> Did American comics of the 1930s / 40s give away, or sell, toys and other > objects related to the comic?
There were lots and lots of Superman-related toys beginning in the early '40s but I don't think many of them were sold through the comics. What was in the comics was the Supermen of America (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermen_of_America#Historical_Supermen) club from the '40s through the early '60s, membership in which got you a pin button picturing Superman from the waist up (drawn by Wayne Boring (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Boring), I think); a membership card with a pledge of conduct on it; some kind of decoder for a letter-substitution cypher.
There may have been a Batmen of America or similar club, but memory is fuzzy on that.
Marvel had the Merry Marvel Marching Society in the mid- to late '60s, from which you got the usual membership card (no conduct pledge, though), members-only newsletters, and a flexible plastic record with Stan Lee introducing you to all of Marvel's other creative talent of the time, each with an alliterative adjective applied to their name, with a few words from each person plus a couple of songs. ("You belong, you belong, you belong, you belong to the Merry Marvel Marching Society! March along, march along, march along to the song of the Merry Marvel Marching Society!")
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2009-05-06 03:47 pm (UTC)> Did American comics of the 1930s / 40s give away, or sell, toys and other
> objects related to the comic?
There were lots and lots of Superman-related toys beginning in the early '40s but I don't think many of them were sold through the comics. What was in the comics was the Supermen of America (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermen_of_America#Historical_Supermen) club from the '40s through the early '60s, membership in which got you a pin button picturing Superman from the waist up (drawn by Wayne Boring (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Boring), I think); a membership card with a pledge of conduct on it; some kind of decoder for a letter-substitution cypher.
There may have been a Batmen of America or similar club, but memory is fuzzy on that.
Marvel had the Merry Marvel Marching Society in the mid- to late '60s, from which you got the usual membership card (no conduct pledge, though), members-only newsletters, and a flexible plastic record with Stan Lee introducing you to all of Marvel's other creative talent of the time, each with an alliterative adjective applied to their name, with a few words from each person plus a couple of songs. ("You belong, you belong, you belong, you belong to the Merry Marvel Marching Society! March along, march along, march along to the song of the Merry Marvel Marching Society!")
Does this help?