In 1965, I was ten years old. On Saturdays, I was up,out of the by 9:00 AM and out in the surrounding neighborhood with my push mower cutting grass. Most yards, I charged $1.50 (gas being 35 cents a gallon), but occasionally more for the larger yards. I would cut grass continually until around 3:00 PM (with a short lunch break - PBJ & water usually). After cleaning and stowing the mower I would head up to the Giant Grocery on Main Street with anywhere from $6.00 To $12.00 dollars in my pocket. Saturdays at around noon, was when the cigarette guy delivered to Giant. I didn't smoke, but he also stocked the 5 foot tall, circular comic book rack with the new releases. Now, I was known in this store, because my grandparents shopped there, and when I was with them, my Big Daddy always indulged me with at least one comic. I would start at the top with Superman and go around the rack, working my way down. I stacked the ones I was going to buy and kept a running cost account in my head. The cover prices were 12 cents, except for the 80 page Giants, which were a quarter. Once I had my purchases in a basket, I would read some of the more interesting looking ones that I wasn't going to buy for a half hour or so. The manager would let me know when my time was up and I would purchase my stack, along with some candy, put my bag in the basket of my bike and head home. I was in heaven.
I still read comics, just not to the extent I did in my youth. The cover price of one comic now is more than I paid for a dozen in those days, but, I guess I'm just showing my age.
Remember "Classic Comics". They were a little larger than regular comics and cost a quarter. The took classic novels - like "Lord Jim" or "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" - and put them in a "kid friendly" comic. I admit to doing (more than once - see titles above) book reports based on these, and getting good grades.
When I was in the 4th grade, my English teacher, Miss Rush, avidly encouraged reading, but looked up comics with contempt. Her favorite phrase was "Read a book and learn, not comics and rot your brain." If she caught you reading a comic in class, it was ripped in half and thrown in the trash.
One day though, we were reading something in class and the word "sphere" came up. She asked, "Does anyone know what a sphere is? I don't mean a long, sharp pointed stick. Anyone?"
No one was raising their hand, but me. She hesitantly said, "Alright Jerry, What is it?"
I answered it was something circular like a ball or the earth.
She seemed amazed and said, "That's absolutely right. How do you know that?"
I grinned and said, "I read it in the latest "Legion of Superheroes" comic. Their time machine is a clear sphere."
She just shook her head as my friends laughed.
Live Long and Prosper!
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