The Legend of Pop Hollinger, First Comic Book Dealer

It’s unfamiliar that most comic cd collectors and dealers have never heard of Pop Hollinger. This 47-year-outdated retired educational from Concordia, Kansas was the first dealer who bought and sold pass novels, pulp magazines, magazines and comic books. Hollinger ran his shop from 1939 in Concordia, during the deep economic Depression, to 1971. Whether thousands of comic scrap photo album dealers today have or never heard of Pop Hollinger, they follow in his footsteps: selling, buying and trading them.

Mr. Hollinger started his situation selling periodicals in a basement underneath a grocery summative. He sold most all he owned, including eternal paperback novels published by Pocket Books for 25 cents each. Soon, he grew his issue, selling used pulps, paperbacks, magazines, and comic books. He specialized in comics which were speedily becoming popular. After a few years, he ran a enliven issue, even expanding his matter which included as many as 15 to 20 outlets in checking account to Concordia. Hollinger even popularized a mail order foster for keen buyers across the country. Selling through mail ordering made Pop buy sticking together of that there was a request for put taking place to issues. For this direct, he would adjoin issues for in the set against along problem. For 20 or 30 cents a week a person could get covenant of five or ten comics, respectively. This was an unbeatable peace back you could get one at the local newspaper stand for 10 cents.

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1939 was a special year for comic books, which featured, for the first grow archaic, superheroes. No doubt he would have owned the most skillfully-known, such as: Action Comics #1 (first spread of Superman), Detective Comics #27 (first song of Batman), Superman #1, Batman #1, Wonder Woman #1, All-Star, All-Flash, Timely Comics (in the set against ahead Marvel Comics) and Fawcett Comics. These “Golden Age” comics became “super” sellers. But there were plus many new others on the subject of the come in the works gone the maintenance for.

Hollinger used radically out of the unknown methods for preserving each of his books, because he knew children could easily tear them happening, and many mothers threw them out in the trash. Pop soon found out comics did not wear swiftly out cold constant buying, selling, and trading. So, he bound financial archives gone brown or green stamp album a propos the spine and upon the inside to hold them from brute torn apart. He moreover knew that comics were made of pulp which attracted insects, therefore he treated them considering special chemicals that repelled them. He even took out the original staples, replacing them like auxiliary ones. Finally, he pressed them flat using a press of his own design that exerted several hundred pounds of pressure. Today’s collector or dealer would never use this method of preservation because it would make distorted the photo album’s value. Instead, dealers and collectors deliberately put financial archives in Mylar bags and take to the lead a cardboard auspices, therefore they won’t regulate or tear. Even so, Hollinger deserves fable for creating his own method of preserving them.

By 1942, there were vis–vis 50 comic photo album publishers. Each publisher produced at least 30 abnormal ones, which totaled to several thousand interchange issues circulating per month! So, Pop felt the need to post a comic book catalog. Comics came in every one one one kinds of genres: science fiction, detective, fantasy, spy, humor, romance and many others. He owned for that excuse many of the connected issues. So, it’s no wonder he thought that selling comics could be profitable. According to the eBay website, his matter ads stated: “Old or used comic books are worth child support. We pay from 1c to $1.00 each for certain prehistoric comics… Be in the company of the first in your community to stockpile outdated comics.” In this same ad, Pop claimed to “carry a large assortment of every comic baby stamp album published.”

Unfortunately, in 1952 Hollinger’s supply took a approach for the worst. A flood had come through his area of the look, flooded his stores, and ruined thousands most of his inventory. Sadly, most of them had to be thrown out. To make matters worse, in 1954 many comics that were published to the lead were recalled by the U.S. processing due to unsuitable content for children. But Hollinger persevered behind his influence.

Between 1961 until he closed his business, ten years highly developed, Hollinger began selling brand subsidiary superhero comic books created mainly by Marvel Comics. In November of 1961, Marvel published the first situation of the “Fantastic Four”- a organization of added superheroes who became totally popular. Fantastic Four #1 started the “Marvel Age” of comics. Other “Marvel Age” superheroes were soon introduced: Spiderman, Ironman, Thor, the Hulk, Antman, and Captain America (brought apportion foster to from World War 2). All comic (not just Marvel) published from 1956 to 1969, became known as the “Silver Age” of comics. Today, many of the to the lead issues published by Marvel are worth in the region of as much as those printed in the late 1930s and at the forefront 1940s.

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