1939 NEWSSTAND PIC TIME MACHINE JOURNEY INTO THE PAST 18 18

[MrBedrock]

All-American 23?

[BangZoom]

All-American 23?

 

No, that's not it.

 

All-American 23 featured a back cover ad for Baby Ruth candy.

 

I don't recognize the ad shown on the back of the comic the girl is holding.

 

I'm flummoxed.

[jpepx78]

 

happy new year to all!

i'm surprised some of the all-knowing-est comic collectors were stumped at the identity of the comics here.

she's holding 4most #2.

i'm guessing the boy is holding tough kid squad #1. this is just a guess based on seeing a piece of a corner and what was also published at that time period.

bangzoom may even have both of these books.

 

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

i hope everyone had a nice christmas.

 

these two photos will be part of a series of photos that we will be examining very closely for every detail and we will find quite a bit of information. one of these photos is the earliest color photo of someone reading a comic that i have found so far. the notes say these were taken at miami beach florida in 1942. from a combination of details from both photos, i believe i am able determine the date & time when these photos were taken.

 

this is a nice photo of a family at miami beach and notice how dressed up they are for the beach.

 

in this photo, the kids are reading comics! can you identify what the girl is reading? it's hard to see what the boy is reading, but i will make a guess later.

notice the pole on the beach. the pole will be used as a sundial and its shadow can help determine the date and time of the photo.

 

the information we need, elevation angle & azimuth angle can be approximated from the photo using this diagram.

 

miami beach coordinates are latitude 25.81 degrees & longitude -80.13 degrees.

if we assume geographically, the horizon in the photo for miami beach is due east (90 deg from due north), the azimuth angle is about 170 degrees since the horizon tilt is about 10 degrees (180-10=170) and the pole shadow is parallel to the horizon. the elevation angle from the end of the shadow to the top of the pole is about 40 degrees.

with all these numbers, we enter these values in a sun path chart program and generate a plot here:

http://solardat.uoregon.edu/SunChartProgram.html

 

at the intersection of the red lines from the chart, i determine the second photo to be taken around 11 am on december 20 or 21 1941 (70 years ago), about a couple weeks after the pearl harbor attacks. i believe the family most likely visited the beach on the weekend since december 20 & 21, 1941 is a saturday & sunday.

this date is consistent with the publication date of the girl's comic.

 

That's a pretty cool bit of analysis! Thanks for posting that.

[BangZoom]

happy new year to all!

i'm surprised some of the all-knowing-est comic collectors were stumped at the identity of the comics here.

she's holding 4most #2.

i'm guessing the boy is holding tough kid squad #1. this is just a guess based on seeing a piece of a corner and what was also published at that time period.

bangzoom may even have both of these books.

 

Congrats on your detective work.

 

I personally was stumped.

 

I assumed the comic was not from one of the major publishers, but beyond that I never was really close to identifying it.

 

Here is an image of the back cover that I found online.

 

[jpepx78]

happy birthday elvis! (jan 8 1935)

 

one of his favorite comics was capt marvel jr.

 

in the next 3 pics, elvis is reading comics on the train between chattanooga & memphis 7/4/1956.

can you tell what he's reading?

 

 

with his cousin junior smith.

 

a blurry pic of elvis passing by a spinner rack (comics?) in memphis 1957

 

checking out a newsrack in memphis 3/27/1957

 

identify who's next to elvis at a memphis benefit in 6/28/1957.

 

[BangZoom]

identify who's next to elvis at a memphis benefit in 6/28/1957.

 

Lou Costello and Jane Russell.

[ciorac]

happy birthday elvis! (jan 8 1935)

 

one of his favorite comics was capt marvel jr.

 

in the next 3 pics, elvis is reading comics on the train between chattanooga & memphis 7/4/1956.

can you tell what he's reading?

with his cousin junior smith.

 

 

Betty & Veronica 26 or 27

[lotemo]

happy birthday elvis! (jan 8 1935)

 

one of his favorite comics was capt marvel jr.

 

in the next 3 pics, elvis is reading comics on the train between chattanooga & memphis 7/4/1956.

can you tell what he's reading?

with his cousin junior smith.

 

 

Betty & Veronica 26 or 27

 

That's B&V #26 based on the back cover ad.

[ajaxfarrell]

Here is a really good picture of a 1926 newsstand filled with magazines.

 

 

Here is a link to a HUGE detailed picture of the rack. So COOL !!!

 

LINK

 

[ajaxfarrell]

Here is the BEST picture of an early newsstand featuring PULP MAGAZINES I've just about ever seen.

 

AUGUST 1937

 

 

The cool part is that if you click HERE and download one of the .TIFF files availalbe on that page, you will see a remarkably HUGE and well detailed picture of all the mags.

 

 

[ajaxfarrell]

Here is the best one of the three I've posted today.

 

Here is a newsstand in Manchester, New Hampshire in September of 1937.

 

 

The display has the pulps and mags and comics hung upside down on the rack.

 

Again, if you click this LINK and download one of the HUGE .TIFF files, you'll get a stunningly detailed view of the MAGS...and COMIC BOOKS.

 

You can download that file and then flip it 180 degrees and it really comes to life.

 

I especially love this picture, as it is from VERY EARLY in the realm of comic book publishing.

 

Here is a cropped view of the comics on display. EARLY New Adventure, More Fun, Detective and more.

 

 

I'm always thrilled to discover these pictures.

[BangZoom]

Here is a newsstand in Manchester, New Hampshire in September of 1937.

 

 

The display has the pulps and mags and comics hung upside down on the rack.

 

 

Wonderful photos.

 

Thanks for posting them.

 

 

I wonder why they placed the magazines in the rack upside down?

[ciorac]

Wonder why they displayed them upside down?

[rodan57]

I bought some comic books in Ireland in 1970 and the books were clipped upside down on the stand.

[ajaxfarrell]

Wonder why they displayed them upside down?

 

Maybe because the way they hung you wouldn't be able to see the titles ? The way they overlap ? I dunno ??

 

Here are the comics that I could find

 

Ace Comics # 5

Detective Comics # 3

New Adventure Comics # 18

More Fun Comics 3 24

Star Ranger # 5

Star Comics # 5

The Funnies # 12

King Comics # 17

Popular Comics # 20

Famous Funnies # 37

 

looks like [the second "Strange as it Seems"]... was this a comic book ? Can't find a picture of it.

UPDATE...

It's the John Hix Scrapbook. The Grand Comic BOok database has it dated as 1939, but obviously it's from 1937.

[ajaxfarrell]

[ajaxfarrell]

Upon further review, it's a Detective Comics # 6

 

 

 

 

Edited January 12, 2012 by ajaxfarrell

[ajaxfarrell]

[plady69]

Awesome!

 

What a great find. The question of course is, where are they all now?!