Freedom!!!

To a boomer kid, the essence of freedom was simple- your bike. It could propel you away from the drudgery of chores, the morass of homework, the utter despair of your younger siblings.


You learned many valuable life lessons on your bike, such as never running over catch basin grills that are longer and wider than your tires, and that adults want you to get the #&@^# out of their way (a lesson today's kids seem to have not learned. Put them on the Wayback Machine and we'll show them drivers that make soccer moms seem courteous!)


There were lots of ways to customize your bike. Baskets and bells were mainly for girls, and a boy who had streamers running from the handlebars was sure to pedal his way to a group beating.

What would summer be without booze and projectile weapons?

"This should be easy since there are two targets!"

"The target is BEHIND you, baby..here , you need another beer."

Do ghosts need shuteye?

From the Golden Age run of comicbook mainstay THE SPECTRE, in MORE FUN #90 (65-70 years ago). Why does the omnipontent spiritual being ,who could probably whip Superman's butt, need to sack out in a fluffy bed?

from 1930

They paid back the municipal bonds in short order, seeing as how they charged 25 cents for a barf bag.

Comic Book Short Story- A Jet's No Pet

From G.I. Combat #62, July 1958
written byBob Haney
Nice artwork by Russ Heath

CLICK FOR FULL SIZE

Friends from across the lake

 by Haddon Sundblom ,1955
He is best  remembered for his advertising work, specifically the Santa Claus advertisements he painted for The Coca-Cola Company in the 1930s.

Dell educational page from Four Color #1234

Jack Lehti did this educational filler page (as well as the whole issue) of Dell's 1961 adaption of the movie THE PHANTOM PLANET which was a film that started off strong but quickly became silly.

click to enlarge

Dinosaur educational page, 1968

One of the last Gold Key info pages , from The Invaders #4, by Rex Maxon

Gold Key Informational Page

During the latter half of their work on the Dell Four Color Series and for the first few years of the Gold Key Imprint, Western Publishing often included a one page educational short (usually) related to whatever that particular issue was about.

From The Phantom, #3 May 1963

Art by Jack Sparling

Now You Too Can Wear A Tiki On A Thong!!

This ad from a 1962 comic tempts us with these HEATHEN IDOLS painted in BARBARIC COLORS.

Crikey, I want the whole set!

Death from Below Belt Level

Yeah, kids were tough back then. You know, Scout Camp was really just a code word for Boot Camp. Honest. I personally led the 32nd Woodchuck Division on a pre-naptime snipe hunt.

We didn't get any, but the older kids really appreciated the way we kept those snipes at bay.





They mentioned it quite often!

Vic Prezio's Orignal Cover Art for Magnus Robot Fighter #17 & #21

February 1967

Jell-o From Hell-o

Some of these gelatin entrees are just plain wrong.

chicken

From "Women's Home Companion, Jan. 1947"

chicken

Pastries in jello...WTF?

Veal

Tomato

what the hell is that thing above the shrimp?Onion?

Beef

Olives

Tuna+Cream+ Lemon+Mayonnaise=GAG!

My favorite dessert-Tuna/A1 Jello!

Gold Key's DARK SHADOWS #3

Dated November 1969, this issue is odd for GK titles of the period because it is all content, no ads or joke pages. Of course, the cover price is 10 cents higher than a normal issue, but you got a"GIANT" poster as a bonus. I don't have the poster, but I think it was about the size of 2 comic pages, with the image of the back cover..which in itself is a reversed image of the front cover.

D. J. Arneson scripted this issue and artwork was by Twilight Zoner Joe Certa

Turok Orginal Art

George Wilson's painting for MARCH OF COMICS #399,  from 1974.

1 channel and still nothing on TV

Naked babe with lightening bolts....That's the 1949 we never hear about!!!

Make Your Own Moccasins Dell Four Color #363

This December 1951 offereing not only gave us Zane Grey's "King of the Royal Mounted" buy also instructions on how to make our own footwear. The coonskin cap would appear a few years later.

 

click to enlarge

WOLF'S CLOTHING

WOLF'S CLOTHING was a 1927 film directed by Roy Del Ruth, who much later directed TOPPER RETURNS and very much later was a TV director (Richard Diamond, Adventures in Paradise).
Here is a contemporary article explaining the then novel use of special effect props.

Dell Four Color 761 HOWDY DOODY

You know how some kids are afraid of clowns? Well, Howdy Doody had the same effect on me. Never saw the charm of that ugly puppet. But for those of you who do, here is a story from FC#761, January 1957.
Cover looks like Mel Crawford's style. Dan Gormley is to blame for the interior art.

Howdy Doody was a TV pioneering show, created by Roger Muir and running from 1947 to 1960. It was broadcast in color beginning in 1955. Not that there were many color sets around then.