Oldest comic found with distribution ink???

[Timely]

I just graded an old comic book with distro ink on it and I was thinking...what's the oldest comic found with distribution ink? Any thoughts or guesses as to when the practice first started?

 

West

[Silver Surfer]

What era was it from, the 50's?

[RareHighGrade]

West, can you post a scan that shows an example of what you are talking about?

[Timely]

I found many from the 1950's but just found one today from June of 1946, by far the earliest I've come across.

 

West

 

ps. Distro ink is the paint that is sprayed on the top and/or bottom edge of the pages and cover.

[Aman619]

...so that the comics cannot be resold after returned to the distrib

[Harvey Dude]

I found many from the 1950's but just found one today from June of 1946, by far the earliest I've come across.

 

West

 

ps. Distro ink is the paint that is sprayed on the top and/or bottom edge of the pages and cover.

 

This is slightly but I was wondering if it was common to put ink on returned comics and how many have survived? I have thousands of books but I only recollect the distribution ink on my Flash Annual #1. You can see the three lines near the TLC.

 

[divad]

...so that the comics cannot be resold after returned to the distrib

 

That's not right You've got your stories mixed up

 

There were a number of different practices for identifying books returned to the distributor, to prevent subsequent resale. This usually involved some cutting or marking of the front covers.

 

On the other hand, the distributor ink that you see on the edges of books is simply the writing by the distributor, or sub-distributor, of information relating to the distribution of the comics when they were in stacks. Comics, like magazines, were banded in stacks of say 30 to 50 copies, uusually with some blank newsprint on either end. Many distributors would just write the info on the top newsprint sheet, but others, due to stacking of the bundles, would label the bundles, by writing on the edges of the stacked comics. For example, one bundle of 50 books might be going to "Terry Drugs" for sale, so the distributor would write the name of the store or it's code on the edge face of the bundle. That way these bundles could be stacked in a truck and still read without unstacking until you reached the retail destination.

 

[divad]

[Red Hook]

Here's a question....what's the oldest arrival date ever found stamped on a comic?

[Timely]

Many Mile Highs have arrival dates as early as 1937, however the earliest I've seen is cover dated July 1936. That book is New Comics #6 and it's pictured in the Photo Journal, 6/5/1936

 

West

[ft88]

Find the oldest comic you can and some distro ink. Cover with newspaper and include an opening. Spray on paint. Oldest in existance - scream in on ebay.

 

Ed

[Red Hook]

Many Mile Highs have arrival dates as early as 1937, however the earliest I've seen is cover dated July 1936. That book is New Comics #6 and it's pictured in the Photo Journal, 6/5/1936

 

West

 

Thanks West.