Our Roots: The Victorian Age of Comic Book Fandom! 7 7

[Flee-Marquette]

 

 

...............................

 

(Disclaimer: The following is an exercise in historical fiction and any resemblance to the actual truth is purely unintentional)

[Flee-Marquette]

The Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck debuted in 1837 in Europe and when it was

published in the U.S., it was a newpaper supplement that was translated into English.

This picture format immediately caught the eyes of the younger readers and became

an overnight sensation.

 

[Flee-Marquette]

Demand for the "comic book" soon skyrocketed and enterprising kids were going

door- to-door looking for copies to resell for up to 2 bits. As adults learned of the

investment potential, they too wanted in on the action.

 

[Flee-Marquette]

Speculation ran rampant, as everyone caught "Obadiah" fever. Soon, about the only

place you could get a copy was from a "picture-book" dealer. The dealers organized

and held the first Obadiah Convention in 1843 out behind the Capital Feed and Seed

store in Richmond, Virginia. Pictured here is the booth of the Nikolai Brothers from

Boston.

 

 

 

[Flee-Marquette]

In order to share their newfound passion, "picture-book" collectors took to the wires

and formed telegraph forums to discuss all-things-Obadiah.

 

 

 

[Flee-Marquette]

Hobbyists formed organizations to standardize the terminology of their collecting niche.

 

[Flee-Marquette]

Eventually, it was no longer good enough to just "own" a copy of Obadiah Oldbuck, you

had to have the one in the best condition. Most copies were well read and had wrinkles

from being stuffed in coat pockets. Pristine copies were being sold for a premium as

they were few and far between. Soon industries arose out of this need for the best.

The Corn Growers Collective for a small fee would wrap your Obadiah in a protective

husk and certify it Grade A or Grade AA or Grade AAA.

 

 

[Flee-Marquette]

The OBAnalysis was formed to track the sales of husk-wrapped Obadiahs.

 

 

[Flee-Marquette]

And finally an enterprising seamstress from Alabama, Nell Matson, realized that her

skills at primping dresses could be applied to the "picture-books". She had a smoothing

technique using her thumbs that with the right amount of pressure could make the wrinkles

disappear. She also had naturally oily skin from a diet of mostly sardines that hastened

the process. A Grade AA Obadiah could be made into a Grade AAA in a matter of minutes.

 

[Flee-Marquette]

Business boomed for Nell and soon huge amounts of high grade Obadiahs appeared on

the market. This drew the attention of the gentleman known as "The Podiatrist" who had

the best Obadiah collection in the country. He had purchased his copies from a Pueblo

Indian in Colorado (Chief Rose-In-Sky) who had found a case of them in the basement of a

Pentecostal Chapel.

 

 

[Flee-Marquette]

His "best-in-existence" copies from the Chapel Collection were now in jeopardy and he

had to investigate. He purchased a "primped" copy and determined that it was not naturally

high-grade but had been Rejuvenated! He quickly notified the authorities and an uproar ensued.

 

 

[Flee-Marquette]

The nation was divided into two camps and what started out as a humor publication for

young ones became a very adult issue. As time went on, kids moved on to bicycles,

marbles and tin toys. The demand for Obadiah subsided as adult collectors that passed

on were not being replaced with younger ones. Eventually the "picture-book" phenomenon

and those enamored with it disappeared.

 

 

 

Until........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Beau]

That was AWESOME! I waited until you were done before I replied, so I wouldn't clutter up the narrative.

 

In order to share their newfound passion, "picture-book" collectors took to the wires

and formed telegraph forums to discuss all-things-Obadiah.

 

 

 

[GACollectibles]

[thirdgreenham]

Great stuff, Flee!

 

Andy

[mica]

..... As time went on, kids moved on to bicycles,...

Finally, someone feels the way that I do and that bicycles ruined the attention spans of our great greandfathers generations. Hand-eye coordination my aunt fannie.

[User 01001010]

i can't wait to get home to see the images.

 

just the text is fas.

 

j

[goldust40]

That was AWESOME! I waited until you were done before I replied, so I wouldn't clutter up the narrative.

 

In order to share their newfound passion, "picture-book" collectors took to the wires

and formed telegraph forums to discuss all-things-Obadiah.

 

 

 

 

Yep, brilliant work there, Flee! Inspired stuff.

[topofthetotem]

That was awesome!!!!

 

 

[Jeffro.]

OMG!! I'm crying over here.