1939 NEWSSTAND PIC TIME MACHINE JOURNEY INTO THE PAST 18 18

[Larryw7]

On 12/9/2021 at 7:08 PM, Robot Man said:

I got a sweet deal when I was a kid. We bought most of our comics from a small mom and pop drugstore. I rode my bike past it each day on my bike to and from school. No metal racks or spinners. Comics were either displayed in wooden racks with slots or laid flat in stacks on the bottom.

I was a respectful kid and often cleaned up the mess other kids had made. The owner noticed and was a nice old guy. He offered me a deal. If I would stop buy after school and unpack and rack the comics each week, I could pick 5 of them as payment. So I had first pick and rarely missed an issue from that time on.

You wouldn't believe the comics I got to rack for him...

Oh, and he counted MAD Magazine as one book even though it was twice the cost of a regular comic. 

I used to do the same thing for a local Rite Aid, but they never gave me anything for doing it. Still, I had first pick and took the best copies(though I don't know why, since I read them to death).

[jpepx78]

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!

[Sarg]

On 12/24/2021 at 6:42 PM, jpepx78 said:

Memories from Christmas Past

 

Best. Christmas. Ever.

[telerites]

On 12/24/2021 at 6:42 PM, jpepx78 said:

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!

 

 

 

I had that Snow Cone maker or at least a similar version of it.

[Randall Ries]

On 12/25/2021 at 5:21 PM, telerites said:

I had that Snow Cone maker or at least a similar version of it.

 

[telerites]

On 12/25/2021 at 4:30 PM, Randall Ries said:

 

I need to rewatch Big Bang again.  We actually had that too.  I think mine was the Snowman (Frosty?) and his was the Snoopy.  He had a Snoopy metal domed lunchbox.  Mine was a Gentle Ben. 

[adamstrange]

On 12/24/2021 at 7:42 PM, jpepx78 said:

Memories from Christmas Past

 

Torture Rack!  They weren't kidding around with toys back in the day. 

 

[Robot Man]

On 12/25/2021 at 5:31 PM, adamstrange said:

Torture Rack!  They weren't kidding around with toys back in the day. 

 

Me and my brother got a Torture Track set for Christmas. Fun toy. Slot cars kept everybody happy and occupied.

I think we had one of those Snow Cone makers as well, 

[MattTheDuck]

I always lament the "no comic book reading!" line in "A Christmas Story" as I'd really like to see what Ralphie's collection has to offer.  They used a period Boys Life earlier in the movie, so I would expect something great.

[lhcomics]

Most of us have seen these vintage comic rack pictures. The pictures came from July 1948 Newsdealer publication. I currently have a copy on eBay auction here

Not meaning this to be an advertisement to drive you to my auctions but this is fairly rare I believe and some of you may be looking for a copy.

 

 

 

[lotemo]

On 3/9/2022 at 8:51 PM, lhcomics said:

Most of us have seen these vintage comic rack pictures. The pictures came from July 1948 Newsdealer publication. I currently have a copy on eBay auction here

Not meaning this to be an advertisement to drive you to my auctions but this is fairly rare I believe and some of you may be looking for a copy.

 

 

 

Boy, Timely definitely outnumbered other publishers as to the number of titles they published.  It looks like almost half of the comics on display are Timely titles.

[nearmint]

Bumping this thread for a friend who couldn't find it.

[MattHawes]

Okay, it's been awhile since I've taken some time to identify the remainder of the covers to the 1945 photo of a comics and magazine display from Readmore bookstore in Evansville, Indiana (my home town), but I did merge the colorized version I made (using an app) with the "reconstructed" version I have been putting together (where I use scans found online of identified covers in color, then I resize, rotate, and warp to fit the position the same title has in the original black and white photo). The three photos uploaded in this post is the merged version, the reconstructed version where the magazines and comics yet to be identified are in black and white, and then there's the picture where I removed all the original elements from the black and white photo to show which covers I have reconstructed and added to the photo.

The colorization done with the app looks cool, but the app naturally relies on an algorithm to decipher what colors to use, and its mostly wrong, though it still looks cool. I still hope to get my reconstruction version as finished as close as possible, but that may actually be impossible. Some covers are really hard to make up, or only a fraction of the cover can be seen. Still, I have, with the assistance of some here and on other boards, been able to ID quite a number of the trickier covers, so anything's possible, I guess.

 

 

[Point Five]

On 6/3/2022 at 4:12 AM, MattHawes said:

Okay, it's been awhile since I've taken some time to identify the remainder of the covers to the 1945 photo of a comics and magazine display from Readmore bookstore in Evansville, Indiana (my home town), but I did merge the colorized version I made (using an app) with the "reconstructed" version I have been putting together (where I use scans found online of identified covers in color, then I resize, rotate, and warp to fit the position the same title has in the original black and white photo). The three photos uploaded in this post is the merged version, the reconstructed version where the magazines and comics yet to be identified are in black and white, and then there's the picture where I removed all the original elements from the black and white photo to show which covers I have reconstructed and added to the photo.

The colorization done with the app looks cool, but the app naturally relies on an algorithm to decipher what colors to use, and its mostly wrong, though it still looks cool. I still hope to get my reconstruction version as finished as close as possible, but that may actually be impossible. Some covers are really hard to make up, or only a fraction of the cover can be seen. Still, I have, with the assistance of some here and on other boards, been able to ID quite a number of the trickier covers, so anything's possible, I guess.

Awesome! 

 

[woowoo]

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

On 6/3/2022 at 8:52 AM, woowoo said:

Fahrenheit 451 3rd from the top

[MattHawes]

On 6/3/2022 at 10:52 AM, woowoo said:

 

The sad thing about this photo, if I am correct, is that I believe this is taken at a test site for the atom bomb in the 1950s, and this soldier and many others were there as basically "guinea pigs" to see how radiation effects humans. There's a video on Archive.org (and I'm guessing YouTube) where you see the soldiers crawling out from trenches after a bomb was detonated, and then walking towards the mushroom cloud.

Edited June 3, 2022 by MattHawes

[MattHawes]

I found the video I mentioned in my previous post:

 

Atomic Bomb Test

 

The guy is around the 1:22 mark. You see him very briefly in this upload, as the video acts up, but I saved the footage from the site years ago and the file I had didn't have the same video jump. Hm.

Edited June 3, 2022 by MattHawes

[woowoo]

On 6/3/2022 at 1:44 PM, MattHawes said:

 

The sad thing about this photo, if I am correct, is that I believe this is taken at a test site for the atom bomb in the 1950s, and this soldier and many others were there as basically "guinea pigs" to see how radiation effects humans. There's a video on Archive.org (and I'm guessing YouTube) where you see the soldiers crawling out from trenches after a bomb was detonated, and then walking towards the mushroom cloud.

I thought it was Vince Carter from Gomer Pyle 

[jpepx78]

San Antonio Texas newsstand 

Here is an interesting newsstand photo from San Antonio Texas taken by Doc McGregor that was dated June 24 1939. Typical kid behavior by crowding the newsstand, reading the comics for free and sitting on newspapers and magazines.

On the shelves I see Action 12, Funnies 31 and Movie Comics 2. Kid with white shirt and wristwatch is reading Star Ranger Funnies 18. Kid in foreground on floor is reading a comic that appears to contain Snuffy Smith so that could be Ace Comics. This newsstand either gets their comics shipment late or they keep comics on the shelves longer since Action 12 was on sale around 4/14/39, Funnies 31 4/14/39, Movie Comics 2 4/6/39 and Star Ranger Funnies 18 5/1/39. Intriguing possibilities are that Detective 27 (on sale 4/18/39) and Superman 1 (on sale 5/18/39) fall within the date range of the comics on shelves and the stated date of the photo. If the photo date is correct, could a Tec 27 or Supe 1 be still on the shelves or could one of those kids be reading one of those issues?