- 0
The fantasy of their existence could be eulogized in an epilogue that reads: “Dick and Jane were found dead late in the 1970’s. Forensic experts couldn’t find a ‘Spot’ of evidence and stated it was as if they had just suddenly disappeared in one big ‘Puff’ of smoke. Born in the 1930’s Dick and Jane had become known to households throughout the country as their experiences were shared with young children during their early school years. Supporting characters included Baby (or Sally), Mother, Father, Spot (originally a cat in the 1930s but a dog in later editions), Puff the cat, and Tim the teddy bear”.
The demise of Dick and Jane started when they were subjected to change in 1965 when Black characters and characters from other races and cultures were added to their fantasy neighborhood and school experiences. This passing of time didn’t occur without leaving its mark on literary works, ever so small, such as Uncle Remus, Dick and Jane, and the song “Carry Me Back to Old Virginia”. The push for multiculturalism, and stronger presentation of other races and cultures was partially a reaction to the cultural homogeneity of this series.
In 1965, an integrated edition was added as an alternative to the established editions. This multi-ethnic edition changed the title of the 1st and 2nd pre-primers to Now We Read and Fun with the Family to reflect the addition of an African-American family. These three children were Mike, Pam, and Penny. The content of the 1962 edition was somewhat altered to include this new family in the first grade. The other books retained the 1962 titles, yet reflected numerous multi-ethnic groups for those school systems which chose this version.
There were also Catholic editions of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s series. Sally, Dick, and Jane was retitled Judy, John, and Jean to reflect the characters who were renamed after Catholic Saints. Groups of stories in each book were replaced by Catholic-oriented stories of the saints or portrayed moral choices. Some 1960s levels also had Seventh-day Adventist versions: these versions used the 1965 multi-ethnic characters, but retitled the books. For example, Now We Read became Friends to Know, Fun Wherever We Are became Places to Know.
Now we know who killed Dick and Jane; our society with all good intentions, as always in such cases, is responsible for the killing of these innocent characters. It has been said that the teaching of phonetics led to the transition from Dick and Jane to other more appropriate books. In reality it appears that premise about Dick and Jane is nothing more than a ‘Puff” of smoke.