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BY JOHN WRIGHT
Reading Pete Harris in PD 432 I was reminded yet again that perhaps things aren't that much different in various parts of the free world. It's with some reluctance that I write this, for I don't especially enjoy people who pounce upon an opportunity to top a good story. And I'm not sure that this does, But ...for what it's worth...
During the years of WWII comic books stopped entering South Africa, Then suddenly, towards the close of the war, there they were--back on the stands, Only to our dismay we discovered that they contained fewer pages, art styles had changed, old favourites were missing from certain well-remembered titles -and most irritating at the time, was the discovery of Archie hogging the covers of Pep Comics, Worse, these books were selling for 1/6 (roughly 30 cents each), or three times as much as we had previously paid. But we shelled out, even though money was almighty tight.
Came a Saturday morning around 1945, and on the way to a double-feature, I stopped in at The American Mail Company--just another retailer of books and magazines--to see how many new comics I couldn't afford. Well, how do you describe a kid's reaction at finding a virtual mountain of old comics piled upon the floor, with none priced above fourpence (about 6 cents) each? Titles ranged from All-Star to Popular to Big Shot to America's Greatest, and all were in almost mint condition, ‘It transpired that these books were being bought by the pound in the U.S, and shipped across as ballast, I don't know how many shipments were made in this fashion, but it went on for quite some time.
To solve the financial problem, along with other kids, I sold empty bottles, old newspapers, ran errands--anything to make a buck, You see, there were few duplicates in those piles, Now at that time our friends in the Chinese community lived under very strict parental law, This meant that although most always had money, they had no time at all to spend it. With the exception of Saturday afternoons, all free time was spent behind the counters of their parents’ shops, One such friend suggested a lending library, and in no time at all we were renting comics out at 10 cents a night, All the money made was used to buy extra stock,
At this time, Saturday mornings would see hordes of kids outside the movie houses, waiting for the box office to open. Somebody decided it would be a good idea to exchange comics during these long waits, and soon we were part of the scene, Comics were traded at the rate of two for one and often five for one. (I once traded Jackpot No, 1 for 54 other titles, s'help me.) We also bought comics we knew our "customers" wanted to read, and it was not uncommon to pay 10/or a pound (then about $2 to $4) for a good copy of say,
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 CAPTAIN GEORGE'S PENNY DREADFUL, a weekly review established in 1968, ispublished by the Vast Whizzbang Organization at Memory Lane, 594 Markham Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada,