Digital Comic Museum
General Category => Comic Related Discussion => Topic started by: bminor on September 12, 2019, 08:36:29 PM
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I was idly wondering today if anyone out there in DCM Land ever buy anything from one of those advertisers in old, old comic books?
I am willing to wager there are many interesting stories that need to be told!
Never purchased anything myself, just bought the comic books!
Attached is the infamous X-RAY SPECS ad!!
B.
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I never ordered the gimmick products, but I did write for a Howard Rogofsky catalog in maybe 1972 or so.
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I'm told that one of the principals of DCM bought the miniature monkey in a teacup that you see in the Movyland Studio ads. That monkey is now full grown, and is now one of the moderators of this site!
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I have always had my suspicions about that guy...
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Yep, Mom says I used to be so cute ...
:-\
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Of course, some of those old comic book ads were scams for the gullible (like the X-Ray Specs!). But many others were honest and worth the price. I'll always be grateful for the ad I answered as a kid in the 1940s. It was a 'learn to play harmonica by the numbers' kit with harmonica and instructions. After learning to play by the numbers I went on to play any tune by ear. Through the years, the little original harmonica was replaced with bigger more advanced ones, and harmonica became a life-long hobby.
I also answered a Fawcett ad to join the Captain Marvel Club for the price of a comic book (10-cents). I was a little disappointed to get only a short welcome note on a Captain Marvel letterhead and a membership card (with a key to the secret code in every issue of Captain Marvel Comics). That dime would have been better spent on a comic book. Though, I wish now that I still had that letter & card!
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I clipped a coupon from the inside front cover of about a 1963 issue of Superman and sent a dollar for a Dinosaur book. Still got the book, but not the comic.
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I clipped out a coupon in a issue of Action Comics to join the Supermen of America. This was also about 1963. What you got for your quarter was a full color membership certificate signed by Clark Kent and a decoder card. I still have the certificate. What was interesting was that the drawing of Superman on the certificate was of Superman circa 1938-39 as depicted by Joe Shuster. I have seen pictures of later certificates that featured the Wayne Boring version of Superman.
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Interesting.
Feel free to scan and share it here if you like.
:D
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Possibly the oldest and greatest of all comic book ads...
"The insult that made a man out of Mac!"
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I have some old ads for this section, but not sure how to upload. I get as far as filling the attachment bar with my selection. But when I press 'alt+ preview,' or the Preview button, I don't see my selection on this screen. How do I get to see my upload on this screen?
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OK! I answered my own question. My upload appears on this page apparently ONLY after I upload it. Is there a way of viewing it BEFORE uploading?
Anyway, here is the second half of the Captain Marvel club goodies from the 1940s; all for 10 cents.
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Possibly the oldest and greatest of all comic book ads...
"The insult that made a man out of Mac!"
During an investigation of of deceptive mail order ads Charles Atlas got called to testify before Congress. He brought successful students with him. He also explained that his company refunded his customers on request. Finally, he said that the "six week proof" in his ads meant not course completion, but that six weeks of following his instructions would more than prove that his methods were working.
Amid a cesspool of mostly phonies, Charles Atlas came out smelling like a rose.
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Thanks for sharing guys!
Lots of fun.
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Sent away for the 100 toy soldiers in a footlocker. Was disappointed to discover the soldiers were flat plastic shapes rather than 3-D figures, and the footlocker was a printed cardboard box. However I still got plenty of mayhem out of them, so all told it was a positive experience.
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... From the Cap Marvel Club
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Tried to attach multiple items on my previous scan, but only one appeared in the upload. Will try again here.
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Success! A couple more from Cap Marvel. Look to this site for more ads & premiums from Fawcett.
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... more from Fawcett
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... and more
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Thanks guys!
And here's the Ghost Rider mask you could have bought for $1 from an ad in Tim Holt #26 (October-November 1951).
And a sample of the real thing on the wall of a comic shop. Picture found online.
-Yoc
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More Fawcett premiums...
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I did buy those x-ray specs way back as a kid, had fun wearing them at school.
Funny, the teacher made me take them off, like they were real!
Also bought the submarine they advertised some years later, I was very surprised when it came in the mail and was a flat package.
Turned out to look NOTHING like the picture, of course, and was all cardboard.
I remember even further back an ad for Thor's hammer, I always wished I could get that!!
Fun memories!
Al
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More 1940s Fawcett ads. I bought the flying Cap Marvel back then. Also, all the decals - which I transferred to the walls & furniture in my room. It was neat to be surrounded by my comic book friends. Not to mention the wonder of the decal-transfer process for a 6-7 year old!
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Nice Captain Marvel watch, but out of price range for most kids in my neighborhood. That price would have bought 60 comics back then.
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I remember having some of these pins as a kid. Don't know if I bought them from Fawcett or not, or how much they cost. I may have got them by trading with friends for comics. I definitely bought the punch-out book, as the price (10 cents) was affordable.
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Pages of the Flying Marvels punch-out book from 1945.
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Final Fawcett premiums from my collection: Marvel Bunny & Spy Smasher.
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Nice button. Never seen that one before. :)
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The only Fawcett item along these lines that I have, and one of only two items along these lines I have from the golden age or thereabouts:
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And the envelope it came in:
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The one other item I have, I apologize for the cruddy photos. My photo skills are nearly nil, and it's WAY too big to scan... it's bigger than a treasury comic. If anybody really wants improved images I'll see what I can do:
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Oh WOW, that's so cool Eric!
We really should do a proper scan and share it here on DCM.
I'm ready and willing to do any editing if wanted.
:D :)
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Oh WOW, that's so cool Eric!
We really should do a proper scan and share it here on DCM.
I'm ready and willing to do any editing if wanted.
:D :)
Which one, Yoc? I can scan the puzzle fine, but the Circus is, like I said, WAY too big to scan. Maybe if I can find a copy shop or something that can do it...
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Thanks! OE. I'm adding it to my collection.
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Hi Eric,
Both would be perfect additions for the DCM collection no?
They'd make great shares for our coming TENTH ANNIVERSARY not far down the road!
If it were possible.
-Yoc
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Guys, you can do overlapping scans then in Photoshop put it together into one seamless scan.
In Photoshop choose FILE > AUTOMATE > PHOTOSMERGE
I have done it several times and it works great!!!
B.
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Everyone,
I would be willing to help/work on this Peter Wheat Circus project.
How can we go about getting high resolution scans?
I just need nice scans that have about an inch of overlap so they can be stitched back together.
What are the dimensions of the originals?
B
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Thanks for the offer B. I can do the same as well if OE can manage to get them scanned somehow.
-Yoc
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Thank you both for your offers; I'll see what I can do next weekend to get the pages of the circus scanned. It will take four scans for each sheet to get a complete image, though.
The original is roughly 13x16 inches.
The actual circus pages are in very good shape but the cover envelope is in very bad shape, I may not be able to scan it corner by corner...
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How about the Polaris Submarine or the Tank? Anyone ever get one of these?
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Or the space ship!!!
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Thanks!
I think there's a book or some site that shares a lot of these kind of things. I wish my memory worked better to say which.
-Yoc