Okajima pedigree 25 25

[MrBedrock]

2 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

Isn't Wednesday still "new comic book day"? Don't you have books to rack Bub?

See you in a week or so and bring me some junky books for my pile!

I will have more junky books than you can shake a stick at! There was a booth cancellation next to us and we ended up with a four booth endcap. I am bringing a big load of affordable oddities right up your alley. See you next weekend!

[deadleg]

13 hours ago, miraclemet said:

Thanks for sharing this! We didn't have any record of the cover notations on this issue! (We knew it existed in the pedigree, but had not seen images to get the date and code). 

Can you tell us what the alpha numeric code is on the book? It looks like 3D, but I wanted to check. 

I'll update the camp census to include the notes

All-American Comics #59 "Okajima""5-9-44" "3D"

it actually looks more like an "O" but I'm going to post a picture and let everybody else judge. 

 

 

 

Edited March 22, 2017 by deadleg

[miraclemet]

29 minutes ago, deadleg said:

it actually looks more like an "O" but I'm going to post a picture and let everybody else judge. 

 

 

 

You are right, it is an "O". Which lines up with the dates and the code. The original Barr inventory note is wrong. Thanks for taking the picture

[miraclemet]

2 hours ago, Foley said:

Sorry for the noob question, but can anybody explain the difference between a regular Okajima book, and a "camp" book. I know it relates to the Japanese internment in WWII, but that's about the extent of my knowledge. Was the girl who compiled the collection interned for a period, and the books she acquired in the camp are "camp" books.

Are the pencil notations different on the camp covers? I appreciate any reply, even if it just links to more info I can read up on myself. 

Hey Foley, I hope you go back and read the thread it's a nice mix of investigation, people sharing their books and documentation of Okajima pedigree (at least for the boards here). 

 

The Okajima pedigree starts in 1943 and stretches into the 50s. The pedigree spans three parts of the original owners life. First the time when she was interned in a camp due to her Japanese heritage and WWII. In '44 she notated all of her books with her name (signed at the top of the cover) the date she bought the book, and with a number-letter code (2K, or 3F, etc). After release from camp she continued collecting but changed her notations, going away from the signature and the date and code and instead there's a period with distributor marks in pencil, and a period with inked date stamps (whether these were by her or bathe news stand I'm not sure). 

The camp books refer to those books from 43-44 that show the camp style markings (there's some variation at the beginning in 43 andlate in 44 where they might not have the signature, or maybe no code) the coding was sequential. I assume it started with 1A then went to 1B the next time she bought books, then 1C. After 1Z she went to 2A and so on. I've seen two books from the "1" code and only a dozen  of the "2" code books.

 

All of this adds to the story. Which is part of what makes the pedigree, and especially they camp years so special. She signed her name, to claim ownership of these books because keeping possessions in camp was hard. Guards tossed the housing, confiscated and sometimes just stole things from the interred people. Did she have a hiding place for her Books? Did she sign her very Japanese name so the ownership would be obvious if a soldier took them? 

 

I wonder about her collection that she lost. The pedigree starts in 43 when she was probably early 20s. She surely collected comics when she was younger right? Most families were taken suddenly to internment camps and people only had a few minutes to pack a suitcase. Her comics left behind, likely tossed by the landlord of their house. What did that collection look like? Was there a Captain America 1? It's gone. But what we have in this pedigree of a collector who, when life was at its worst, she kept reading and collecting. It represents that escape that comics are for so many of us, and it also represents normalcy. Even in this unjust camp she was still able to walk to the Px on the baseband using the money she probably earned working in the camp and she would still buy comics. You can look at the purchase dates she wrote on them. Some trips to buy were just a few days apart, this was a passion for her.

In the end pedigrees have value either because of the collector or because of the collection. Most are because the collection is vast, or high grade, or both (Looking at you Church), but this collection is about the collector, and what the collection represents, and no part of it More so than those books she held tight to from '43-44 when the world probably made the least sense, and collecting gave her some respite.

 

Edited March 22, 2017 by miraclemet

[Straw-Man]

very nicely said.

[MrBedrock]

1 hour ago, miraclemet said:

In the end pedigrees have value either because of the collector or because of the collection. Most are because the collection is vast, or high grade, or both (Looking at you Church), but this collection is about the collector, and what the collection represents, and no part of it More so than those books she held tight to from '43-44 when the world probably made the least sense, and collecting gave her some respite.

 

Exactly!

[skypinkblu]

1 hour ago, miraclemet said:

Hey Foley, I hope you go back and read the thread it's a nice mix of investigation, people sharing their books and documentation of Okajima pedigree (at least for the boards here). 

 

The Okajima pedigree starts in 1943 and stretches into the 50s. The pedigree spans three parts of the original owners life. First the time when she was interned in a camp due to her Japanese heritage and WWII. In '44 she notated all of her books with her name (signed at the top of the cover) the date she bought the book, and with a number-letter code (2K, or 3F, etc). After release from camp she continued collecting but changed her notations, going away from the signature and the date and code and instead there's a period with distributor marks in pencil, and a period with inked date stamps (whether these were by her or bathe news stand I'm not sure). 

The camp books refer to those books from 43-44 that show the camp style markings (there's some variation at the beginning in 43 andlate in 44 where they might not have the signature, or maybe no code) the coding was sequential. I assume it started with 1A then went to 1B the next time she bought books, then 1C. After 1Z she went to 2A and so on. I've seen two books from the "1" code and only a dozen  of the "2" code books.

 

All of this adds to the story. Which is part of what makes the pedigree, and especially they camp years so special. She signed her name, to claim ownership of these books because keeping possessions in camp was hard. Guards tossed the housing, confiscated and sometimes just stole things from the interred people. Did she have a hiding place for her Books? Did she sign her very Japanese name so the ownership would be obvious if a soldier took them? 

 

I wonder about her collection that she lost. The pedigree starts in 43 when she was probably early 20s. She surely collected comics when she was younger right? Most families were taken suddenly to internment camps and people only had a few minutes to pack a suitcase. Her comics left behind, likely tossed by the landlord of their house. What did that collection look like? Was there a Captain America 1? It's gone. But what we have in this pedigree of a collector who, when life was at its worst, she kept reading and collecting. It represents that escape that comics are for so many of us, and it also represents normalcy. Even in this unjust camp she was still able to walk to the Px on the baseband using the money she probably earned working in the camp and she would still buy comics. You can look at the purchase dates she wrote on them. Some trips to buy were just a few days apart, this was a passion for her.

In the end pedigrees have value either because of the collector or because of the collection. Most are because the collection is vast, or high grade, or both (Looking at you Church), but this collection is about the collector, and what the collection represents, and no part of it More so than those books she held tight to from '43-44 when the world probably made the least sense, and collecting gave her some respite.

 

Beautifully sad, Charles! 

Am I correct that this is also the only Pedigree collection, collected by a woman? If I missed one, I might need to go find it;)

[walclark]

Sharon, I think the Denver pedigree was by a woman.

[Sqeggs]

53 minutes ago, Straw-Man said:

very nicely said.

I'll say.  It's about the best thing I've ever read on these boards. 

[Sqeggs]

21 minutes ago, skypinkblu said:

Beautifully sad, Charles! 

Am I correct that this is also the only Pedigree collection, collected by a woman? If I missed one, I might need to go find it;)

I don't know if this was a typo or not, but it kind of captures the sentiment. 

[miraclemet]

5 hours ago, skypinkblu said:

Beautifully sad, Charles! 

Am I correct that this is also the only Pedigree collection, collected by a woman? If I missed one, I might need to go find it;)

Walclark is correct.The Denver ped wa amassed by a woman who owned a news stand.

[miraclemet]

4 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

I'll say.  It's about the best thing I've ever read on these boards. 

 

4 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

I don't know if this was a typo or not, but it kind of captures the sentiment. 

First thanks for the compliment. It is easily the best pedigree story, so it is easy to write about it, and to write about it passionately. 

And you are right it is an achingly sad story. Both in the wide context of the travesty of the internment camps, and the reality of one part of persons life, which we all happen to connect with (collecting comics) and how it was profoundly affected. The idea of. holding a little artifact from that story is profound.

[jpepx78]

40 minutes ago, miraclemet said:

 

First thanks for the compliment. It is easily the best pedigree story, so it is easy to write about it, and to write about it passionately. 

And you are right it is an achingly sad story. Both in the wide context of the travesty of the internment camps, and the reality of one part of persons life, which we all happen to connect with (collecting comics) and how it was profoundly affected. The idea of. holding a little artifact from that story is profound.

I would consider the Don & Maggie Thompson pedigree as another collection by a woman.

The Okajima books must have had some sentimental value back then since it would have taken some effort to move so many books after closure of the internment camp. The books could have been easily tossed or burned.

Comics were a popular reading choice since about 40000 or one-third of the internees were under the age of 20. It appears one form of cheap entertainment is to read all the comics on the newsrack for free as seen in some internment camp photos.

One other Japanese American girl was interested in superhero comics just before she was relocated to the internment camps in May 1942 as shown in my last post in the linked thread below.

https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/topic/278064-world-war-2-japanese-internment-amp-comics/?page=2

 

[miraclemet]

1 hour ago, jpepx78 said:

I would consider the Don & Maggie Thompson pedigree as another collection by a woman.

The Okajima books must have had some sentimental value back then since it would have taken some effort to move so many books after closure of the internment camp. The books could have been easily tossed or burned.

 

I always forget about Maggie! 

And you are right, the fact that there are any books from the camp era is astonishing....

 

I should stop typing before i price myself completely out of the market!

[skypinkblu]

@jpepx78

All I can say is wow. I got up way too early and was just going to check my mail for a second, but I've been reading your link for the past 30 minutes. I'm going to finish it later today, share it with some friends (and my husband) and send it to our daughter. What a fantastic job you did there, thank you very much. I wish I had read this years ago, and I'm sorry I missed the thread previously.

I grew up in NYC and I never heard, nor read about the internment camps in any of my history books. My parents never mentioned it at home. 

When my daughter was in JHS, she had to read a book called "Snowing on Cedars". I used to read everything she read, so we could discuss it. I had a very hard time getting through that book, not because it wasn't well written, but because it was such an emotional, heart wrenching and totally shocking thing for me to read. I kept stopping to look things up. I was really stunned  by it.  So surprised, that I was calling friends I went to school with to see if I had somehow missed an entire section in history class, but no one else I knew, had any clue at the time we were in school. One or two  learned about it later.

So when I read about this collection, I was hooked. I never cared all that much about any of the other pedigrees, even sold a few of my Mile Highs to Cheetah when he was collecting them, but I have always looked for Okajimas...and they are in a safe place. 

Thank you and @walclarkand @miraclemet for the info on the other pedigrees. I vaguely remember something about the Denver collection, and I've met Maggie Thompson a few times. She told me about accumulating the books with her husband, but I guess neither of those stories hit me like this one. I'll stick with the one pedigree.

Yes, Tony, it was a typo, but you are right, an appropriate one.

Thank you all for all the information and the work it takes to do such detailed research and type it out.

[entalmighty1]

1 hour ago, skypinkblu said:

@jpepx78

All I can say is wow. I got up way too early and was just going to check my mail for a second, but I've been reading your link for the past 30 minutes. I'm going to finish it later today, share it with some friends (and my husband) and send it to our daughter. What a fantastic job you did there, thank you very much. I wish I had read this years ago, and I'm sorry I missed the thread previously.

I grew up in NYC and I never heard, nor read about the internment camps in any of my history books. My parents never mentioned it at home. 

When my daughter was in JHS, she had to read a book called "Snowing on Cedars". I used to read everything she read, so we could discuss it. I had a very hard time getting through that book, not because it wasn't well written, but because it was such an emotional, heart wrenching and totally shocking thing for me to read. I kept stopping to look things up. I was really stunned  by it.  So surprised, that I was calling friends I went to school with to see if I had somehow missed an entire section in history class, but no one else I knew, had any clue at the time we were in school. One or two  learned about it later.

So when I read about this collection, I was hooked. I never cared all that much about any of the other pedigrees, even sold a few of my Mile Highs to Cheetah when he was collecting them, but I have always looked for Okajimas...and they are in a safe place. 

Thank you and @walclarkand @miraclemet for the info on the other pedigrees. I vaguely remember something about the Denver collection, and I've met Maggie Thompson a few times. She told me about accumulating the books with her husband, but I guess neither of those stories hit me like this one. I'll stick with the one pedigree.

Yes, Tony, it was a typo, but you are right, an appropriate one.

Thank you all for all the information and the work it takes to do such detailed research and type it out.

This board is an unbelievable source of information.  Thanks to everyone for contributing their knowledge here.  I've learned  so much from just scanning through this thread!

 

It really is amazing how history becomes lost (or revisionist, at times) even today.  Some parts of American history are beautifully triumphant, and noble.  Other parts equally incredible, but much darker and uglier.  I'm glad some people still take the time to learn about the less pleasant end of our historical spectrum.  It really is eye-opening as to the levels humans will stoop to in order to accomplish their goals, no matter the cost to others.

 

Sharon, I know you say your Okajima's are in a safe place, but are you able to share some of the gems you've attained?

[Foley]

@miraclemet Many thanks for taking the time to reply in such depth, I really appreciate it. It is both a sad and beautiful story, and it's no wonder your passion for the topic comes across in your words. I look forward to reading the remainder of the thread (didn't get through it all last night) and also the one linked by @jpepx78 Threads like these, that are the result of countless hours of research and dedication are why I love the boards. To be the beneficiary of someone else's labor of love is truly appreciated. Thanks to all that have contributed. 

[Straw-Man]

show that shadow, sha'---just crop off the top.

Edited March 23, 2017 by Straw-Man

[skypinkblu]

  I am pretty sure I've posted these two first two, but they are all I have scanned @entalmighty1. 

[skypinkblu]

@Straw-Man Actually billy, it was in a pile of books I'm sending to cgc, this one to be reslabbed so I could show it. Thank you again ...billy sold me my first "camp" book, there is a lot of competition out there. I haven't focused all that much on really bidding on them, but I may have to;)