolated America from foreign influence, and the
McLoughlin Brothers were forced to build their own stable of artists
and illustrators to meet the growing consumer demand for affordable
and image-dominated children’s books.
According to the company’s history, 75 artists were employed at
the firm’s Brooklyn factory from 1870 to about 1915 to illustrate
hundreds of picture books. Some artists appear to have been retained
as staff, while others worked freelance. These artists, selected for
their varied and distinct talents, created richly colored watercolors
as well as pen-and-ink drawings for hundreds of picture books and a
wide variety of publications, from Mother Goose to books with
patriotic themes, which were adapted to the printing processes for
mass production.
In the earliest days of the firm, McLoughlin Bros. rarely identified
the individuals who created the images inside its books, giving no
credit on the covers or title pages of its products. Some engravers
cannily included their names in their engraved wooden blocks, Game board and box cover for Round the World with Nellie Bly, circa 1890
but before about 1865, the names of the artists who designed the
photo: The Strong National Museum of Play
32 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles