The Distribution of US Published Comics in the UK (1959~1982) 15 15

[Malacoda]

On 12/22/2023 at 7:04 PM, themagicrobot said:

By Miracle Man No 3 they had reduced the price of Classics Illustrated in the adverts (and presumably at the shops) to 1/-

This advert has been posted in the forum before. Seen in Miracle Man 11 so this issue must be published after May 1965.

 

The page with the records is very cool.  Firstly, whoever wrote the wikipedia entry for T&P is under the impression that the head office moved from Oadby to Cricklewood in London in 1959, which I am very sure it didn't, but I think this was the London office for Top Sellers, which, along with Brown Watson was by far the longest surviving T&P imprint, so you could see why it would be identified as the head office.  Also worth noting that when T&P went bankrupt in 1966, it was the record distribution part of the business that went bankrupt and whose creditors had the company declared insolvent.  That's how Rothschild's were able to float the comic distribution business under one of the existing subsidiaries and sell it to IND.  

 

 

[Malacoda]

On 12/22/2023 at 7:09 PM, Yorick said:

ONLY Love books!! 

 

Is this reprinting the Young Romance title that Kirby & Simon created for Crestwood? 

[Malacoda]

On 12/22/2023 at 7:34 PM, themagicrobot said:

As this comic advertises a 1974 calendar so I guess it must date from the second half of 1973.

Also of note, the address is given as Wardour St.  This the Warner HQ because T&P has been rolled into Warner Communications by this point. 

[Malacoda]

On 12/22/2023 at 7:36 PM, themagicrobot said:

Is this written by anyone currently frequenting the CGC Boards??

https://g1rm.wordpress.com/2023/05/23/a-short-history-of-newsagents-and-how-you-bought-your-american-comics-from-them/

Not sure how much he frequents, but there's loads of great posts on Glenn's website.  I've tried to establish contact with him a few times without success. I think his health is not the best these days.  His stuff about Neptune Distribution is wonderful (though as I recall, it's as much about heroic drinking as distribution). 

[Redshade]

On 12/23/2023 at 1:56 AM, Malacoda said:

Is this reprinting the Young Romance title that Kirby & Simon created for Crestwood? 

Pardon me for the interruption but would this page from GCD be of any help?

 

Edited December 23, 2023 by Redshade

[Redshade]

On 12/23/2023 at 2:04 AM, Redshade said:

Pardon me for the interruption but would this page from GCD be of any help?

 

[Malacoda]

On 12/22/2023 at 10:20 PM, baggsey said:

Further to my post above, I'll do the full 111 phone book entries and document in a spreadsheet with addresses as rows and years in columns. Watch this space.

Cool. I've been developing a list of all the warehouses / depots / offices for a while now.  I've never managed to find any in Scotland, so if you find any up there, I'd be fascinated.  I suspect they just had a deal with a Scottish national distributor. Thanks for this. 

[baggsey]

On 12/22/2023 at 7:48 PM, Malacoda said:

Firstly, whoever wrote the wikipedia entry for T&P is under the impression that the head office moved from Oadby to Cricklewood in London in 1959, which I am very sure it didn't,

From my analysis of 171 phone books, Oadby was the head office starting in 1949.  Then Cedar Ave, Enfield is listed as Nat Distributor in 1963, as is the Blyth Road, Hayes office. The Melton Rd, Thurmaston offices are listed as the main "National Distributors" office in 1965, at which point 19 Upper Brook Street is listed as Publisher.

Cricklewood is first listed as a T&P "Publishers and Distributors" in 1966 for one year . 

[Malacoda]

On 12/23/2023 at 2:08 AM, Redshade said:

Well, indeed, so it seems Young Romance was not reprinting Crestwood's Young Romance, but Timely/Atlas's Stories of romance.  Also, I'm not sure what that kiss led to, but that young lady appears to now be wearing a different colour dress. 

[Malacoda]

On 12/23/2023 at 2:23 AM, baggsey said:

From my analysis of 171 phone books

 

[baggsey]

On 12/22/2023 at 8:19 PM, Malacoda said:

I've never managed to find any in Scotland, so if you find any up there, I'd be fascinated.  I suspect they just had a deal with a Scottish national distributor. Thanks for this. 

Here's the addresses for Scotland:

26 Hamilton Place, Edinburgh (listed in 1962,63,64,and 1965)   and then subsequently in 1968 as "National Distributor"  (whether Scotland or UK it does not say)

36 Farmeloan Road, Rutherglen (listed in 1963 and 1964 only).

Overall I've identified 47 locations.

[baggsey]

On 12/22/2023 at 8:31 PM, Malacoda said:

 

Happy to help where I can.   Most of the UK phone books until the 1980s are on Ancestry so its just a case of finding the right page and then peering myopically at the scanned text.  I could look for Top Sellers if it would help.

[Malacoda]

On 12/23/2023 at 2:31 AM, baggsey said:

26 Hamilton Place, Edinburgh (listed in 1962,63,64,and 1965)   and then subsequently in 1968 as "National Distributor"  (whether Scotland or UK it does not say)

No freaking way.  I've walked past that a zillion times. It's a wine bar and deli now.  So if I could turn back time, instead of looking at salami slices, I'd be looking at a box of AF 15's?  Damn.  Jenkins......ready my tardis! 

[Malacoda]

On 12/23/2023 at 2:33 AM, baggsey said:

 I could look for Top Sellers if it would help.

Yes please.  I have no idea if it will help with anything, but my experience is you have no idea what you're looking for until you find it.  

The Rutherglen address is interesting.  My suspicion was always that T&P just delivered to a national distributor, e.g. whoever distributed the Scotsman, but the Rutherglen address is small town south of (later a suburb of) Glasgow, which sounds exactly like the sort of place a T&P rep would be located. 

[Malacoda]

On 12/23/2023 at 2:23 AM, baggsey said:

Cricklewood is first listed as a T&P "Publishers and Distributors" in 1966 for one year . 

No surprise there. With the official receiver ensconced in Thurmaston, I would imagine they were diverting anything they could to other premises to avoid it falling into the hands of official receiver.  Wouldn't it be hilarious if after all these years of speculation, it turned out that oblong stamp was just the London branch of T&P? 

(The correct answer is no, it wouldn't be hilarious, by the way).  

 

[baggsey]

I've now developed a spreadsheet listing the appearances of Thorpe & Porter in BT/GPO Phone books in the UK from 1947 to 1978. It's a bit rough and ready, but I find it interesting to see the explosion of growth in distribution hubs in the early 1960s. Sometimes the address changes within an area (look at various Bristol locations and a Weston-Super-Mare point)  or how the Eastleigh location moves around before settling at Botley, mid-way to serve the Southampton/Portsmouth conurbation.  And there is even a distribution point in Torquay!

I've no idea how to attach it to this post. PM me if anyone interested in a copy.

[Yorick]

On 12/22/2023 at 5:56 PM, Malacoda said:

Is this reprinting the Young Romance title that Kirby & Simon created for Crestwood? 

Stories of Romance #10 ("Marvel"/Atlas - 1956)

Thanks Redshade!

Edited December 23, 2023 by Yorick
Sorry. AGAIN I should read to the end before replying.

[Malacoda]

Just randomly, as I will surely forget,  on the subject of not trusting wikipedia on T&P, it asserts (in 2 different places) that although Pembertons published and printed the UK reprint of Forbidden Worlds 1, it was distributed by T&P.  This is weird as Pembertons owned World Distributors and were far more a distributor than a publisher. 

According to the indicia of this pulp, it was indeed distributed by World, not T&P.  

 

Apparently,  Thomas D. Clareson, "Fantastic Novels", in Tymn & Ashley, Science Fiction, Fantasy and Weird Fiction Magazines, pp. 241–244 is the source of this info.   Does anyone have a copy of this book?  I'd be interested to know what this actually says on these pages but also if this book has other useful info.  

Many thanks.  

[themagicrobot]

There were 14 T&P/Top Sellers Super DC comics (and one Annual) in 1969/1970. I bought the first six issues new at the time but never saw any later issues in my friendly neighbourhood newsagents. I had to wait until the Interweb was invented to complete the set. They weren't the sorts of things you saw at Comic Marts in the 1970s. If I had advertised my desire to acquire them (or any Alan Class books or similar) no doubt I would have been escorted off the premises. How times have changed. It is the more obscure local stuff that is now finally found to be interesting. The Super DC comics with their odd covers were slightly larger than regular DCs, comprised of 40 pages and had Black and White interiors but still cost 1/-. It's odd to see this one re-cycled and sent out again with a 5p sticker. Never seen one stickered before. The address for letters was High Holborn House and the address for Top Sellers at that time was Great Portland Street.

Here is another image of the famous back covers.

 

 

[Redshade]

On 12/23/2023 at 7:10 PM, themagicrobot said:

There were 14 T&P/Top Sellers Super DC comics (and one Annual) in 1969/1970. I bought the first six issues new at the time but never saw any later issues in my friendly neighbourhood newsagents. I had to wait until the Interweb was invented to complete the set. They weren't the sorts of things you saw at Comic Marts in the 1970s. If I had advertised my desire to acquire them (or any Alan Class books or similar) no doubt I would have been escorted off the premises. How times have changed. It is the more obscure local stuff that is now finally found to be interesting. The Super DC comics with their odd covers were slightly larger than regular DCs, comprised of 40 pages and had Black and White interiors but still cost 1/-. It's odd to see this one re-cycled and sent out again with a 5p sticker. Never seen one stickered before. The address for letters was High Holborn House and the address for Top Sellers at that time was Great Portland Street.

 

 

Here is another image of the famous back covers.

 

 

I remember this comic coming out at a time when I was giving up comics to buy records so I never bought it though I've seen the odd copy floating around. I don't think that the advertised World's Finest and Superman titles ever appeared but please correct me if I'm wrong.
The cartoon strip must have been UK produced filler because I haven't heard the word "pelf" since ah worra lad int sixties.