Description

Labadie, Laurence C., The Whippo-Wil. Detroit, Michigan: The Labadie Shop, 74 Buchanan Street, 1912. Four complete issues of a child publisher’s monthly newspaper, apparently all published.

Vol. I, No.1 March 1912

Vol. I, No. 2 April 1912

Vol. I, No. 3 May 1912

Vol. I, No. 4 August 1912

One sheet 7 ¼ in x 10 ¾ in, folded once, four pages. Numbers 1 and 2 have undergone repairs to the fold-separations, not entirely successful, as the mulberry paper is detaching from the surface of the newspaper. Numbers 3 and 4 are fine, age and fragility of the paper noted.

Printed by Joseph Labadie at the Labadie Shop located at 74 Buchanan Street, a “nonprofessional” location, so described as where “Printers, Binders and Publishers of the Labadie Booklets” worked.

Laurence C. Labadie (1896? – 1965) was the son of the anarchist Joseph Labadie, and followed in his father’s footsteps when he began this newspaper at age 13 with two of his friends, Vernon Gnau and John Galvin, both also 13 years old. Among the advertisements on the back of Issue 1 is one for Laura E. Labadie, doing china painting at 74 Buchanan Street, Detroit.

Self-styled in adulthood, as an individual anarchist, Laurence Labadie worked in the automotive industry, proclaiming only “equality of opportunity.”

University of Michigan, Special Collections has only the same four copies offered here. The Library of Michigan has two copies of No.4. No other issues or copies are recorded at WorldCat.