WELCOME TO CHINTZY AL'S COMIC RACK
Many know that I collect comic books. When I was a kid in the sixties, I bought and traded comics to build up my collection. I purchased comics from many places. One of the places I bought comics was from the corner store two blocks from my grandmother's house in Hillyard, Spokane, Washington.
I don't remember the name of the store, I only know that everyone who shopped there called it Chintzy Al's.
I don't know the owners real name, or where the "Chintzy Al" moniker came from ( I heard it first from my aunt Emily Teeters, who we all called "Aunt John" ( don't know where that nick-name came from either, but I digress).
I do know that the Chintzy adjective fit. He never liked kids in the store unless they were going to buy something- right away.
Which made it difficult for kids who wanted to buy candy, bubble gum cards, or comics but didn't have a lot of money to spend. So we would take some time looking over the wares to decide what to get. Comic book buyers had a particular hard time, because "Chintzy Al" would often yell at us for "wasting" time looking through the comic books to decide what to buy. He would often say things like, "You want to read it, buy it!",
So we had to spin the racks and judge what comic books we wanted, pretty much based on the covers.
Anyway, the corner stores with the spinner racks are pretty much gone now. Instead we have the comic book store. But what is unfortunate is that we have all become "Chintzy Als". We have put comics in plastic bags, and even had them sealed, and expect people to buy comics based solely on the covers.
So I thought I would have some fun with that memory. From time to time, I am going to stick on this website a selection of comic book covers. All comics in the group will have been published about the same time, and were likely on the stands at the same time. I would like my readers to judge which ONE comic book they would buy if they could only afford one- based solely on the cover, and let us know.
I welcome your votes on which one you would buy and I would like to hear your reason. Also, if you have a story about any of the posted comics, feel free to share that story too. After a week or so, I will share with you the comic I bought off the stands that month, and which ones I had to leave behind (sob!).
If you have scans of any comic covers for the selected month, you are welcome to send them too, and I will try to include that issue on Chintzy Al's Comic Rack.
First, a note about comic book dates. The dates on the covers of comics indicated when the comic was to be pulled off the stand. So, comic books were often found on the racks 2,3,or 4 months before the date listed on the cover. So, Christmas comics may be dated in January February or March of the subsequent year.
For our first selection of books on Chintzy Al's Comic Rack, we will have comics with a cover date of February 1962.
I don't remember the name of the store, I only know that everyone who shopped there called it Chintzy Al's.
I don't know the owners real name, or where the "Chintzy Al" moniker came from ( I heard it first from my aunt Emily Teeters, who we all called "Aunt John" ( don't know where that nick-name came from either, but I digress).
I do know that the Chintzy adjective fit. He never liked kids in the store unless they were going to buy something- right away.
Which made it difficult for kids who wanted to buy candy, bubble gum cards, or comics but didn't have a lot of money to spend. So we would take some time looking over the wares to decide what to get. Comic book buyers had a particular hard time, because "Chintzy Al" would often yell at us for "wasting" time looking through the comic books to decide what to buy. He would often say things like, "You want to read it, buy it!",
So we had to spin the racks and judge what comic books we wanted, pretty much based on the covers.
I remember for example, buying this comic book
based only on the cover. That's because I had already read the previous two issues so knew what the story was about.
based only on the cover. That's because I had already read the previous two issues so knew what the story was about.Anyway, the corner stores with the spinner racks are pretty much gone now. Instead we have the comic book store. But what is unfortunate is that we have all become "Chintzy Als". We have put comics in plastic bags, and even had them sealed, and expect people to buy comics based solely on the covers.
So I thought I would have some fun with that memory. From time to time, I am going to stick on this website a selection of comic book covers. All comics in the group will have been published about the same time, and were likely on the stands at the same time. I would like my readers to judge which ONE comic book they would buy if they could only afford one- based solely on the cover, and let us know.
I welcome your votes on which one you would buy and I would like to hear your reason. Also, if you have a story about any of the posted comics, feel free to share that story too. After a week or so, I will share with you the comic I bought off the stands that month, and which ones I had to leave behind (sob!).
If you have scans of any comic covers for the selected month, you are welcome to send them too, and I will try to include that issue on Chintzy Al's Comic Rack.
First, a note about comic book dates. The dates on the covers of comics indicated when the comic was to be pulled off the stand. So, comic books were often found on the racks 2,3,or 4 months before the date listed on the cover. So, Christmas comics may be dated in January February or March of the subsequent year.
For our first selection of books on Chintzy Al's Comic Rack, we will have comics with a cover date of February 1962.
