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April 8, 1949: the day pulps died. On that date Street & Smith Publications announced they would stop publication of their pulp magazines and comics. Other publishers would also later end their pulp publications. The decline in the interest of pulps could be attributed more to television and boredom of the pulp format than to comic books. S & S pulp circulation decline https://thepulp.net/pulp-articles/the-day-the-pulps-died/

Memories from Christmas Past It’s been another challenging year for many people but I hope conditions will improve next year. Hopefully these Christmas photos will bring back some joy and good memories of Christmas past. 1. Here’s a traditional Christmas card photo of kids reading a Pluto comic (FC 509) from 1953. 2. A couple of kids wearing their best Sunday clothes reading comics. The boy is reading Christmas Parade 5 but I’m not sure what the girl is reading. 3. It’s been traditional to take photos of kids with their Christmas gifts and see their joy. This kid is showing the books he got including some Gold Key comics and Supercar 2 from Christmas 1962. Also note that people used to display all the Christmas cards they received. Fewer people today send cards since there are alternatives like email, texting and other social media. 4. In the past when toys were reasonably priced, some kids got lots of presents. As toy prices went up, some kids got fewer but more costly presents. Looking back in the year 1966, see what a haul this kid got for Christmas. See if you can spot the comic and how many of these toys do you recognize? I had a smaller version of the Motorific slot car set as a present. I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!

Cypher says: Here’s your chance to get an autographed picture of golden lad!

I'll take this at 20% off

Garcia’s comics from Bonham’s 2019 auction archive https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/25922/#/aa0=1&MR0_length=96&w0=list&m0=0 1997 appraisal value was $30000.

RIP Johnny Crawford https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/johnny-crawford-young-star-of-the-rifleman-dies-at-75

“Holey grail”

1954 Iowa Drugstore Photo I found this interesting photo in a popular auction site but the seller put a rubber band on the photo to protect the image. However Ivan Ivanstein was kind enough to share his intact picture for us to see in another thread in the General section recently. This photo might seem like an ordinary 1950s drugstore photo with comic racks but I will try to explain the photo’s signifigance. This Des Moines Iowa drugstore photo was taken around Nov 1954 based on the appearance and on-sale date of the Weird Science Fantasy 27 (11/1/54). This was an interesting period in comics history because comic publishers formed the Comics Magazine Association of America (CMAA) to regulate the content of comics after the scrutiny of the comics industry during the Senate Hearings on Juvenile Delinquency which attributed the lurid and unsavory content of comics as one of the main causes of juvenile delinquency. To stem negative publicity and to save the comic industry, publishers adopted the Comics Code on Oct 26 1954 and the Comics Code Authority office was under the direction of Judge Charles Murphy. All comic book content had to be submitted to the code enforcement arm of the CMAA for review and approval before publication and be entitled to publish the “Seal of Approval” on the cover. In the photo, you see the pharmacist named Harold holding 2 EC books (WSF 27 and Haunt of Fear 28) and I believe he is removing those EC books from the racks since those books could not be sold under comics code. It is notable that was the final issue of Haunt of Fear. Those EC books appear to be the most interesting comics on the racks compared to all the other bland books like all those Classics Illustrated, humor and westerns. Even the DC books like Batman and Worlds Finest had bland stories in that period. There was an interim period lasting until around March 1955 where there were still some comics on the newsstands without the “Seal of Approval” code on the cover due the publishing cycle. Adoption of the Comics Code shut down the crime and horror titles of Bill Gaines EC Comics which were the major money makers of the company. Gaines tried to adapt to the code with his New Trend titles but but was unsuccessful and shut down comic publishing in 1955 except for Mad magazine which was not subject to the code. Many other comic publishers also shut down due to code restrictions and most importantly the refusal of magazine distributors to distribute their unapproved titles. The comic publishers had appointed Judge Murphy to head the comics code authority to be independent from other operations of the CMAA in order to give their comics czar credibility. He was paid by the publishers and it was understood that he could work free from interference from association members. The publishers intended for him to to ignore all but the most obvious code violations but Murphy had his staff review material carefully and demand any changes for any infraction of the code, however minor. It was believed that Murphy did not have to be that strict and there was little oversight from the public as to how well the code was to be enforced. Most critics see the code as a cut and dried document but the code required a lot of interpretation. Murphy did not understand that all the publishers required was the appearance of self-regulation to appease most critics. His zeal in strict interpretation of the code set him against the publishers and was one of the reasons why his contract was not renewed by the association at the end of his 2 year term. from Seal of Approval by Amy Kiste Nyberg The third picture is Murphy in front of a comic page where the art was made less horrific to pass the comics code. comics on racks

Based on the writing, Camp Sibert was an Army chemical weapons training facility in Etowah and St Clair County Alabama. It was in operation from 1942 to 1945. That 1943 date is not the release date since that issue of Young Allies 6 was on the newsstand around October 30 1942. Other markings or names might give a clue of a former owner since there are records of soldiers who trained at Camp Sibert. This is a photo booklet about Camp Sibert.

It’s been a challenging year and I hope these comic related photos of Christmas past can provide a brief diversion from current events. A few of these have been shown before. 1. A Christmas family get-together in Ontario Canada 1953 which unfortunately many of us will not be able to have this year. Kids are busy reading comics that appear to be one of the presents. 2. It seems pretty cool to have Clark Kent/Superman give out comics as presents but the kids don’t seem super excited about it in 1955. 3. It’s a good time of the year to read Santa Claus Funnies. 4. Showing off the Superman costume at Christmas. 5. Visiting Santa and one of the gifts is a Buster Brown 29 comic. 6. Christmas was a great time to visit the toy section of department stores. Visiting Herpolsheimer’s department store in Grand Rapids Michigan in 1941, you could meet Santa and get a free copy of Key Ring Comics featuring Radior. I hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday and hope for a better new year.

Search for doppelgangers

Newsstand picture is from a scan from old fanzine. More info here. https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/topic/118924-1939-newsstand-pic-time-machine-journey-into-the-past/page/93/#comments First is a convention photo for Empire Comics. Whiz 1 in second photo. Dates and locations unknown but someone here will probably know.

Norfolk Virginia March 1941 Some of you may have already seen these photos from the Library of Congress but I took a closer look at some higher resolution images and found some nice comics on this newsstand. These newsstand photos were taken by John Vachon in Norfolk Virginia in March 1941. The higher resolution photos allowed me to see all the comics and many of the magazines on the racks. Comics are located on the middle rack next to the newspapers. I’ve made a closeup of the comics and can you identify all the comics? I made a list of issues that I see. Can you spot Capt America 2, Capt Marvel 1, Catman 1 or Exciting 9 (1st appearance & origin Black Terror)? Other racks are filled with romance, adventure, detective, western and other magazines. As you can see pulps were stacked almost to the ceiling in the other photos. An interesting item on the right side of the third photo is a vintage arcade game. That game is a Mutoscope Sky Fighter arcade game from 1940 where you try to shoot down enemy planes while looking through a scope. I found a color photo, promotional flyer and a youtube video of a working version of the game.

Here is a Feb 12 1955 photo of Senator Estes Kefauver who was chairman of the Senate Juvenile Delinquency subcommittee and his family with his younger kids reading “approved” comics- Western Roundup 3 and Tarzan 54. I find it highly amusing that he approved and allowed his young kids to read a western comic that contains several stories of murder and gunplay and a jungle comic with stories of a nearly naked jungle man killing lions and leopards according to the Grand Comics Database. According to the 1954 Comic Code under general standards: Scenes of excessive violence shall be prohibited. Scenes of brutal torture, excessive and unnecessary knife and gunplay, physical agony, gory and gruesome crime shall be eliminated. Under costume standards: Nudity under any form is prohibited, as is indecent or undue exposure. Would some Disney comics seem to be a better selection? This is the original caption for the photo: The whole family of Senator Estes Kefauver goes in for the kind of reading recommended by the Juvenile Delinquency subcommittee, of which he is chairman. Kefauver, whose group is conducting hearings on comic books and TV programs for children, leads some of the approved matter to his own children as his wife Nancy looks on in their Washington home. The young Kefauvers are (left to right) David, 9; Diane, 7; Gail, 4; and Linda, 13 (standing).

Actually Senator Estes Kefauver is holding the Crime Suspenstories 22. Senator Hendrickson is in the dark suit and glasses.

Aren’t some guys crazy over bondage covers? Isn’t that a classic cover with skulls and crossbones and Hitler with no pants too?

The Chinese characters on the left says kitchen and as BitterOldMan says the characters on the right says healthy. It's interesting to note the original owner of the Chinatown collection worked as a cook on the Canadian Pacific ferries.

More newsstand pics… 1. New York rail station 1937 2. New York City Oct 1938 3. Taylor Texas Oct 1939, first issue of Thrilling Football Stories in front 4. Haymarket Virginia Aug 1941, pulps sold in drugstore 5. Merrill’s newsstand was operated from 1940 to 1965 by Frank Merrill and his wife Faye in downtown Wyandotte Michigan. Frank was blind and educated in Ohio. In 1940 the Kiwanis Club raised money for the construction of the wooden newsstand located in triangular area where 1st St, Maple St and Biddle Ave meet. The Merrill’s were able to make a decent living until the death of Frank in 1965 and the newsstand closed a few months later. In the picture dated 9-25-48, newspapers, magazines can be seen and a stack of pulps are located in the rack at right. You’ll notice pulps were stacked flat with their spines showing due to limited shelf space in other photos too. The newsstand also stocked a large variety of comic books but they are not seen in the picture. Frank can be seen in the shadow of the opening at left and Faye is seen in the larger window of the newsstand on the right.

I guess news travels real slow in Montana? Story is from 2013 and comic found in Minnesota. A tear cost $75000? https://www.cbr.com/action-comics-1-found-in-wall-of-house-sells-for-175000/

Since the above photo is a New York City newsstand, it would not be unusual to see multilingual papers in a city with many immigrants. You are correct in that headline is about the Yugoslavian coup in 1941. This NYC newsstand photo from around July 1941 has papers in Polish, Hebrew, Spanish, Russian, Italian, Hungarian, French and German which reflects the diversity of the population. Check out the comics at the bottom. By zooming in, I can see True Comics 4, Exciting 11, Jackpot 1 and possibly Amazing Man 23?

More newsstand pics… 1. I found out this Betsy Drake photo is actually a Warner Brothers publicity shot from 1949. There are real and fictitious magazines from various dates. 2. closeup of the Shadow promo sign from Betsy Drake photo 3. upside down display of pulps and comics in Manchester New Hampshire 9-37 4. San Antonio newsstand 10-38 5. blurry cigar store photo of western pulps in Taylor Texas 6. Stacks of pulps on top shelf in Norfolk Virginia 3-41 (Spicy Adventure, Spicy Western, Spicy Mystery, Ace G-men, Amazing Stories, Sport Action, All Sports, Super Detective) This newsstand must have sold lots of pulps and people must have liked Spicy stuff. 7. A colorized photo of a packed newsstand with pulps and comics in Southington Connecticut 5-42 that gives you a sense of living in the past.

This is a November 1948 photo of the actress Betsy Drake who was the third wife of Cary Grant. At the top of the newsstand there is an ad for The Shadow magazine. Have you seen a copy of that ad detective35?

Since there is a pulp forum now, I thought some of you might be interested in a pulp photo thread similar to the newsstand thread in the gold forum. Although I have not collected pulps, I have accumulated a few pictures of pulp magazines that might not get appreciated in the other thread. Many of these pictures have been seen before but there may be a few that you might not have seen before. There will be some comics seen since they were sold alongside with pulps. I’ll add a few more over time and I hope you share some of your pictures too. 1. packed newsstand in NYC 11-19-35 2. sidewalk newsstand in NYC July 1942, there a few comics too- see if you can spot Batman 12 3. awesome pulp selection in Cook Minnesota Aug 1937 4. another NYC newsstand Nov 1932 5. newsstand in downtown Baltimore at corner of Calvert & Fayette streets Sept 1923 In celebration of baseball's Opening Day 2020, I chose this pic because this Baltimore newsstand promoted the premier issue of Sports Story with a baseball cover