The Outdoor Girls in Desert Valley

I have finally acquired a copy of The Outdoor Girls in Desert Valley that has a dust jacket which does not have a faded spine. This is my fourth copy of Desert Valley in dust jacket. It isn't perfect; it has a chip out of the lower spine, but it is the first one that I have been satisfied with.

My first copy was badly water-damaged. I cannot recall whether the spine of that jacket was faded, but it was in such bad shape with ink that had bled that it hardly mattered. My second and third dust jackets of Desert Valley both were in great shape but with badly-faded spines. It has been frustrating trying to get one without a faded spine. I recall one that sold in the past year at a very high price, and it also had a faded spine.

I have wondered why all of the Desert Valleys seem to have faded spines, whereas most of the other Outdoor Girls books that I have found have not had faded spines. Most of the Outdoor Girls dust jackets have the print on the spines in either dark blue or black ink. Dark blue and black ink are not that prone to fading. Desert Valley has the print in reddish-brown. This color is very prone to fading. The spine of my dust jacket looks a little faded simply because of the color of ink. It even could be slightly faded. All I know is that it is by far the best one that I have ever seen. The mystery of the faded spines is solved!