BangZoom Posted April 6, 2009 Author Share Posted April 6, 2009 The Bunco Book was one of the first books authored by Walter Gibson. The book on the left was self-published by Gibson in 1927. The book on the right was a 1946 edition published by magician Sidney Radner. Radner was a close friend of Harry Houdini's brother, Hardeen, and owned one of the world's biggest and most valuable collections of Houdini artifacts. From Wikipedia: Walter Brown Gibson (September 12, 1897-December 6, 1985) was an American author and a professional magician best known for his work on The Shadow. Gibson, under the pen-name Maxwell Grant, wrote Shadow stories at an amazing rate to satisfy public demand during the character's golden age in the 1930s and 1940s. The Shadow Gibson wrote the first Shadow story in 1931, creating a character around the narrator of the Detective Stories radio drama. He was very prolific, writing 282 out of 325 Shadow novels, at a top rate of two novels per month. He would also -script the Shadow comic book and comic strip. Gibson is recognized as the creator of much of The Shadow's mythos, although his tales frequently conflict with the better-known radio version. For example, Gibson's Shadow is, in reality, Kent Allard, an aviator who sometimes posed as playboy Lamont Cranston. On the radio, The Shadow really is Cranston, a "wealthy young man about town." Similarly, Shadow companion Margo Lane arose not from the pulps but from the radio program; she was added to offer a contrasting female voice. In 1941, Gibson grudgingly added Margo Lane to the pulp novel stories and even hinted at a power of invisibility. Magic, non-fiction, and other works Gibson wrote more than 100 books on magic, psychic phenomena, true crime, mysteries, rope knots, yoga, hypnotism, and games. He served as ghost-writer for books on magic and/or spiritualism by Harry Houdini, Howard Thurston, Harry Blackstone, and Joseph Dunninger. Gibson also introduced the famous "Chinese linking rings" trick in America, and invented the "Nickels To Dimes" trick that is still sold in magic stores to this day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 And one of my favorite actors was also included in the scrap book. My mother-in-law didn't get the picture of Boris. She only got an autograph. But she said he was a very nice man and a good tipper. bb Nice collection of autographs your mother-in-law assembled. What was her employment that enabled her to have access to the various personalities? My mother-in-law was a waitress at the Hotel Durant in Flint, MI. Apparently even famous people appreciated their morning coffee. She was a nice person, hard working and tough as nails. Unfortunately, she also smoked two packs per day. bb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted April 6, 2009 Author Share Posted April 6, 2009 This is another of Gibson's works. 1930 It'll come in handy if I need to seek a new trade... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted April 6, 2009 Author Share Posted April 6, 2009 Sword Swallowing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted April 6, 2009 Author Share Posted April 6, 2009 Fire Eating Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted April 6, 2009 Author Share Posted April 6, 2009 Automatic Chess Player Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamstrange Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 Sword Swallowing Great stuff. I had heard of Gibson's involvement with magic and how suitable that made him for the writer's Shadow work. It's very interesting to see both the books and pulps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 (edited) Blackstone was featured in Super-Magician which also had Red Dragon stories. The two issues that I looked at in the S box had magic tricks by Blackstone (ghosted by Gibson?) and a couple of stories. Red Dragon was drawn by John Meditz and Blackstone was by James Hammon according to the WhosWho. And both strips were signed by the artists. Jack Farr also did a back up strip, Blitz-Busters, in some of the issues. Edited April 6, 2009 by BB-Gun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 This is another of Gibson's works. 1930 It'll come in handy if I need to seek a new trade... Maybe you need a copy of the Experimenter so you can design a crystal ball. It might come in handy when working at your new job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted April 7, 2009 Author Share Posted April 7, 2009 Maybe you need a copy of the Experimenter so you can design a crystal ball. It might come in handy when working at your new job. Especially since it's not just an ordinary crystal ball, it's one of those new fangled Electro-Mystic Crystal Globes. (thumbs u Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted April 7, 2009 Author Share Posted April 7, 2009 What year did Schomburg start doing covers for The Experimenter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 (edited) What year did Schomburg start doing covers for The Experimenter? He started with the Nov 1925 issue. The one above is the first and he did another a few months later in 1926, which was incorrectly identified in the Comic Book Marketplace article as his first. I think that article was also published in the Advanced Collector series. bb The magic of Tesla coils, electricity and radio. With radio we had fireside chats and stories which reminds you of the way cavemen must have passed on traditions but on a more national stage. Edited April 7, 2009 by BB-Gun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 Schomburg's anniversary cover Sorry, I show that pair as often as possible. bb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 (edited) And one of my favorite actors was also included in the scrap book. My mother-in-law didn't get the picture of Boris. She only got an autograph. But she said he was a very nice man and a good tipper. bb Boris was also featured in the comics. He was Mr. Wong in this strip printed in Popular. He also did guest appearances in Frankenstein. In case you wondered, Mr. Wright plays third base for the Mets. bb Edited April 7, 2009 by BB-Gun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted April 7, 2009 Author Share Posted April 7, 2009 Boris was also featured in the comics. He was Mr. Wong in this strip printed in Popular. Great looking strip. I think Jim Gary was the artist. Here are some additional examples of Gary's artwork. "Jim Gary's War Pictures" from Red Ryder #3 Red Ryder #4 cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamstrange Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 And one of my favorite actors was also included in the scrap book. My mother-in-law didn't get the picture of Boris. She only got an autograph. But she said he was a very nice man and a good tipper. bb Boris was also featured in the comics. He was Mr. Wong in this strip printed in Popular. He also did guest apearances in Frankenstein. In case you wondered, Mr. Wright plays third base for the Mets. bb That's a very handsomely staged page! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 (edited) [ I think Jim Gary was the artist. Here are some additional examples of Gary's artwork. Red Ryder #4 cover. Is that a Spitfire with a Rolls Royce engine? They used the same engine in the Mustang at the end of the war according to the history channel. bb Edited April 8, 2009 by BB-Gun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrooge Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 Here's another table I don't believe I've posted yet. Surveying boys and girls in 7th an 8th grade in 1941 / 1942, the authors of this study in The Journal of Educational Psychology discovered the students' comic strip preference. Surprisingly to modern eyes, Smiling Jack was VERY popular. The other popular strips have remained at the forefront of people's memories while Smiling Jack is only a distant memory and mostly forgotten today. What's also funny is how when the questionnaire was put together, the authors ignored some of the strong female lead strips that girls really liked: Scarlet O'Neil and Brenda Starr. Thankfully girls wrote them in. Fortunately, I was able to acquire issues 1 - 17 of the Smiling Jack Fanzine that reprinted the strip (Dailies and Sundays) in the mid-'90's and had finally the chance yesterday to start reading them. In the next post, I'll show a short sequence from 1938. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrooge Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 Quite a situation Jack finds himself in. In the line of duty, he has to arrest his girlfriend's brother who also happens to be married to his (Jack's) sister. He was smuggling dope via plane over the Mexican border (topical, ain't it ) I really like the daily where Jack looks up to the sky in anguish after the fatal accident. Dixie in the next sequence ends up marrying another man while Jack stands in as best man. The other man is a doctor who "repaired" Jack's scar (on his left cheek and that's why you only see Jack's right profile so as not to show his scar in the sequence I am posting). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrooge Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Here's the result of the same questionnaire but this time about comic books. You'll notice the absence of ANY books by Timely and the dominance of DC. Even if Timely titles were omitted from the questionnaire, kids didn't put them in. Instead they preferred Wings which explains why it is one of the more common Fiction House books. Oh, and Girls like Superman while Boys like Batman. Nothing changes it seems as that's what I still notice to this day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
