It looks like a switchblade, but instead of a blade, it has a comb on it. Another, the Switchblade Comb, I found while on vacation. It was funny, mysterious, and it did what the ad said. You wind the bank up, and a skeleton pops up and grabs your coin. Then, I was given a Spooky Bank, which is shaped like a coffin. The Coffin Bank, also sold as Spooky Bank, is creepy and fun. I definitely wanted to know karate, and that was the first time I ever desired something that wasn’t a toy. Even in first grade, I faced bullies, and so I thought these things could help me stand up for myself. No, it could actually bring admiration from others. If I had ordered something from a comic book, I wouldn’t just play with it. Things like X-Ray Spex and the Charles Atlas Fitness Program could improve my life. Collectors Weekly: Why were these things so appealing?ĭemarais: They weren’t just toys. But as a first-grader, I wasn’t thinking in those terms. They have developed the ability, and it’s practically free. Yes, but there’s always that hope that somehow they’ve developed this technology for dirt cheap. If you bought a real X-ray, it would cost a lot of money.ĭemarais: Right. Image via “Mail-Order Mysteries.” Collectors Weekly: The hilarious part is that it only cost you a few dollars to begin with. The author, Kirk Demarais, in the fourth grade, displaying his toy collection.
That’s the coming-of-age lesson behind it. I thought, “With all the other commercials I see on television, you get what they show you.” Part of me had a hard time fathoming that people would just out-and-out rip you off, especially kids. It’s also the first time I ever encountered dishonest salesmanship. I trusted my parents in general, but something about that, I thought, “How did they know?” They didn’t order it. Collectors Weekly: Isn’t it funny how when your parents tell you something is a rip-off, it just makes you want it more?ĭemarais: Oh yeah. Anytime I saw a comic-book prank like the Joy Buzzer while I was on vacation, I would definitely snatch it up. I wasn’t allowed to get any of it until I grew up and eBay came along, with the rare exception of the items I would come across in souvenir and toy shops. That’s when I approached my dad, asking for that stuff, and he informed me that most of it was a rip-off. Of course, X-Ray Spex caught my attention because I loved the idea you could see through things like that. Adams’ Snake Nut Can and spooky stuff like monster hands and a skull key chain. I was uninterested in the story itself, but the ads were so mysterious and amazing: Gorilla masks were across the page from a hovercraft. But it was definitely not made for first-graders to read. I was in the first grade, and I decided to spend my candy money on a “Micronauts” comic book instead. Kirk Demarais: The first time I ever saw comics for sale was in 1979, when the place we called “the Icee shop” got a comic rack. Collectors Weekly: How did you first come across comic-book ads? This May, Demarais will have his first two-man art show at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles.
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Recently, Demarais has also made a name for himself with his color-pencil drawings depicting TV and movies families, like The Cosbys and The McFlys, as if they’d gone to Sears and had a portrait done, earning him famous patrons like Kristen Wiig and Jonah Hill. Adams novelty company’s catalog and writing a 2006 book on the gag-maker’s 100-year history called “ Life of the Party.” The film led to his dream job: redesigning the S.S. The impact these ads had on his imagination is spelled out in his 2004 short film, “Flip,” about a boy who dreams of the wonderful life such $1 products could bring him. “Harold von Braunhut, who pushed X-Ray Spex and Sea-Monkeys, was the guru of comic-book mail order.”ĭemarais, who is 39, became fascinated with mail-order comic novelities as a kid in small-town Siloam Springs, Arkansas, where he’s lived most of his life. Last fall, he published Mail-Order Mysteries, a book that reveals what you really got when you ordered any one of 150 supposed marvels. Six years ago, artist and historian Kirk Demarais, who runs the brilliant Gen X nostalgia site, Secret Fun Blog, became determined to uncover the truth behind these comic-book ads published between the 1950s and late ’80s. At least, that’s what vintage comic-book ads would have you believe.
All of this could be yours for a dollar or two. Scary seven-foot tall ghosts that do your bidding. Amazing! Incredible! Unbelievable! Eyeglasses that let you see through clothes.
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