The Elusive, Weird World of Pulp Premiums 0

[Robot Man]

No surprise to many of you that in addition to pulps and comics (and lots of other things), I am a serious collector of all those little things that were offered inside to intice reader loyal ship. All you usually had to do was send in a dime or so and in a few weeks you were an exculsive member of a select group of fans.

Comic Books probably beat Pulps by a very slight margin to this. But, unlike comics, pulps were aimed more at adults rather than children. These people were probably a little less likely so bother sending in a dime to be a club member.

I am always on the hunt within the forgotton pages of pulps and comics for these little "secret societies". Once you know about them comes the ardous task of actually finding them. This is the most rewarding part. There aren't  whole lot of them which is good but most were lost to time and can be difficult to obtain at any cost.

I'll work into this. Today I will post some of my Street and Smith premiums. They were, by far, the publisher that offered the most stuff...

[Robot Man]

Nick Carter Club. I have two of these badges. They came in pin on and screw back for a lapel. These are both the pin on type. I don't know how many were issued. Obviously at least 859 of them. I really like 46. Earliest one I have seen of the handfull I've been lucky enough to encounter. Not sure what the letter meant before the number.

Cool little badges and made of heavy metal.

[Robot Man]

The 1941 Shadow Blue Coal Glow in the Dark Ring. Heavy plastic or bakealite with a piece of blue coal on the top. Ring base glows eerily blue in the dark. This one still works well. Although not rare, it is an iconic Shadow piece.

There is also a ring which I no longer have known as the Carey Salt Ring. Same principal but instead of a nice detailed Shadow on the sides, it has a crockadial on each side with s simple black oval "stone" on the top. These were made for Buck Rogers (red stone) and Jack Armstrong (green stone) A little scarcer than the blue Coal ring.

The bottom picture is the Buck Rogers one. Just imagine the stone was black and not red...

[Robot Man]

The Shadow membership Kit in original envelope. Cool, heavy badge. Also came with a pin and a screw back. Originally came pinned to the Shadow logo on the bottom left corner. Also, in this picture but not included when sent for is a Blue Coal sticker. Great colors and nice image of him.

[detective35]

Here is very tiny sample of my vintage Shadow collection.  I do have non-shadow premiums as well.  I’ll list most of the Shadow items under the Shadow pulps & vintage collectables thread, as they are not true premiums (advertising signs etc.).
 

Edited July 14, 2020 by detective35DF

[Robot Man]

The Shadow mail away Blue Coal Premium picture. He looks so scary!

Reminds me a little of this 1937 Pulp which as a great metalic silver ink background.

[Robot Man]

Here is another cool rarity...

The Doc Savage rubber stamp!

[Robot Man]

I'll back off for a while and let Detective35 dazzle us with some cool stuff I know he has. Also, I know BitterOldMan has a nice premium I know he is very proud of...

[Robot Man]

Ooops, one more Street and Smith premium for you western guys.

The Pete Rice badge...

[detective35]

I have The Shadow, Doc Savage, and Nick Carter stampers.

This is one of a few rooms in the house with vintage Shadow collectibles (Only thing not vintage is a little painting at the bottom of the Cape and the banner in the background that had to be put somewhere as they were both given to me).

 

Edited July 12, 2020 by detective35DF

[Sarg]

What? No black slouch hat?

[detective35]

28 minutes ago, Sarg said:

What? No black slouch hat?

At the bottom of the case on the right.  It came with the 1939-40 Shadow Christmas Toy promotion - “Shadow Hat and Cape”.

Edited July 12, 2020 by detective35DF

[BitterOldMan]

2 hours ago, Robot Man said:

I'll back off for a while and let Detective35 dazzle us with some cool stuff I know he has. Also, I know BitterOldMan has a nice premium I know he is very proud of...

I only have the Doc Savage pin compliments of Robot Man.  I have met Robot Man in person, and found him to be even cooler in the flesh than his forum persona, if that is possible.

 

[Robot Man]

2 hours ago, detective35 said:

I have The Shadow, Doc Savage, and Nick Carter stampers.

This is one of a few rooms in the house with vintage Shadow collectibles (Only thing not vintage is a little painting at the bottom of the Cape and the banner in the background that had to be put somewhere as they were both given to me).

 

Love that clock. Having a decent collection of old advertising stuff, that would be a keeper!

[Robot Man]

Here is another cool oddity. No, not an authorized Shadow piece but a cool vintage WWII "homage" piece...

[detective35]

I will post this one sign.  Because they are really not premiums, I will keep them on the Shadow pulps and rare collectibles thread.

This is the only known example and one of my favourite Shadow Advertising Signs.  I have 18 vintage Shadow advertising signs from the 1930s and 40s.  

This advertising sign image was used on the back cover of Martin Grams extensive and outstanding book on The History of The Shadow Radio Show.

This is large 16”x 24” silkscreen Sign (circa. 1837-38).  Blue Coal sponsored “The Shadow” radio shows during this season and many others

*Remember most of the standard window card signs were 11 1/2” x 14 1/2”.*
 

Dwight

 

Edited July 13, 2020 by detective35DF

[Robot Man]

[Robot Man]

Love this one. Had the badge. The card was a gift from a friend!

[Robot Man]

[Robot Man]

Super Tough Range Romances "Trails End" Club pin.