The back cover was a big ad for Johnson Smith novelties, I know that. But I’ve never seen a reprint that also reproduced the ads inside the book. Are there any that show the whole thing? I’m curious to find out what other sort of stuff was being hawked to readers at that time.
Checking a scanned copy I have access to and comparing it to the comics.org entry for the issue - it seems to be complete, and there are only two ads - the one you mention on the back cover, and advertizing a colouring contest on the inside front cover (colour the first page of one of the black and white stories in the issue, then rip it out and send it in). Well, aside from the ‘check out more Superman in upcoming issues!’ thing at the end of the Superman story.
Typical 1930s kid activities. Hunting rifles. Radium watches. Build-your-own-cyclotron. The usual.
There was a tabloid-sized reprint issued by DC in 1974, which launched the “Famous First Edition” series, that reprinted the entire original magazine, ads and all. I’ll look for my copy tonight.
The FFE series also reprinted Detective Comics #27 (the debut of Batman), Sensation Comics #1 (advertised as the first, but actually the second appearance of Wonder Woman), Whiz Comics #2 (the first Captain Marvel), All-Star Comics #3 (the Justice Society of America), Flash Comics #1, Superman #1, Batman #1, and Wonder Woman #1, all with the original ads.
Found it. I was surprised to find that Kamino Neko was correct. There was only one non-house ad in the entire issue, and it was on the back cover. It was your typical comic book novelty item ad, for Johnson Smith & Co.
(No offense intended to Kamino Neko. I was just surprised to find a magazine with only one advertiser.)
Heh. I ordered stuff from Johnson Smith when I was a kid (in the 70’s). I even sent cash through the mail to them!
They are still around? Neat!
(I also ordered a lot of stamps from the Littleton Stamp & Coin company.)
That “Throw your voice” thing was still around when I was a kid in the 50’s and ordered one. It was a little metal whistle which I promptly swallowed. How the sound of it was supposed to mimic voices I never understood.
Leno once told a story of having bought a monkey from one of those comic book ads. The story was supposed to be funny, but I (and I think think the monkey would have) disagreed.
I had one too, though I’d describe it as a mini-kazoo rather than a whistle. And mine was white plastic, not metal.
Holding it firmly between your molars was supposed to help you speak in a “cartoony” voice while you were practicing the ventriloquism lessons that came in a little booklet. I never quite got it to work right for that purpose, although it was handy for making flying-saucer sound effects.
Wow - the Johnson Smith catalogs I had in the 1970s were still using a lot of the same illustrations. I know that’s the same whoopie cushion illustration.
Yeah, that’s why I checked comics.org for the pagecount. Seemed weird that the scan would leave just the two ads in, but it seemed weirder that the book would lack any others.