Show Us Your Ducks! 15 15

[AJD]

I'm a bit suspicious of those 'Dell file copies'. I have other Dells that are file copies, and are clearly marked as such by a large rubber stamp:

But others are designated as file copies but have no distinguishing marks at all as far as I can see. Here's one I own, cracked out. It's a nice copy, for sure, but I'm not convinced it ever lived in Mr Delacorte's filing system.

Edited April 17 by AJD
Fixed spelling of Delacorte

[Hepcat]

Dells from the early 1940's to mid-1962 nevertheless seem to be far more common than other comics from the same years.

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

I don't know if the file copy story was ever written down but there were rumors of them going back to shows in New York in the late seventies. I think there are many sources for these (Racine, Poughkeepsie, New York, Random House); so other than the stamped Racine copies I don't know how it is determined they are file copies. Here is the old Racine office by the way back in the early 2000's.

Edited April 15 by 50YrsCollctngCmcs

[Hepcat]

On 4/15/2024 at 2:07 PM, 50YrsCollctngCmcs said:

I don't know if the file copy story was ever written down but there were rumors of them going back to shows in New York in the late seventies.

Who are "them"? The file copies or certain individuals connected to Dell?

On 4/15/2024 at 2:07 PM, 50YrsCollctngCmcs said:

I think there are many sources for these (Racine, Poughkeepsie, New York, Random House)....

I have some of the Random House "File" copies. But how were any of these outfits associated with Dell or Western Printing?

Edited April 15 by Hepcat

[AJD]

On 4/16/2024 at 2:14 AM, Hepcat said:

Dells from the early 1940's to mid-1962 nevertheless seem to be far more common than other comics from the same years.

They sold more in the first place. No mystery there.

[Transplant]

On 4/6/2024 at 10:27 PM, tth2 said:

On 4/6/2024 at 6:25 PM, Bigphatpaulie said:

Some Recent Duck Sales from Heritage:

Four Color #386:  https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/cartoon-character/four-color-386-uncle-scrooge-dell-1952-cgc-nm-92-white-pages/a/7369-93082.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Archive-ThisAuction-120115

This was shockingly low.  I don't know if it was the writing on the cover that put people off or what, but the consignor must've been pretty disappointed.

I agree, very low.  If I was looking for a high grade copy, that writing is fairly distracting and I would guess was a contributing factor.  It sold at basically 25-50% off other 9.2s in the last 2 years.  Compared to other recent 9.4s, it's a whopping 65-75% discount.  9.2s are not overly abundant in the census (top graded is 9.6) so I view it as a bad auction and not a market indicator.  

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

On 4/15/2024 at 12:39 PM, Hepcat said:

Who are "them"? The file copies or certain individuals connected to Dell?

I have some of the Random House "File" copies. But how were any of these outfits associated with Dell or Western Printing?

I think a Google search might reveal some information on Random House. Also, if you want to read about Western / Dell / Gold Key I'd recommend Mark Evanier's blog. I don't recall where I read it but the story of George Delacorte (Dell) and Helen Meyer his right hand woman is quite interesting. As I was verifying Mr. Delacorte's name I just noticed Helen Meyer passed away in 2003 at the age of 95. There is a nice obituary in the NY Times but you need a subscription.

Edited April 17 by 50YrsCollctngCmcs

[Hepcat]

On 4/16/2024 at 11:03 PM, 50YrsCollctngCmcs said:

I think a Google search might reveal some information on Random House.

The first thing that comes to mind is dictionaries. I have one. I see that Random House though eventually acquired Dell's remaining assets:

In 2001, Random House purchased Golden Books' book publishing properties effectively reuniting the remnants of Dell and Western Publishing.

Edited April 17 by Hepcat

[Bigphatpaulie]

I have a question.  Four Color #16 is considered the "First Mickey Mouse in Comics"

What about Donald Duck?  I never found a definitive answer:

There's Four Color #4 which is his first appearance in an American Standard Comic Book, but that's a cover and the book are reprinted comic strips, and I think Four Color #9 was the first original story devoted to him. Then there are the appearances before that. The Oversized Comic of him, that Yellow Linen Cover Book, Mickey Mouse Weekly which was his first original story, and finally there's Mickey Mouse Adventures #1 from 1931.  It has a duck named 'Donald' but he looks quite different, like a prototype. 

I personally lean towards FC #4 as the general first app but wanted to throw the line here and see what you all think

Edited April 24 by Bigphatpaulie

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

I had reason to be on the Walt Disney Studios lot yesterday and went over to see if I could snap a picture of the Carl Barks Legends plaque. I found it fairly quickly and snapped my photo. I wanted to look for Walt Kelly but I am not sure if he was ever given a plaque or not. I know I have seen Kay Kamen (KK Publications) before but did not see it on this trip. Enjoy!

[sfcityduck]

On 4/15/2024 at 12:39 PM, Hepcat said:

Who are "them"? The file copies or certain individuals connected to Dell?

 

I remember a lot of discussion of the Poughkeepsie file copies back in the late 70s early 80s. Especially in the Barks Collector and the dealer who published that fanzine's own sales lists. The story was that they were owned by a former employee. I think it was presumed he just took the issues home as they published them or stole them out of the offices. Supposedly they were sold to various dealers. Another story is he died in 1980, and his wife and daughter sold the last 1,600 he had to Fishler who brought them to market in 2003 as Poughkeepsie copies. Presumably, Fishler knew who the original source was to have pulled that deal off.

The Random House archive was sold by Heritage in 2005. They were warehoused for many years. Whether you want to call those "file copies" or "warehouse copies" - they were uncirculated copies that never left the publisher. This contrasts with copies held by someone like Crowley which were gathered for his personal records or enjoyment and not retained by the publisher at all. To me, a "file copy" should have been saved by the publisher - whether warehoused or "filed" (whatever that means) - things like the Gaines copies and the Random House archives and a number of books called Harvey file copies were were clearly kept by the publisher I think.  The copies that were used in the production process, like the Racine and some of the Poughkeepsie, were also clearly kept by the publisher given the "file" stamps. The copies kept by employees may be a different thing. But we call them all file copies - and I'm ok with that as long as we attach the name of the employee to them. 

Edited April 26 by sfcityduck

[sfcityduck]

On 4/15/2024 at 12:39 PM, Hepcat said:

 

I have some of the Random House "File" copies. But how were any of these outfits associated with Dell or Western Printing?

I think you now know this, but for everyone else per Wikipedia:

Dell was acquired by Doubleday in 1976.^[29] Doubleday was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1986, who formed Bantam Doubleday Dell as its US subsidiary.^[30] Bertelsmann acquired Random House in 1998 and renamed its US business after the acquisition.^[31] After the merger, Bantam was merged with Dell Publishing.^[32] In 2001, Random House purchased Golden Books' book publishing properties^[33] effectively reuniting the remnants of Dell and Western Publishing. Bantam Dell became part of the Random House publishing group in 2008.^[34] Ballantine Books was merged with Bantam Dell in 2010.^[35] In 2013, Random House merged with Penguin to form Penguin Random House.^[36]

[sfcityduck]

This one's brand new to my collection. Dates to 1944. It is the GI Roundtable Education Manual 2:

Back cover:

Anyone have one?  Been looking for a nice copy and snagged this off of eBay. There's a more expensive one in worse shape on eBay if anyone wants this esoteric but cool bit of Disney WWII work.

[Badger]

On 4/29/2024 at 9:53 PM, sfcityduck said:

This one's brand new to my collection. Dates to 1944. It is the GI Roundtable Education Manual 2:

Back cover:

Anyone have one?  Been looking for a nice copy and snagged this off of eBay. There's a more expensive one in worse shape on eBay if anyone wants this esoteric but cool bit of Disney WWII work.

Is it text or art inside? Looks pretty cool!

[sfcityduck]

On 4/30/2024 at 7:28 AM, Badger said:

Is it text or art inside? Looks pretty cool!

It's illustrated text. Some Duck illustrations but other which are not. A couple grabs from a copy on eBay:

There were multiple WWII editions - 2 by the War Department, 3 by the American Historical Association, 1 by the Armed Forces Institute - and I have no idea what they all look like or which came when. Here's some examples of differences, but don't know what is what:

 

 

 

[Badger]

Those are pretty amazing. Seems like it should be required reading for everybody anymore.

[sfcityduck]

On 4/23/2024 at 7:32 PM, Bigphatpaulie said:

I have a question.  Four Color #16 is considered the "First Mickey Mouse in Comics"

What about Donald Duck?  I never found a definitive answer:

 

The first animated cartoon appearance of Donald Duck, the character we all know and love, was in "The Wise Little Hen," a Silly Symphony, which supposedly debuted on June 9, 1934 (a date that Disney uses as Donald's Birthday) but really opened on June 7, 1934 with a benefit preview occurring on May 3, 1934. 

While there was a the 1931 book with a character called Donald Duck, that wasn't THE Donald Duck. Instead, the first appearance of Donald Duck, the character we love, in print was in the Good Housekeeping magazine Silly Symphonies cartoon page for "The Wise Little Hen" in the June 1934 issue which hit the stands even before the appearance of the cartoon.

[sfcityduck]

So there is something interesting I forgot to mention about this thing:

When Heritage sold the only copy they have had pass through their doors, their listing stated:

Offered here is a unique Walt Disney produced G. I. guidebook expounding on the evils of propaganda. Donald Duck appears on the cover ... and Tojo, Mussolini, and Hitler make appearances. The book measures 5" x 7.5". A scarce Disney book from the World War II era. We're betting that you wont find many books with both Donald and Hitler together! Not listed in Overstreet. From the John McLaughlin Collection.

Thing is, Heritage betted wrong! To go with the above, I just picked this up off of eBay as well (nicest I've seen - hence my desire to get the set):

I think they'll make a nice and ironic set on the wall of my office.

The irony of "What is Propaganda?" booklet is that Disney was doing more propaganda during WWII than just about anyone else, including Donald Duck cartoons of which this sheet music is from, and the booklet itself had healthy doses of anti-Fascist Germany propaganda (which I am personally very ok with).

[Badger]

On 5/1/2024 at 7:56 PM, sfcityduck said:

So there is something interesting I forgot to mention about this thing:

When Heritage sold the only copy they have had pass through their doors, their listing stated:

Offered here is a unique Walt Disney produced G. I. guidebook expounding on the evils of propaganda. Donald Duck appears on the cover ... and Tojo, Mussolini, and Hitler make appearances. The book measures 5" x 7.5". A scarce Disney book from the World War II era. We're betting that you wont find many books with both Donald and Hitler together! Not listed in Overstreet. From the John McLaughlin Collection.

Thing is, Heritage betted wrong! To go with the above, I just picked this up off of eBay as well (nicest I've seen - hence my desire to get the set):

I think they'll make a nice and ironic set on the wall of my office.

The irony of "What is Propaganda?" booklet is that Disney was doing more propaganda during WWII than just about anyone else, including Donald Duck cartoons of which this sheet music is from, and the booklet itself had healthy doses of anti-Fascist Germany propaganda (which I am personally very ok with).

Always loved this!  Make sure you frame them together because if they are just sitting free in the wind people will want to flip through them. I know I would!

 

[tth2]

On 5/2/2024 at 8:56 AM, sfcityduck said:

The irony of "What is Propaganda?" booklet is that Disney was doing more propaganda during WWII than just about anyone else, including Donald Duck cartoons of which this sheet music is from, and the booklet itself had healthy doses of anti-Fascist Germany propaganda (which I am personally very ok with).

It's only propaganda if you're on the losing side.  As the saying goes, history is written by the victors.