Some comics ephemera - postcards

Bought at the last Civitan flea market in Arlington, these were donated to the Library of Congress for the Prints and Photos division this week.

 

RCA Radio and TV Tubes 3 F-44

I can't quite make out the actual meaning of the message on the reverse.

 

Looking with Luke ink blotter from Yellow Pages

Strange that the horses don't kick!

RCA Tubes 3 F-47

 

 

Secret History of Comics - Ephemera Finds in TN

 One of the things I like to do is wander around antique stores and junk shops. Here's some stuff I found in Tennessee last month.

This is a Herblock cover caricaturing Art Buchwald for Newsweek that I didn't know existed, so I was quite surprised by it.

This appears to be an advertising card for Union Pacific Tea from the latter half of the nineteenth century. It's being donated to the Library of Congress soon.

This matchbook looked like a New Yorker cartoonist to me so I reached out to historian/cartoonist Michael Maslin:

Maslin wrote back, "Not all of the faces, but a few (figs a&b), look like Steig's early work. The fellow extreme lower right most especially (fig. a) . But I'm not confident enough to say it is Steig's work."

fig. a

fig. b

Beetle Bailey original comic strip 9/13/1993. 

Note that the dealer thought it was a print, and not the original, and priced it accordingly.

A Buck Rogers post-production mini-poster by Dave Perillo that's being donated to Library of Congress.

Three British digest-sized comic books that will be donated to the Library of Congress comic book collection. The cover photos have been added to the Grand Comics Database already.

WorldCat doesn't list any copies in the United States, and almost none worldwide. When Randy Scott was at Michigan State's comic book collection, I would feed material such as this to them.

Love Story Picture Library #1259

Star Love Stories #591

Love Story Picture Library #1254

World War II cartoon postcards are easy to find, but the antique mall was waiting 

on me to close so I felt compelled to buy something.

Note the dental drill, for graphic medicine fans.

Pea Soup ephemera (UPDATED)

 

Here's a couple of post cards I bought a few weeks ago in Arlington's Civitan flea market, with a nice gag cartoon about making pea soup. The pea soup empire grew well - it still exists!

And here's Pea Soup Andesen's website since I'm posting their cartoon.Their website says about the cartoon: "In the early thirties a cartoon appeared in the old "Judge" magazine. It was one of a series by the famous cartoonist Forbell, under the heading of "Little Known Occupations." The cartoon showed the little known occupation of splitting peas for pea soup, with two comic chefs standing at a chopping table, one holding a huge chisel, splitting peas singly as they came down a chute."

More information on Charles Forbell can be found in Biographical Sketches of Cartoonists & Illustrators in the Swann Collection of the Library of Congress.

The return of Comic Postcards

Found some more comic postcards at a flea market this weekend.


Here's a Walt Munson. Munson was mentioned last time I did this, but with a bit of poking around I discover he was a successful sports cartoonist after he did postcards with collections of originals at Syracuse and Wichita. Also at Wichita are some Clifford Berryman originals as well as other cartoonists.


Dave Breger did a cartoon while in the Army during World War II, just like Bill Mauldin, but his Pvt. Breger was never as popular as Willie and Joe. After the war, his cartoon Dave Breger got out of the service too. Personally I'd like to see a collection of these strips.


When I read this card, I thought it was quite possibly the raunchiest comic postcard ever seen.



I've no idea who Faber was. Asking around, I got several opinions - women say they don't get it. Men say they can't believe this postcard went through the mail. The mild interpretation - the man is basically complaining about seeing something like a repeat on television. The raunchy - he's saying he had nestled in between a pair of those legs last night and left his seed. Oddly enough, both women asked where the upper bodies of the chorus line were.


Poster Coaster postcard #010 by WEG (William Ellis Green) the Australian sports cartoonist who died in 2008. I found 7 of the series of ten, and you can see the rest on my Flckr site.


Poster Coaster postcard #008. The card is a type of blotting paper.

Three comic postcards

I found three comic postcards of interest over the weekend. We saw another postcard from this series last year -


Oysters Rockefeller postcard by Canadian cartoonist Jeff for the Hilton of Canada in the 1960s. Anybody know anything about Jeff? I find it a little weird that I've found two of these cartoons in DC.

We also saw another one from this 1907 4th of July / Independence Day series by Gene Carr-


British cartoonist Tom Browne's "Joys of the Ocean" postcard is new though. I'm not sure what the sailor's words mean.


The British National Archives apparently had an exhibit that included some of these postcards.

Cartoon postcard in new Medical Museum collection

Postcard sent by Luther B. Otken, a World War 1 surgeon in the American Expeditionary Forces, stationed in France. This collection of WW1 correspondence was donated to the National Museum of Health & Medicine last month.

A couple of postcards

I had a truncated look at some paper ephemera while at the Farmer's Market this weekend and bought two postcards.



The first is by Gene Carr, who did various comic strips, as well as postcards. This one is 4th of July.



The second is Ain't My Flag A Beaut! postcard, a caricature of Old Man Winter or Jack Frost holding an American flag based on Robert Peary's trip to the North Pole in 1909.


Click through either one to see a larger version.

Comic postcards

For some reason, comic postcards generate even less interest among comic art fans than greeting card cartoonists, who, like Sandra Boynton demonstrated conclusively recently by winning a National Cartoonists Society award, at least may break out to a larger audience.

Here's a selection of postcards I picked up at a flea market this weekend. Some are barely worthy of the 25 cents I paid for each, but they are a part of the history of comics.

This one says it's from C.T. Busy Person's Comics - 10 Subjects. The CT is the company Curt Teich of Chicago. Unfortunately I don't know who the artist is.



This gag is by G.A. Devery or GAD, no. 59 in his "Fun Cards by GAD" series, from 1956.



A 1963 advertising card from the Hilton Hotels International's Queen Elizabeth in Montreal. The card is from The Beaver Club restaurant. The cartoon is "Specialty dishes from the Beaver Club Menus as seen by the Montreal artist Jeff."



Walt Munson signed a few of the cards I saw - for some reason I picked up this one which isn't very interesting. The back says it's in "Series M Army Comics - 10 Subjects" and it's postmarked 1942. Munson's name seems to ring a bell...



This unattractive stereotypical card 's lacking any information, but it was mailed in 1957 from Tampa, FL to Dickerson, Md.


The prevalence of MAD's Alfred E. Neumann images has never really interested me, but here's three for Craig Yoe.


1960 postmark from Colourpicture Publishers, Boston. Mad and Alfred E. are well-established by this point, so the publisher's probably jumping on the bandwagon.

Same card, different coloring. Postmark appears to be 1964.



Bob Petley of Phoenix, Arizona drew and published this card, circa 1963.

John Held Jr. postcard

I ran across this postcard left where it was piled waiting to be filed. So just for fun, here's John Held Jr's late style on an advertising card.

Jason Rodriguez interviewed by The Pulse

Arlington's own comic writer and editor Jason Rodriguez is featured in a new online interview - "For Your Consideration: Postcards: True Stories that Never Happened," By Chris Beckett, Comicon's The Pulse May 8 2008.

...my life would be easier if you guys would just email me about these things... really, not all self-promotion is a bad thing...

Postcards review

Andrew Wheeler reviews Postcards in "GRAPHIC NOVEL REVIEW: Postcards edited by Jason Rodriguez" at Comicmix. Postcards was put together by DC's Jason Rodriguez.

Jason Rodriguez interviewed by Newsarama

Local comics writer Jason Rodriguez is interviewed about his next project after Postcards. See "LIFE AFTER POSTCARDS: CATCHING UP WITH JASON RODRIGUEZ" by Zack Smith, Newsarama October 1, 2007.

cIndy podcasts updates

Since I last posted, Chris has added a bunch of cartoonist interview podcasts to his site http://www.cindycenter.com/ - the link's permanently on the right over there.

September 5th, 2007
Colin Panetta, X-Heroes creator

X-Heroes creator, Colin Panetta joins us here at cIndyCenter.com and talks about his work. He also talks about SUNY New Paltz and the wonders of the Utica Zoo. Listen to the interview with Colin Panetta.

August 29th, 2007
Tom Pinchuk, Writer on Alterna's Ruin

Tom is currently attending Boston University, Tom Pinchuk has lived in Singapore, upstate New York and Chicagoland. In addition to RUIN and the short story "What I Am" in ALTERNA COMICS #1, he is writing HYBRID BASTARDS! for Archaia Studio Press. Listen to the interview with Tom Pinchuk.

August 21st, 2007
Deserving an Honorable Mention... Tom Stillwell

Tom Stillwell was hooked with that first Superman comic book off the spinner rack at 7-11. Since then writing comics has been a lifelong dream. Honor Brigade is that dream come true. His comic influences are Marv Wolfman, Kurt Busiek, and Geoff Johns. Listen to him talk about Honor Bridade, Gail Simone, and his take on comics today, interview with Tom Stillwell.

August 14th, 2007
Interview with Chris Verene is an American fine arts, documentary photographer and performance artist.

Chris' work has been published in the NYTimes, and his work has been collected by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art ; The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; The Jewish Museum, New York; The Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago; The High Museum of Art, Atlanta; The Cheekwood Museum, Nashville. Listen to the classic interview with Chris Verene.

August 7th, 2007
Interview with Colleen Coover.
Of Montreal, said it best... "Everyday is like Sunday", Banana Sunday that is....
Everybody loves Colleen Coover... the Illustrator, and comic creator. Colleen talks about Banana Sunday, X-men, and Small Favors. Listen to the interview with Colleen Coover. Listen to her talk about her working style, secrets that she doesn't want to share with Editors, and hear her grill me about why I didn't go to SDCC

August 2nd, 2007
SDCC Report, from our favorite Deltiologist
Jason Rodriguez, editor and writer for Random House's [POSTCARD] Anthology. Listen to the interview with Jason Rodriguez. He talks about the Random House/Villard Panel, the signings, his postcard promotion, and meeting Frank Miller.


July 31st, 2007
ONI PRESS' "NORTHWEST PASSAGE" BY SCOTT CHANTLER
I am back from Canada and I thought this would be a perfect time to release the interview with Scott Chantler. He talks about Days Like this, Colbert, and NorthWest Passage. Listen to the interview with Scott Chantler

Comics Reporter's Postcards review

Tom Spurgeon bats the book around. Ouch. Sorry guys.

USA Today blurbs Postcards

I finally bought my copy at Big Planet this week, although I haven't even opened my (very large after 2 weeks off) bag of comics yet. In the meantime, USA Today gave Jason's book a few lines:

New graphic novels straight from the drawing board.
By Whitney Matheson and David Colton, USA TODAY (August 8, 2007)

Postcards review in Las Vegas Weekly

Did anyone make it to the signing at Olssen's last week? I need to stop up there and see if I can still pick up a signed copy...

Meanwhile, here's another review - "Marriage, madmen and monsters", Las Vegas Weekly July 26, 2007, by J. Caleb Mozzocco.

Postcards review in Los Angeles Times

Jason's publisher obviously sent out some serious amount of review copies of the book. "'Spent' by Joe Matt and 'Postcards,' edited by Jason Rodriguez: Blurring the line between reality and illusion" by David L. Ulin, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, July 24, 2007.

Recent cIndy Center podcasts

Local 'caster Chris Shields has kept the cartoonists coming in. Since last we checked, he's interviewed Dion Floyd of Immortal Kiss, Dean Trippe on MOCCA, Ape Entertainment's Cereal and Pajamas creators, and most relevant to us - the District's Jason Rodriguez on the new Postcards anthology. Click here to find these and other podcasts.

Postcards discussed in Hawaii

Remember Jason and others are signing later this month at Olssens. He talks to the paper in "New strip uses high school as metaphor," By Gary C.W. Chun, Honolulu Star-Bulletin Sunday, July 15, 2007.

Also, the Los Angeles Times has scheduled a review of it this week.

July 24: Jason Rodriguez - Postcards: True Stories That Never Happened

Jason Rodriguez - Postcards: True Stories That Never Happened
Tuesday, July 24, 2007 at 07:00 PM at Olsson's Books & Records-Dupont Circle, 1307 19th St. NW, (202) 785-1133

Jason Rodriguez, acclaimed editor of Elk's Run, collected a remarkable array antique postcards, dispersed them among thirty-three of comics' greatest creators, and asked each to craft a story about the person who sent it. The result is a vividly imagined, gorgeously rendered graphic anthology illustrating tales of romance, adventure, hardship, and mystery. In Postcards, these gifted artists share some of the richest and most inventive work of their careers. Artists from the book who are appearing with Jason Rodriguez include Matt Dembicki, Danielle Corsetto and Robert Tinnell. [tip thanks to both Randy T. and Chris Shields]

I've started reading a proof of this today, and it's good. Tom Beland has an absolutely lovely story in it. More to follow, but this is a great idea for a comic.