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That stuff they sold in comic books
Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 7:08 am
by Sangersteve
I too always wondered how X-Ray Specs worked.
Amazing! Incredible! Unbelievable! Eyeglasses that let you see through clothes. The secrets to super-human strength. Scary seven-foot tall ghosts that do your bidding. All of this could be yours for a dollar or two. At least, that’s what vintage comic-book ads would have you believe. Six years ago, artist and historian Kirk Demarais, who runs the brilliant Gen X nostalgia site, Secret Fun Spot, became determined to uncover the truth behind these comic-book ads published between the 1950s and late ’80s. Last fall, he published “Mail-Order Mysteries,” a book that reveals what you really got when you ordered any one of 150 supposed marvels.
“Harold von Braunhut, who pushed X-Ray Spex and Sea-Monkeys, was the guru of comic-book mail order.”
Demarais, who is 39, became fascinated with mail-order comic novelities as a kid in small-town Siloam Springs, Arkansas, where he’s lived most of his life. The impact these ads had on his imagination is spelled out in his 2004 short film, “Flip,” about a boy who dreams of the wonderful life such $1 products could bring him. The film led to his dream job: redesigning the S.S. Adams novelty company’s catalog and writing a 2006 book on the gag-maker’s 100-year history called “Life of the Party.”
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/sea-monkeys-and-x-ray-spex/
Re: That stuff they sold in comic books
Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 7:26 am
by millergrovesue
Brings back so many memories. I did fall for the Sea Monkeys. What a disappointment.
Re: That stuff they sold in comic books
Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 11:05 am
by Kiamichi
I'm surprised that at 39 he is old enough to remember all that.
Re: That stuff they sold in comic books
Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 11:13 am
by millergrovesue
Kiamichi wrote:I'm surprised that at 39 he is old enough to remember all that.
I wondered about that too. I would have assumed that most of those ads disappeared in the mid 60s.
Re: That stuff they sold in comic books
Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 4:48 pm
by glenn/dallas
The ads for the body builder Charles Atlas are what I remember the most. Had a picture of a very skinny guy having sand kicked on him or something like that.
Re: That stuff they sold in comic books
Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 8:11 pm
by Fitzroy
I remember really wanting the x-ray specs to be real.
Re: That stuff they sold in comic books
Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:29 am
by millergrovesue
glenn/dallas wrote:The ads for the body builder Charles Atlas are what I remember the most. Had a picture of a very skinny guy having sand kicked on him or something like that.
The guy's website shows at least 1 of those cartoons. Pretty funny to contemplate someone young enough to be reading comic books being worried about muscles and girls.
Re: That stuff they sold in comic books
Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:36 pm
by bodine
I always wanted the submarine....
Re: That stuff they sold in comic books
Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2015 7:50 am
by millergrovesue
bodine wrote:I always wanted the submarine....
Did ya look at his website? The submarine was nothing but a painted cardboard box. Look at the disappointment you were saved from by not getting one.
Re: That stuff they sold in comic books
Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2015 8:25 am
by bodine
millergrovesue wrote:bodine wrote:I always wanted the submarine....
Did ya look at his website? The submarine was nothing but a painted cardboard box. Look at the disappointment you were saved from by not getting one.
Very true. I can remember several instances as kids when we acquired big cardboard appliance boxes that became space ships, battleships, submarines, and/or tanks. Who knew we were saving $6.98 plus $0.75 shipping?