Comic storage supplies - when did long boxes first appear?

[comicwiz]

Guys, a topic came up in a Facebook thread that piqued my interest. The main talking points can be found in this blog.

 

It seems from the comments in that thread, they point to the Bookie Joint (Jim Kovacs, Canton, Ohio) and John Ruffner (Crack Comics, Chicago) as the first people to sell/market comic long boxes.

 

My memory is not as sharp as it once was, but I remember seeing old comic convention photos from the early to mid 70's where dealers had long boxes. I also remember some conventions in my parts in the late 70's with dealers that had them at their tables.

 

The other idea I had was to research old guides (Overstreet or CBM), but I stored them away recently as I've slowly begun to organize and make more space to move stuff in and out of storage. It seems from the blog comments, that Jim Kovacs may have been putting ads in the CBM around the time he was selling them.

 

I know we have many different versions of them in the present day, but does anyone have an idea when comic boxes (long or short) first started to appear in the comic hobby? Does anyone recall any ads in the Overstreet guides, and when did they first begin to appear? I seem to recall seeing them around the early to mid-80's, but cannot verify.

 

Interestingly, while looking for some old convention photos, I found this one from SDCC (circa 1973) showing some generic boxes being used:

 

[Artboy99]

I love the photo!

SDCC has certainly changed since then.

[CatskillMike]

I first had some in 1977. Don't remember from where though. Maybe Robert Bell where I used to get my poly bags.

[comicwiz]

I first had some in 1977. Don't remember from where though. Maybe Robert Bell where I used to get my poly bags.

 

Thanks! That's a name I hadn't thought about, and he did invent the comic bag, so that's a possibility. Here's an image I found online of a price list circa 1969. Does mention bags, but no boxes yet:

 

[rodan57]

Guys, a topic came up in a Facebook thread that piqued my interest. The main talking points can be found in this blog.

 

Thanks for the link. I've started to read other entries by Kleefeld. He's a very good writer.

[rjpb]

I'm pretty sure I was buying them around 1974, and probably saw them a little earlier. At some point I went from double rowed in generic boxes to stackable single row boxes with tops before I stopped collecting for a while, as I was already setting up at local cons in '72. I think short boxes came later.

[shadroch]

Interesting question. I honestly can't recall when I bought my first boxes. Can't even remember where I bought them from. For some reason, I'm thinking I got them from Friendly Franks, which would have been around 76 or 77, but not sure. I am certain I was using them in 1979. Had them before I had backing boards.

[jools&jim]

 

I first had some in 1977. Don't remember from where though. Maybe Robert Bell where I used to get my poly bags.

'77 - '78 for me, too. I remember getting one or two boxes (with lids) at The Comic Store in Lancaster, PA, which was then located in the basement farmer's market at the Park City Mall.

 

They weren't like today's boxes: each one came with a wide strip of reinforced paper tape which you had to moisten before applying it to one of the vertical seams on the box. It was a pain and it looked ugly, but it was A LOT better than keeping my comics in a desk drawer...

 

 

 

 

[rjpb]

I first had some in 1977. Don't remember from where though. Maybe Robert Bell where I used to get my poly bags.

'77 - '78 for me, too. I remember getting one or two boxes (with lids) at The Comic Store in Lancaster, PA, which was then located in the basement farmer's market at the Park City Mall.

 

They weren't like today's boxes: each one came with a wide strip of reinforced paper tape which you had to moisten before applying it to one of the vertical seams on the box. It was a pain and it looked ugly, but it was A LOT better than keeping my comics in a desk drawer...

 

 

 

 

I remember that! Also the tops tended not to fit that snugly as I recall. maybe I did buy them later than I remember, as everyone else seems to recall '77 or later.

[Bill1]

Mu 1973 Overstreet has an ad from Comic Supplies Co in Boston Mass that says:

"Available Soon

Comic Size Protective File Boxes"

[shadroch]

Jim Sterenkos company offered small comic boxes in the early to mid 1970s. They were closer to the traditional magazine type folders than long boxes.

A forumite offered some for sale a while back. I bought two. They display nice but don't hold books that are boarded.

[comicwiz]

Mu 1973 Overstreet has an ad from Comic Supplies Co in Boston Mass that says:

"Available Soon

Comic Size Protective File Boxes"

 

That's cool. Any chance you can get a photo or scan of that ad? If not, a page number and I'll try to track it down at some point.

[Bill1]

 

 

 

[Bill1]

[comicwiz]

Nice! Thanks for the photos (thumbs u

[shadroch]

File boxes are not long boxes. I think Sterenko called his file boxes, as well.

[comicwiz]

From what I've been able to tell from the reading I've done, it seems the idea of "filing" comics into a box migrated over from sports card collecting. In fact one of the versions I've read is that Jim Kovacs (the guy credited for having made the first comic long box) got the idea from a carton manufacturer who had been making them for sports cards.

 

Because of this, I'm leaning more to the term "file" being used as a way to store comics upright, rather than the stack/pile method which was used prior (and can also be seen in that early SDCC photo I shared in the first post), rather than being derivative of a box type which is known to be used for accounting and record-keeping.

[Bill1]

I know my oldest long boxes are much heavier and thicker than any I have bought in the last 15 years. They yellow more, but are easily twice as thick and much stronger around the handles and lid. I think I got them in the early 80's.

[comicwiz]

Yes, they are also considerably wider too (the ones I have, I can put the GA Mylar in with no problem). The only ones I have left are from my original owner collection, and a handful from collections I've acquired over the years. The majority of the newer made long boxes are too narrow to put anything other than bronze-age sized polybags.

[shadroch]

A typical magazine type file box held about a year's worth of the publication. Sterenko early comic boxes only held about 25 comics, fewer if you put in Annuals. They still pop up on eBay from time to time.A large lot of flat, undistributed boxes turned up a few years back. There were several different types.Most of the ones I've seen feature renditions of Marvel characters. They would have been useless for dealers trying to display books at a show.