To offer a historical perspective on vocabulary studies, this paper presents summaries, reviews, and critiques of vocabulary studies in chronological order of publication. The only variance from this format are published rebuttals and/or critiques, which are presented immediately following the original studies. The paper is divided into two parts. Part one presents the "Early Studies: Pre-1950" and contains the studies that were published before 1950. Part two presents "More Recent Studies: Post-1950" and contains the studies published since 1950. No attempt is made to classify the studies except in historical sequence. Basically the studies are concerned with the reading, writing, and spoken vocabulary of young children, in grades one, two, and three. Also, "original" and primary sources are used, not secondary. The paper concludes with a summation of the studies, noting that while the earlier studies were mainly concerned with an analysis of vocabulary through frequency word counts and comparison of previously published lists, the last three decades from the 1950s to the present give evidence of a shift in emphasis to a linguistic analysis of the language. An extensive bibliography is included. (HOD)