American comics, especially Archie comics, were as much a part of my Tasmanian childhood as books were. How I loved those high school pals and rivals…. Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica and Reggie. In pre-television days it was ‘Yankee’ comic books that introduced me to the wonder of the drugstore, with its soda fountains and double malts; to ‘kids’ driving convertible cars, and to the unfamiliar celebrations surrounding Thanksgiving and Halloween. This cultural immersion fed my dreams and eventually led me to the US. I must say that Root Beer was a disappointment, but Hershey Kisses lived up to expectations. 😍
I still have some old Archie issues in my study, albeit from the 70s rather than my own era of the 50s and 60s.
The fascination for Yankee comics was nationwide. At the Christmas meeting of a Girl Guide group in Western Australia, first prize in the fancy dress coemption went to a female Archie
A group effort, (Source – Eastern Recorder, W,A, Dec, 18 1952)
Now I would have thought that these comic books were completely innocuous, but obviously not in the mind of a certain ‘man of the cloth’ from Adelaide. He wrote a piece examining the whole range of comics and their suitability as entertainment for children.
Archie comics were considered rather dodgy. Good grief!
Mind you, love comics, which we later devoured, were listed as ‘POISON’! 😨
Comics in general were frowned upon by church groups in Tasmania.
BAN THEM ALL!
Thankfully my parents didn’t mind what I read (within reason).
The back pages of American comics were also the stuff of dreams. There were such exciting opportunities on offer.
Sometimes it was not money to be had, but wonderful prizes such as transistor radios, pogo sticks, sleds and above all….x-ray glasses. 😎
The problem for Aussie kids was that we could never complete the coupons due to the lack of a vital detail;
Another issue was that by the time my siblings and I bought or swapped our comics at Mrs Phipps’ bookshop in Ulverstone they were long out-of-date.
TO READ THE HISTORY OF ARCHIE COMICS, CLICK HERE.
