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Tracking down the Original Owner
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100 posts in this topic

On 6/17/2020 at 9:15 PM, GreatCaesarsGhost said:

March 31st, the day I started this thread, was the day I heard back from him.  Here is a copy of what I received:

 

Yes, That's Me  
Tue, Mar 31, 2020 8:35 am
Bruce Lehr (lehrrb@fastmail.com)To:you Details
Hello Clark:
 
Yes, I'm the guy.  25 years ago I sold my childhood collection of comic books to a comic book store in Harrisburg, PA.  As a kid, I stamped my name on them because all "the gang" shared comic books with each other and many got lost.  Unfortunately, when I sold them, I was told that they were defaced by doing that and it diminished the value.  As a result, I didn't realize the price I had hoped for.  Live and learn, I guess, but I wasn't thinking of ever parting with them back then.  I also sold my collection of Big Little Books at the time.  Believe it or not, Somerton back then, was a rural "village" tucked away in the northwest corner of the northeast part of Philadelphia County.
 
Regards,
Bruce
 
 

Another Bruce Lehr book hits the market!

https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?ItemID=57140852

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You guys have some books with unusual names, which makes it easier. I think I'd be hard pressed to track down this guy. I bought the book about 35 years ago at a local convention, so there's a good chance he was from southeast Michigan. If anyone wants to take a crack at it, be my guest.

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I might be able to track down these kids since I have their address:

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Edited by jimbo_7071
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On 11/12/2022 at 10:14 PM, Telegan said:

 

This is my first post on these forums, I think, but I've been reading posts on here for a few years on and off.  This thread moved me a bit and caused me to respond because I love seeing people's names or pictures from the past and wondering who they were, what they did, what became of them, etc.  I hope I didn't go overboard or overstep, but all this information is open to the public.

From digging around, my guess is the Phillips boys on there probably refer to "Dwayne R. Phillips" and "Ray S. Phillips" who were 9 and 4 back in the 1940 census and lived at that address.  That would put Ray's birth year around 1935 or 1936.  A Ray Samuel Phillips born in 1936 who died in 1970 after serving as a Lieutenant in the Navy is buried in Denver, Co.  My guess is that this is him.  As for Dwayne, there are yearbook pictures of him on Ancestry.com.  He was in the Latin Club, the Spanish Club and was an associate editor on the yearbook staff at Randell School.  It looks like Dwayne got on a boat and left for Rotterdam, Holland at the age of 19 apparently for 2 months, but that's where the trail ended for me - no idea what became of him after that ... :)

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That's great information! It's too bad that Ray died so young if that's him (and it probably is).

The comic was from 1945, so Dwayne would have been a bit old for it. That might be why it survived in such good shape. (I'm surprised it made it through the U.S. mail as an 8.5—and a tightly graded 8.5 at that.)

"Dwayne's ambition is to be a dentist (no doubt because he can delight in making people suffer)." Some things never change.

Unfortunately, most of the times when I've been unable to find a record that a person is living, and I've also been unable to find a death record, it has meant that the person died many years ago (oftentimes even before the SSA's master file was created in 1962), but hopefully Dwayne is the exception.

Edited by jimbo_7071
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On 11/12/2022 at 10:28 PM, jimbo_7071 said:

That's great information! It's too bad that Ray died so young if that's him (and it probably is).

The comic was from 1945, so Dwayne would have been a bit old for it. That might be why it survived in such good shape. (I'm surprised it made it through the U.S. mail as an 8.5—and a tightly graded 8.5 at that.)

"Dwayne's ambition is to be a dentist (no doubt because he can delight in making people suffer)." Some things never change.

Unfortunately, most of the times when I've been unable to find a record that a person is living, and I've also been unable to find a death record, it has meant that the person died many years ago (oftentimes even before the SSA's master file was created in 1962), but hopefully Dwayne is the exception.

 

Lol at the dentist comment.  During my search, I found out his father was a dentist, as well.  It seems Dwayne left on a boat to Rotterdam (USNS General C. C. Ballou) - a military vessel on June 27, 1950.  The Korean War started on June 25, 1950 and the US officially entered it on June 27, 1950 (the date he set off).  From looking at the manifest of the ship he left on, it was filled with a lot of 20'ish year olds.  I don't know if it had anything to do with the war, but someone with more knowledge would be able to come to a better conclusion.  I haven't been able to find his whereabouts since then.  His brother Ray did die young, and his tombstone does mention he served in the Vietnam War.  It seemed like he left the military in the 60's, but I'm unsure.  So I'm also unsure how he passed away (Vietnam War, the well-documented after-effects of that war, or some other way).  I think his daughter may still be alive, though.

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On 11/13/2022 at 4:21 AM, Telegan said:

 

Lol at the dentist comment.  During my search, I found out his father was a dentist, as well.  It seems Dwayne left on a boat to Rotterdam (USNS General C. C. Ballou) - a military vessel on June 27, 1950.  The Korean War started on June 25, 1950 and the US officially entered it on June 27, 1950 (the date he set off).  From looking at the manifest of the ship he left on, it was filled with a lot of 20'ish year olds.  I don't know if it had anything to do with the war, but someone with more knowledge would be able to come to a better conclusion.  I haven't been able to find his whereabouts since then.  His brother Ray did die young, and his tombstone does mention he served in the Vietnam War.  It seemed like he left the military in the 60's, but I'm unsure.  So I'm also unsure how he passed away (Vietnam War, the well-documented after-effects of that war, or some other way).  I think his daughter may still be alive, though.

It looks like the parents were Ray M. Phillips (b. 1897 or 1898) and Emma R. Phillps (b. 1900 or 1901). I saw one possible death Record for Ray (but the name is too common to be sure), but nothing at all for Emma. I thought that if either parent had survived into the internet era, there might be an online obituary that mentioned Dwayne. It seems like he just "poofed" after 1950—so I guess he died, moved overseas, or went into the CIA  lol.

Edited by jimbo_7071
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This book and many more, owned by someone whose name appears to be Karen Prizler, was brought into my local comic shop several years ago by an apparent heir.  I don't know if she lived in AZ or not.  I've tried to hunt down the name, but she may have passed on under a married name.  Maybe some of you sleuths can come up with something...(shrug)

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On 11/14/2022 at 6:06 PM, Tri-ColorBrian said:

This book and many more, owned by someone whose name appears to be Karen Prizler, was brought into my local comic shop several years ago by an apparent heir.  I don't know if she lived in AZ or not.  I've tried to hunt down the name, but she may have passed on under a married name.  Maybe some of you sleuths can come up with something...(shrug)

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This is somewhat vague, yet not so vague.  First - I could've stared at that last name for a week and not come up with that it was "Prizler".  Did they tell you that was the name or do I just suck at this?  lol.  I don't want to post too many details because it may end up being the wrong person since I can't tie it to her definitively, but a person by that maiden name passed away in Arizona back in 2019.  She was born around 1940.  The comic book is from 1952 from what I can tell, so it could be her, but tying signatures to a comic book's date can lead to wrong results.  I can post a pic of her from an old newspaper/wedding announcement, but I don't feel comfortable doing it without knowing it really is her.

I was just thinking about it, and it's kind of sad, but a lot of these signatures are of people who are probably in their 70's, 80's, or recently-deceased since a lot of these comics are probably from the 40's or 50's.

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On 11/13/2022 at 8:20 AM, jimbo_7071 said:

It looks like the parents were Ray M. Phillips (b. 1897 or 1898) and Emma R. Phillps (b. 1900 or 1901). I saw one possible death Record for Ray (but the name is too common to be sure), but nothing at all for Emma. I thought that if either parent had survived into the internet era, there might be an online obituary that mentioned Dwayne. It seems like he just "poofed" after 1950—so I guess he died, moved overseas, or went into the CIA  lol.

Yeah, no kidding.  That's intriguing.  I did find out Ray was a chemist and died at his home (according to his obituary).

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On 11/15/2022 at 12:19 AM, Telegan said:

This is somewhat vague, yet not so vague.  First - I could've stared at that last name for a week and not come up with that it was "Prizler".  Did they tell you that was the name or do I just suck at this?  lol.  I don't want to post too many details because it may end up being the wrong person since I can't tie it to her definitively, but a person by that maiden name passed away in Arizona back in 2019.  She was born around 1940.  The comic book is from 1952 from what I can tell, so it could be her, but tying signatures to a comic book's date can lead to wrong results.  I can post a pic of her from an old newspaper/wedding announcement, but I don't feel comfortable doing it without knowing it really is her.

I was just thinking about it, and it's kind of sad, but a lot of these signatures are of people who are probably in their 70's, 80's, or recently-deceased since a lot of these comics are probably from the 40's or 50's.

That's cool.  To be able to accurately read the name you need to look at all my Karen Prizler comics and compare them.  I am 99% sure that is her name.  The fact that a person with that name passed away in Arizona in 2019 lends more credence to who owned the books.  If you'd like to send me a link to your source in a PM I'd love to see it.  I was unable to find anyone with that name, but I didn't try real hard either.  :foryou:

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