Mail-Order Mysteries: Real Stuff from Old Comic Book Ads! by Kirk Demarais
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
If you’ve spent any time at all in your life with comics, get ready for some nostalgia. Mail-Order Mysteries presents original comic book ads alongside photos of what actually arrived in the mail, accompanied by some clever descriptions of what the purchaser imagined and what the manufacturers sent.
The opening and closing essays are insightful about why kids (and grown-ups) were motivated to buy this stuff, and how and why times have changed.
I clearly remember various relatives with subscriptions to Grit, and I’m pretty sure I was once the proud owner of a brood of “Sea-Monkeys.” Mail-Order Mysteries made me think about these oddities and others that hadn’t crossed my mind in a long time.
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I don’t think I ever did this. The only comics I read were Archie, and I’m sure these ads existed, but I had a severe lack of patience when I wanted something and probably would not have been able to wait for my sea monkeys!
I still like Archie comics! (This book includes the venerable Archie Club offer.) “Betty or Veronica?” is the ultimate unanswerable question. Take a look at your classes tomorrow. Pretty much every class has an Archie, Jughead, Ethel, Moose, Reggie, Betty, and Veronica.
Those Sea-Monkeys were delivered within six weeks of ordering, as promised–and then they were dead within about six days.
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