Things Magazine has a great online gallery of old Pelican book covers from the 1930′s until the 1980′s. Every decade is separated into its own category and the book cover images are a respectable viewing size (not some crap thumbnail like some other gallery sites).

Of all of the decades shown here, I think the 60′s had some of the best cover designs because they were simple, bold, and very graphic. The 70′s looks like they were transitioning into the more illustrative book covers that later took over the decade of the 80′s.

Take note also of the huge Pelican logo that was on the cover of the books in the 30′s and 40′s, and see how it shrinks over the course of the following decades. Frankly, I’m glad they shrunk the Pelican. The big bird was a bit distracting.