Waldo Hunt, King of the Pop-Up Book, Dies at 88

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By Rocco Staino -- School Library Journal, 11/29/2009

Waldo “Wally” Hunt, a Los Angeles advertising executive who became the father of the modern pop-up book, died November 6of congestive heart failure in Porterville, CA. He was 88.

One of the pop-up magazine ads featuring zoo scenes for Wrigley's gum.
Photo: Kyle Olmon

Hunt, who was known as the “king of pop-ups,” is credited with reviving the art form in the United States in the 1960s after it had fallen into obscurity. The onset of World War I put a virtual end to the production of European pop-up books for children, which were popular starting in the late 1800s in the British, United States, and other markets.

Hunt is credited with creating a second golden age of pop-up books. Following his service in the army during World War II, he founded the W. H Hunt & Associates advertising agency. During this time, Hunt became familiar with the work of Vojtech Kubasta, the Czech master of paper engineering.

Hunt then started Graphics International, where he produced a series of pop-up ads featuring zoo scenes as part of a magazine campaign for Wrigley’s gum. Soon, the company created pop-up greeting cards and products for Hallmark. In 1965, he created the pop-up book Bennett Cerf’s Pop-up Riddles (Random, 1965), a promotional product for General Foods.

After selling his company to Hallmark, Hunt went on to found Intervisual Books, which produced David Pelham’s The Human Body (Viking, 1983).

Hunt also worked the likes of Eric Carle on The Honeybee and the Robber (Philomel, 1981) and Andy Warhol on Andy Warhol’s Index (Random, 1967). Copies of the Warhol book are valued at close to $1,000. One of Hunt’s books, Jan Pienkowski’s Haunted House (Heinemann, 1979), a best-selling pop-up book for children, received the British Kate Greenaway Medal.

An avid collector of pop-up and movable books, Hunt amassed at least 4,000 antique and contemporary titles. His collection was features in the exhibit, “Pop Up! 500 Years of Movable Books,” at the Los Angeles Central Library in 2002.

Hunt’s work has been an inspiration to today’s pop-up and movable book artists, such as, David Carter and Robert Sabuda. "Thanks in large part to Waldo Hunt's passion for pop-up books, I was able to grow up among and appreciate movable books before creating my own,” says Kyle Olmon, creator of Babysigns (2009) and Castle (2006, both Orchard) and instructor of paper engineering at Pratt Institute. “His achievements will always be remembered."

Hunt was born on November 28, 1920 in Chicago and raised in northern California. His first two marriages ended in divorce. He is survived by his third wife, the former Patricia Elliott; their daughters, Kimberly Hunt and Jamie Hunt; a daughter, Marsha Hunt, from his second marriage; a brother, Randy; and three grandchildren.