The shocking true tale of the mad genius who invented sea. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. The reality is that theyre tiny shrimp whose eggs can be freeze dried for long periods of. These ads are as much a part of the history and lore of comic books as the stories themselves. How many of us who grew up in the 1960s and early 70s were. It was rare that the little fellas lived to see the end of their first month, and consumers were getting. Comic book advertisements are a common feature in american comic books mainly from the 1940s onwards. Yes i know they were pants now but at the time i imagined these things really worked. Sea monkeys another ad that everyone on earth knows about because it was just that popular. Mans account of ordering a live monkey from comic book ad. Products offered included novelty items, toys, and selfimprovement courses such as drawing and body building. Old comic book ads xray specs sea monkeys kit charles atlas workout if something seems to good to be true. No advertisements to own a nuclear sub or army tank can be found nowadays.
What was the dad seamonkey holding in those old comic. Seamonkeys are a novelty aquarium pet, a type of brine shrimp that undergoes cryptobiosis. What was the dad seamonkey holding in those old comic book ads. Comic book resources has a fantastic firsthand account of ordering a live miniature monkey from a comic book advertisment. Retro comic books and their amazing ads sea monkeys, my. When i was little, i was totally creeped out by the seamonkeys ads.
Cant remember which ones, but they had all kinds of adverts in there. The first time i ever saw comics for sale was in 1979, when the. It shows a royal family of sea creatures, each with two feet that end in flippers, an eellike tail, two arms. What would a vintage comic book be without ads for sea monkeys. So heres a semipost to get things started not actually a comic book ad, but a fascinating article about the comic book ad mainstay, seamonkeys, and what has happened to the creators widow in recent years. Vintage comic book ads that were too good to be true. If todays generation y and zers accuse us baby boomers of being cynical and distrustful, well, i for one blame it all on comic books.
Mandelaeffect submitted 9 months ago by viraldrome. Back in the glory days of the comic book ad pages, it was generally a given that the product being advertised was not going to live up to the extravagant hype. But the sea monkeys in the ads have tridentshaped heads. Despite their incredibly short lifespan, sea monkeys remain one of the most infamous comic book pop culture.
Sea monkeys, monkeys and baby raccoons, performing chameleons, ant farms with magnifying glass eww and more. What kid did not order or dream of ordering such classics as sea monkeys, polaris subs or xray glasses that we saw in the comic books. Mailorder mysteries presents original comic book ads alongside photos of what actually arrived in the mail. Advertisements in comic books have promised unbelievable products for decades. A 1978 comic book ad for seamonkeys, with art by the comic book artist joe orlando, who would serve. And if youd like to learn more about the fascinating history of seamonkeys, check out this article. Get all good price and hot deals of comic book sea monkeys here. The strange era when kids could buy live monkeys through the post via comic book ads. One look at the ads suggested evidence of evolved creatures, almost human, who lounged around their aquatic surroundings without a care. And have you actually purchased anything from a comic book ad before. As these advertisements were directed at young people, many made sensational claims, and sold the products for a few dollars to be sent to a post office box. Look at some inside pages by clicking customer images under the cover. They sort of look like crowns at a glance but really it looks more like three points.
You could a roman army with chariots and catapults etc for a few weeks of pocket mon. Sea monkeys are a variety of artemia crustaceans such as brine shrimp or seed shrimps, successfully marketed as a pet product due to the appealing. Yeah, the drawing on the ad makes it look like seamonkeys are living beings with human faces that can look at you and weird crowns on their heads. Perhaps the pictures above will bring you back in time. Enter the wonderful world of amazing live seamonkeys. The widow of the inventor of seamonkeys is suing a toy company for allegedly failing to fork over close to a million clams a year in royalties. If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the faq by clicking the link above. This series of ads, illustrated by joe orlando later vice president of dc comics, ran in comic books throughout the 1970s and depicted the sea creatures as a nuclear family, sans clothing, with crowns on their heads. Remember when i went to that comic convention and bought a giant pile of cheap books. These products and more were promised to young gullible comic book readers in dubious advertisements for decades. When i was little, i was totally creeped out by the sea monkeys ads. Classic comic book ads collection by victor alvarez. We had seamonkeys in superman dc comics, we had it in harvey comics, archie, in fact every comic book on the market we bought 303 million pages of advertising a year for years.
Sea monkeys that could live in a goldfish bowl and be trained to perform tricks. Six more ancient comic book ads from dino dracs growing library, covering everything from cereal to seamonkeys. If you would like to see some old classic seamonkeys comic book ads or see what the kits originally looked like then drop on by the museum. Print advertising for seamonkeys puts the s in sensationalism. Remember all those ads in the back of your comic books. Sea monkeys perhaps one of the more unusual and intriguing products ever sold. These are the ads i salivated over mostand to be frank a part of me. Since 1960, children of all ages have been fascinated by comic book ads featuring the alluring and mysterious beings known as seamonkeys. And if these depictions compelled you to adopt a family of your own, then you were also going to learn a little about marketing. George has the story of one fan who bought one, which resulted in an er visit and 28 stitches. These are posted for the enjoyment of all comic book fans. As a child, comic book ads were a glimpse into a strange, foreign culture, and as an adult they are a barometer of societys. Despite their incredibly short lifespan, sea monkeys remain one of the most infamous comic book pop culture references. The product was heavily marketed in the 1960s and 70s, especially in comic books, and remains a presence in popular culture.
With all you need about informations, prices of comic book sea monkeys, we always supply the cheapest cost, compare and the best service to you. Anyone in the vicinity of a comic book as a kid, was aware of those lovable sea monkeys. For seamonkeys, the ads portrayed a cheerful family of humanoid creatures bearing crowns of some sort and hanging out by their underwater castle. In todays comic books you dont see the advertisements you used to no ads with outrageous promises to be taller or more muscular. Great advertisements from the golden age of comic books, a large size paperback that reprints in colour comic book ads from the forties and fifties. Waiting for stuff to come in the mail was the best part, since once it arrived you found out it was just junk. The unusual designs of the liveaction characters in the amazing live seamonkeys are based on fantasy characters created by orlando for a series of wellremembered 1960s1970s comic book ads. Ht lowbrow comics, comicconmovie, 80s comic ads, scarymother. If you were a regular reader of comic books in the 60s and 70s, you probably couldnt help but notice the recurring ad that offered you your very own kidsized polaris nuclear submarine all for the low price of about seven bucks. But if you look in older comic books youll see a treasure trove of sneaky ads. I remember getting american comics when i was a kid.
Finally, when your visit is over then be sure to check out our links section to see other fine seamonkeys web pages. If so, please consider supporting me by clicking here for my amazon link ill get a percentage from everything you order. The battle over the seamonkey fortune the new york times. The science of xray specs and sea monkeys these products advertised in the back of comic books promised improbable feats of science. The heyday of comic book mail order ads lasted from the 1950s to the 1980s. I had seamonkeys and was dying to be the proud owner of the seamonkey racetrack. Yeah, the drawing on the ad makes it look like sea monkeys are living beings with human faces that can look at you and weird crowns on their heads. I also got a submarine from kelloggs, sea monkeys, and a palm buzzer thing. Mailorder mysteries and hey skinny are both instant nostalgia. I collected comic books from about fourth grade through high school.
315 1491 969 242 1425 247 279 1467 1132 1014 1390 541 1081 981 411 529 631 197 1481 265 1042 1255 753 920 1177 680 136 48 1370 1271 438 1268 18