There was a time when I owned close to 3,000 comic books. These were the golden and silver ages of Superman. I was a Superman addict, running through my house wearing my towel-cape and, for a shy and scrawny boy, this man of steel provided an anchor in a difficult life and a window to allow my own imagination to soar.
Monday, March 2, 2009
COLLECTING DUST DETRACTS FROM THE EXPERIENCE OF RELIVING MY YOUTH
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My sister collected comic books. At $.25 a week allowance, she could just afford to buy two a week (sales tax was only 4% back in those days).
I was a year younger and figured out that I could buy candy (a snicker bar cost $.05). I could save most of my allowance and I could read my sister's comic books for free.
One day, my mom threw out all of my sister's comic books. She was so upset that she couldn't bring herself to attend ballet class. So, I was left to explain to the dance teacher why my sister was not at class that day. I don't think my sister (or my mom) ever got over that decision.
As for me, I like to collect political campaign memorabilia (mostly buttons). I don't know if each triggers a special memory or feeling, but I am especially fond of the really creative ones like my Barry Goldwater bar of Dial soap ("Presidential Size" for "4-YEAR PROTECTION"). It's wrapped in gold paper and includes a caricature of an elephant's head (wearing Barry Goldwater's signature glasses of course). It includes slogans like "AUH20, The Soap For Conservative People" and "Extreme liberals should test for skin irritation before ordering in case lots." It includes warnings like, "Tests indicate use of AUH20 in the District of Columbia may shrink size of Federal Government and cause growth of individual freedoms." And, "Caution: Extreme liberals should test for irritation before ordering in case lots," (complete with skull and cross-bones).
I also like the buttons that are marked by some scandal or other. Who could forget McGovern - Eagleton or Mondale & Hart and Mondale & Ferraro (identical buttons, same campaign and you can see where Hart's picture was simply cut out and replaced with Ferraro's).
And then, who would have thought my Bill Clinton button from his first campaign would take on a meaning of its own? The button shows Clinton blowing into his saxophone with the words, "Blow Bill Blow." How prophetic! David Letterman needed to get ahold of that one.
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