# Anyone ever try selling crap from comics? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 17, 2026, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767 "2026-01-17T05:59:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/1 "2026-01-17T05:59:51Z")
As probably almost all of us know, advertisers in old comics seemed to be very determined to get children to sell all sorts of things around their neighborhood to get cash and prizes. A very few examples picked tonight: Christmas cards [![](https://i.imgur.com/PsRSrGP.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/PsRSrGP.jpeg) Mottoes [![](https://i.imgur.com/uLJtxXA.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/uLJtxXA.jpeg) Seeds [![](https://i.imgur.com/kMsmRhj.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/kMsmRhj.jpeg) And probably the most unrealistic prospect of these, selling tins of petroleum salve to their friends (with a bonus swell art picture!). [![](https://i.imgur.com/CTt2F7x.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/CTt2F7x.jpeg) So did anyone ever try selling anything like this? Was it as dismal a failure as seems likely? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/2 "2026-01-17T06:04:47Z")
I tried some greeting cards one time. The cards came. Stuck in a closet never remembered them til my Daddy got a lawyer letter. Yeah. Failure would describe it. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/3 "2026-01-17T06:05:08Z")
I’m pretty sure my older brother did. It was either him or Wally Cleaver. I get them confused some times. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/4 "2026-01-17T06:07:03Z")
“Swell.” LOL! A decade later, they would have said “groovy.” Cloverine Salve is still marketed, although probably not this way. Anyone remember “Sell GRIT!” ? I have some old issues of Boys’ Life that had the ad, and the application form says, “Are you a boy?” (Oooookay…..) Anyway, GRIT is also still being printed, although nowadays, it’s a farming and homesteading magazine. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/5 "2026-01-17T06:07:31Z")
Hey there was an episode where Beaver Cleaver did it. I just saw it a few days ago. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/6 "2026-01-17T06:15:25Z")
I just saw the “Live Parrakeet” (sic) offered as a prize for selling garden seeds. At least that’s a product people would have used. The seeds, not the parakeet. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/7 "2026-01-17T12:52:42Z")
I tried the garden seeds. In the spring in a newly built tract where everyone was first putting in landscaping. Utter failure. I would’ve been ~10. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/8 "2026-01-17T12:59:35Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Anyone remember “Sell GRIT!” ? I saw those in comic books. A smiling newsboy with a bag over his shoulder, proclaiming, “GRIT.” My thought at the time, was who the hell would ever call a newspaper, “GRIT”? ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/9 "2026-01-17T13:14:27Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Hey there was an episode where Beaver Cleaver did it. I just saw it a few days ago. And the Salve Episode on Andy Griffith, in which Barney poses as “Dr. Pendrake.” ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/10 "2026-01-17T13:58:09Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I tried the garden seeds. In the spring in a newly built tract where everyone was first putting in landscaping. Utter failure. I would’ve been ~10. So did I. I remember making a grand total of $6 before I gave it up. I was probably around 10 as well. Not a terriblly small sum for my age and the time, but for all the shlepping around the neighborhood I did, it probably worked out to 25 cents an hour. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/11 "2026-01-17T14:45:48Z")
I knew a few kids at school who tried to sell _Grit_. An issue was always the same price as a comic book. It wasn’t a hard decision for a 12- year-old to decide where to spend his 15 cents. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/12 "2026-01-17T15:25:50Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I tried some greeting cards one time. The cards came. Stuck in a closet never remembered them til my Daddy got a lawyer letter. What kind of law firm would try to sue someone for when their little girl bought some cheap greeting cards? Did they violate copyright or something? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/13 "2026-01-17T15:29:20Z")
Like a paper route, you were given the product first and expected to remit a portion of your sales. The “law firm” was almost certainly an in-house entity which shook down parents to protect their child’s “permanent record.”. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/14 "2026-01-17T15:37:45Z")
> [@Jaycat.again](#): > > > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > > > Hey there was an episode where Beaver Cleaver did it. I just saw it a few days ago. > > And the Salve Episode on Andy Griffith, in which Barney poses as “Dr. Pendrake.” There’s a Jean Shepherd story where, after another failed attempt as a child to sell some junk advertised in comic magazines, his father lays down the law and orders him to send the stuff back, bellowing “Let 'em sue! They can’t get blood from a turnip!”. The tradition lives on in multi-level marketing. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/15 "2026-01-17T15:43:27Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Cloverine Salve is still marketed, although probably not this way. Interesting article about that. > **[Kids! Get rich selling Cloverine Salve! - Appalachian History](https://www.appalachianhistory.net/2016/05/kids-get-rich-selling-cloverline-salve.html)** > > Two generations of Wilsons had perfected the art of what was a most unusual sales technique by the time George Wilson Jr. became president. Specifically, > In 1967 the Wilson Chemical Company was dealt a crushing blow by the Federal Trade Commission, which decided that the company’s advertising method of luring young salesmen had to stop. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/16 "2026-01-17T16:00:49Z")
I tried selling _Grit_. It was a profound failure as a business venture, but I learned a few things: 1. If I’m going to be an entrepreneur, I need more of a business plan than merely saying “I’ll get some stuff and sell it and come home with money.” 2. I don’t have much of an interest in trying to sell things. 3. I don’t have much talent for asking people to buy things. It was only later that I realized this, but I really don’t think I came across very well in my presentation. I’m sure it was partially because of point #2, but only partially. Really, my best talents, such as they are, lie elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/17 "2026-01-17T16:09:00Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I knew a few kids at school who tried to sell _Grit_. An issue was always the same price as a comic book. It wasn’t a hard decision for a 12- year-old to decide where to spend his 15 cents. Wasn’t Grit aimed at the parents, not the kids? And I _think_ I tried selling the greeting cards once. Plus there were all of those things we were selling that the school wanted us to. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/18 "2026-01-17T16:11:49Z")
An older kid than I (late 1960’s) went door to door selling variety greeting card boxes. Had genetic cards for Christmas, anniversaries, birthdays, etc . I think people kept those as an emergency stock in case they suddenly remembered someone’s event. My Ma bought 2 boxes from him. The next spring he was riding around on a shiny new 3 speed bike he got for doing so. So at least somebody made out with one of those schemes. Whether he would have been better off getting a regular job I know not. He was older and not someone I conversed with real often. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/19 "2026-01-17T16:14:19Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Wasn’t Grit aimed at the parents, not the kids? That’s my recollection; it wasn’t necessarily a publication for kids to read, it was a general-interest newspaper, and the idea was that you’d sell copies to the adults in your neighborhood. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/20 "2026-01-17T16:15:58Z")
Speaking of greeting cards, my elderly mother would sometimes watch the home shopping networks when she was up late at night. One thing she bought from them was a nice box of assorted Hallmark greeting cards, for, I think, fifteen bucks. Given that Hallmark cards cost several dollars each, we definitely got our money’s worth out of that purchase. My _guess_ is that they packed unsold cards returned from their retail stores or discontinued cards in those boxes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767.md?page=2)