The story of a promise made during the Korean War 9 9

[Straw-Man]

On 3/10/2022 at 4:20 PM, path4play said:

CGC recognizes Cape Cod now?  Appreciate the heads up, I missed that somehow.

iirc, at the same time as new hampshire and eldon.   the other guy also recognizes "hap langlie" books, cgc hasn't gone there.

[sfcityduck]

On 3/10/2022 at 2:36 PM, path4play said:

If John Holby or Hobby lines up in the same location as one of Duck's leads (thread has gone so many directions I can't recall where his candidate lived) you might be on to something. 

Yep.  I immediately searched the 1940 census when I saw "John Hobby" on the CA 3, and a "John Hobby" lived only a block and a half from Louis Robert and Armand Mezzopera of Cleveland and even on the same side of the street. John and Armand were at most a year apart in age.  Not proof of anything, but suggestive that John Hobby traded or gave the book to Armand as the CA 3 came out in 1941.  That's why I edited the first post to put up a warning several hours ago.

The only other names on the books are (1) "Jean _" on the Batman 3 which could be "Jean H" and "John Hobby" had a sister "Jean" (but I'm not sure of that reading), (2) Stange, a last name, and there are Stange families in Cleveland, and (3) Armand.

The goal has always been to find the true owners and the true story, and that has not quite been nailed down yet.

Edited March 10, 2022 by sfcityduck

[Tri-Color Brian]

On 3/10/2022 at 1:54 PM, Robot Man said:

And not being able to “potentialize” them? Probably not.

The collection already has a story and name connected to it. What would they call it? The Trash Can collection? 

Reminds me of a pedigree I once tried to promote..."The Outhouse Collection".  Most of the books were unreadable and appeared to be covered with excrement ...

 

Edited March 10, 2022 by Tri-ColorBrian

[sfcityduck]

One other thought:  

The facts associated with the Mezzopera brothers appear consistent with Heritage's marketing story in one important respect.  I have been perplexed by the marketing story's assertion that the younger brother voluntarily enlisted in order to protect his older brother who was drafted.  Younger brother Armand's enlistment date was 5 January 1951.  He would have been 21, one week short of turning 22.  Older brother Louis Robert would have been 24 and a half years old when he entered the military, assuming his enlistment date was around the same date as Armand's, as Heritage has asserted.  Back then, the draft did favor older men.

The two brothers' respective draft cards reveal that older brother Louis Robert was quite small.  When Louis Robert registered for the draft on 7 August 1944, he was 5' 3" and weighed 110 lbs. 

In contrast, when younger brother Armand turned 18 and registered for the draft on 15 January 1947, Armand was a strapping 5' 7" and 170 lbs.  Both brothers probably worked in blue collar jobs (Louis at Columbia Rubber Mold Co. and Armand at Pepsi-Cola when they were respectively 18) and Armand undoubtedly gained size before entering the military for the Korean War some six years later.  Still, the discrepancy in their size suggests that the counter-intuitive notion that the younger brother was motivated to volunteer for the Army to "look after" his older brother is plausible .  It is plausible that Armand might have had a history of protecting his brother Louis Robert that carried over into his decision to volunteer for the Army when his brother was drafted.  Only the family would know.

Still, Armand Mezzopera died at 22.5 years of age, not 21 as Heritage has asserted.  So the stories don't perfectly align.  And, again, I've seen no evidence of a tie to comic books yet.  

Edited March 10, 2022 by sfcityduck

[bronze johnny]

On 3/10/2022 at 5:22 PM, path4play said:

Right!?  Now that all these sales and purchases are taxed, they need to be regulated too.

With you on taxes but auctions need greater transparency. Even casinos are regulated.

[adamstrange]

On 3/10/2022 at 5:59 PM, sfcityduck said:

Still, Armand Mezzopera died at 22.5 years of age, not 21 as Heritage has asserted.  So the stories don't perfectly align.  And, again, I've seen no evidence of a tie to comic books yet. 

If that's the only discrepancy, then I would favor the Mezzopera over the Dumas brothers.

Good detective work!

[tth2]

On 3/11/2022 at 3:30 AM, adamstrange said:

A friend of mine worked for a card grading company.  It got gradually worse until it seemed like grading another card was torture.

He lasted all of 3 days.

I could never do it.  I have no idea how to grade lower grade comics.  Once I see more than a few minor flaws, I just want to slap a 0.5 on it and move on.

[adamstrange]

On 3/10/2022 at 8:49 PM, tth2 said:

I could never do it.  I have no idea how to grade lower grade comics.  Once I see more than a few minor flaws, I just want to slap a 0.5 on it and move on.

Don't you have to take a shower after just touching a 9.2?

[tth2]

On 3/11/2022 at 10:00 AM, adamstrange said:

On 3/11/2022 at 9:49 AM, tth2 said:

I could never do it.  I have no idea how to grade lower grade comics.  Once I see more than a few minor flaws, I just want to slap a 0.5 on it and move on.

Don't you have to take a shower after just touching a 9.2?

I just assumed that everyone would be working in bunny suits (the semiconductor fab plant kind, not the kind worn by furries) if they have to handle lower grade comics.

[adamstrange]

On 3/10/2022 at 9:04 PM, tth2 said:

I just assumed that everyone would be working in bunny suits

I don't think I'd be comfortable in one and, depending on the co-worker, it could make for a distracting work environment.

[Robot Man]

On 3/10/2022 at 2:32 PM, path4play said:

No one remembers trading when your were a kid?  Geez, have we all gotten that old and jaded?

 

I remember the going rate was 3 Archie’s or Harvey’s for DC superheroes, 5 for Marvel. Nobody wanted Classics Illustrated…

MAD and Famous Monsters were one  for one. 

[EastEnd1]

On 3/10/2022 at 9:28 PM, Robot Man said:

I remember the going rate was 3 Archie’s or Harvey’s for DC superheroes, 5 for Marvel. Nobody wanted Classics Illustrated…

MAD and Famous Monsters were one  for one. 

I don't remember trading comics but I definitely remember flipping baseball cards and ruining all my old rookie cards!  Oh, and I did an even better job on them when I clothespinned them to the frame of my bicycle so they would flap against the spokes of the tire and make my bicycle sound like a motorcycle! 

[Robot Man]

On 3/10/2022 at 7:11 PM, szav said:

Thats cool ... my comic book youth was in the mid 80s and I don't actually remember trading being a thing.  We definitely sold comics back and forth to each other for what little cash we had though ... we were all little sharks.  I wonder if it's because the OPG was already at our disposal back then vs earlier era collectors not having something like that?

In my youth, there were no comic book stores or OPG. “Used comics” were cover price or less. Some titles were more prized than others thusly, to give up a Spider-Man or Batman, you had a big edge. 

[lou_fine]

On 3/10/2022 at 7:52 PM, Robot Man said:

In my youth, there were no comic book stores or OPG. “Used comics” were cover price or less. Some titles were more prized than others thusly, to give up a Spider-Man or Batman, you had a big edge. 

Yes, those were definitely the fun days as I still remember my brothers and I riding on our bikes across the city to the used bookstore looking for half price comic books at 5 cents a pop.    

I remember my older brother being into Westerns which was the big thing for him while my younger brother didn't seem to have a particular interest and hence didn't stick with the comics for that long.  I always wanted the super heroes and always looked for the early 10 cent DC's and Marvel #1's and I guess I was too late to the party as the only ones I could find were the later Marvel first issues like the Avengers, X-Men, & Daredevil.  If I remember correctly, I believe I started to read them around the time that FF 19 and Spidey 6 hit the newsstand.  What a dummy I was as I really should have focused on condition in terms of paying the full 12 cents cover price for a brand new copy of the latest Marvel book, instead of picking up rag tag used copies.  

As for "used comics" being sold at cover price of less, I guess this is probably why the Church family members must have thought they had found a live one to hose in terms of that no nothing hippie kid sleeping in the back of his vehicle who was willing to pay full cover price for that 20,000 load of old moldy used comics that they needed to get hauled away from their house.       

 

Edited March 11, 2022 by lou_fine

[Cat-Man_America]

On 3/10/2022 at 8:18 PM, adamstrange said:

I don't think I'd be comfortable in one and, depending on the co-worker, it could make for a distracting work environment.

Agreed, I don't think I'd be comfortable in a work environment where you were wearing a bunny suit. 

[comicnoir]

On 3/11/2022 at 12:28 AM, lou_fine said:

Yes, those were definitely the fun days as I still remember my brothers and I riding on our bikes across the city to the used bookstore looking for half price comic books at 5 cents a pop.    

I remember my older brother being into Westerns which was the big thing for him while my younger brother didn't seem to have a particular interest and hence didn't stick with the comics for that long.  I always wanted the super heroes and always looked for the early 10 cent DC's and Marvel #1's and I guess I was too late to the party as the only ones I could find were the later Marvel first issues like the Avengers, X-Men, & Daredevil.  If I remember correctly, I believe I started to read them around the time that FF 19 and Spidey 6 hit the newsstand.  What a dummy I was as I really should have focused on condition in terms of paying the full 12 cents cover price for a brand new copy of the latest Marvel book, instead of picking up rag tag used copies.  

As for "used comics" being sold at cover price of less, I guess this is probably why the Church family members must have thought they had found a live one to hose in terms of that no nothing hippie kid sleeping in the back of his vehicle who was willing to pay full cover price for that 20,000 load of old moldy used comics that they needed to get hauled away from their house.       

 

Didn't he bring the guide with him? Oh yeah, he left it in the car.

[path4play]

On 3/10/2022 at 8:11 PM, adamstrange said:

If that's the only discrepancy, then I would favor the Mezzopera over the Dumas brothers.

Good detective work!

I'm with Adam.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

On 3/10/2022 at 8:18 PM, adamstrange said:

I don't think I'd be comfortable in one and, depending on the co-worker, it could make for a distracting work environment.

FTFY

[path4play]

My 10th Promise Book.  First time I've noticed a date stamp.

[jimbo_7071]

On 3/10/2022 at 5:48 PM, sfcityduck said:

Yep.  I immediately searched the 1940 census when I saw "John Hobby" on the CA 3, and a "John Hobby" lived only a block and a half from Louis Robert and Armand Mezzopera of Cleveland and even on the same side of the street. John and Armand were at most a year apart in age.  Not proof of anything, but suggestive that John Hobby traded or gave the book to Armand as the CA 3 came out in 1941.  That's why I edited the first post to put up a warning several hours ago.

The only other names on the books are (1) "Jean _" on the Batman 3 which could be "Jean H" and "John Hobby" had a sister "Jean" (but I'm not sure of that reading), (2) Stange, a last name, and there are Stange families in Cleveland, and (3) Armand.

The goal has always been to find the true owners and the true story, and that has not quite been nailed down yet.

 

On 3/10/2022 at 5:59 PM, sfcityduck said:

One other thought:  

The facts associated with the Mezzopera brothers appear consistent with Heritage's marketing story in one important respect.  I have been perplexed by the marketing story's assertion that the younger brother voluntarily enlisted in order to protect his older brother who was drafted.  Younger brother Armand's enlistment date was 5 January 1951.  He would have been 21, one week short of turning 22.  Older brother Louis Robert would have been 24 and a half years old when he entered the military, assuming his enlistment date was around the same date as Armand's, as Heritage has asserted.  Back then, the draft did favor older men.

The two brothers' respective draft cards reveal that older brother Louis Robert was quite small.  When Louis Robert registered for the draft on 7 August 1944, he was 5' 3" and weighed 110 lbs. 

In contrast, when younger brother Armand turned 18 and registered for the draft on 15 January 1947, Armand was a strapping 5' 7" and 170 lbs.  Both brothers probably worked in blue collar jobs (Louis at Columbia Rubber Mold Co. and Armand at Pepsi-Cola when they were respectively 18) and Armand undoubtedly gained size before entering the military for the Korean War some six years later.  Still, the discrepancy in their size suggests that the counter-intuitive notion that the younger brother was motivated to volunteer for the Army to "look after" his older brother is plausible .  It is plausible that Armand might have had a history of protecting his brother Louis Robert that carried over into his decision to volunteer for the Army when his brother was drafted.  Only the family would know.

Still, Armand Mezzopera died at 22.5 years of age, not 21 as Heritage has asserted.  So the stories don't perfectly align.  And, again, I've seen no evidence of a tie to comic books yet.  

 

On 3/10/2022 at 8:11 PM, adamstrange said:

If that's the only discrepancy, then I would favor the Mezzopera over the Dumas brothers.

Good detective work!

I agree. It is likely that @sfcityduck has solved the mystery.

Were you able to find any photoraphs of Armand Mezzopera?

Louis Robert Mezzopera's obituary page has this image, which could show him and Armand (but might not).

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/mayfield-heights-oh/louis-mezzopera-9264060

Edited March 11, 2022 by jimbo_7071