March 31, 2012

What A Book!: 'Mail-Order Mysteries' by Kirk Demarais
































This colorfully eye-popping book exposes the "real stuff" kids got whenever they ordered something from old comic book ads back in the day. You know, stuff like the Secret Agent Spy Camera, X-ray Spex, Sea-Monkeys, etc. Sometimes they'd get pretty much what they expected, but MOST of the time "disappointment" was the name of the game. By documenting more than 150 of these "extraordinary, peculiar, and downright fraudulent collectibles", Demarais also reveals the secrets behind these too-good-to-be-true widgets and gizmos found only advertised within the comic books of yesteryear.

Here, take a look at some of the fun inside...




















Horrifying!
Exciting!
Thrilling!
Disappointing.
(And it's all FREE... for only $1.00)

























                                                                                                                                          Just add water!
Guaranteed to
grow disappointment!

























                      Not X-actly what
kids X-pected...




I absolutely love this book! It's SO up my alley it's not even funny. Great layout/design, colorful, fantastic photos of everything, AND it's totally retro! I give it an A+!

So if you're at all intrigued by this mini-review, go get yourself a copy. Or, heck, you could mail-order one... At least now you'd REALLY know what you were getting BEFORE you got it!

4 comments:

  1. I saw you buy this book and now I really want to peruse it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, Matt, you may peruse it any time you'd like. Perhaps, the next time you stop over for a visit?

      Delete
  2. I don't even like retro stuff usually, but this book is pretty cool. Coincidentally, Amazon recommended it to me a few days after you bought it! Also- in our book fair that just ended, we had SEA MONKEYS! One of the kids said, "Oh yeah, like in those old comic book ads." No one bought any, but they kept staring at the package with rapt fascination and gleeful smiles.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Poor, shrimpy Sea-Monkeys... Nobody wants them since we all know their awful secret. Sad, really. :(

      Delete

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