Anyway, some interesting tidbits from the article:
"As Lent began in 1946, students in American Catholic schools were treated to a new publication
"A comic book called "Treasure Chest of Fun & Fact" extolled the value of Lent, showed how salt was made and detailed the founding of the state Maryland — the most Catholic-friendly of the 13 original colonies. It also told stories of the Robinson family turning their basement into a "rumpus room," Navy salvage diver Skee Barry and Chuck White, who moved with his father to a new town and tried to stay on the straight and narrow."
"The end of the issue promised a new comic every two weeks, continuing the serialized stories of the Robinsons, Skee Barry and Chuck White, while delivering other information and helping to keep students on their Lenten path."
"Treasure Chest is not just another substitute for the objectionable comic publication," an editor's note at the end stated. "It stands on its own merits as a quality magazine which children — and adults — will enjoy and profit by."
"And it filled that role from 1946 to 1972, spanning both of what are regarded as the golden and silver age of American comic books, offering Catholic lessons in a medium that was wildly popular for what was at the time the largest generation of youth in American history."
Treasure Chest often featured serial stories. The one which I remember best is this one which came out in 1964 about the first Black American elected to the presidency. It was oddly prophetic, but got the target date wrong. In the story, fictional New York governor, Timothy Pettigrew, got the nomination in 1976 "...with the bumbling if energetic assistance of Joey and Angie Blatt, children of campaign press secretary Bart Blatt and his “Catholic Action worker” wife, Jane."
I remember the magazine but not much that was in it but I enjoyed it I DO remember the cover with the incorrect horn on the Tyrannosaurus Rex's snout. Great memory trigger.
ReplyDeleteI was a great fan of comics, comic books and the Sunday and weekday newspaper comics, until I graduated from high school.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I don't remember much about them. Must be stored in some part of my brain that I cannot easily access.
I don't remember Treasure Chest but then I did not go to a Catholic grade school or high school.
ReplyDeleteComic books were out of style for a while, then they came back. My sons were and are comic book fans, the ones they like are basically graphic novels. My older son was a collector for a while, he would buy one to read and one to never take out of its plastic sleeve, in the hopes that it would someday be worth some money. But he finally figured out that scarcity was driving the value, and if everyone was doing that, there was no scarcity, and very little value. I finally got the boys to get their collections out of our basement, they both have more space than we do.
ReplyDeleteSo did the Robinson's get their rumpus room finished or what?
ReplyDeleteJean - lol!
ReplyDeleteI went to parochial school from first through fourth grade. I have no memory of this comic book. Maybe they weren’t used in California parochial schools. Five years of discussions with all of you have made me realize that growing up Catholic in the San Fernando valley and in a small mountain resort community was a very different experience than growing up Catholic in the Midwest or in the east coast cities.
But I never liked comic books so maybe it had so little interest for me that it never found a corner of my brain to settle in. None of my sibs, and none of my sons liked comic books. I didn’t realize they are still around, but apparently they are, based on what Katherine wrote.
Upon graduating from eighth grade, I threw all my comics out and never read another. Had I kept them, they'd probably have bought a car.
ReplyDeleteThere is a store in Omaha which sells comics, all kinds of them. I was surprised someone could actually make a living doing that, but apparently they do. For one thing, it's a medium that doesn't lend itself very well to things such as Kindle. My older son is friends with the owner, and was concerned that his business wouldn't make it through the pandemic. So he made a point of placing frequent orders. This is the kid who will be 48 next birthday, so I guess he's not going to grow out of liking comics!
DeleteA lot of the content of Treasure Chest was your standard Catholic stuff. But I remember that themes of racial justice and kindness to immigrants cropped up from time to time, not to mention what we would call anti-bullying messaging. And the dinosaur issue shows that we weren't "young earth creationists " even back then.
ReplyDeleteComic books have graduated into graphic novels. "Maus," recently banned in Kentucky schools, is a classic of the genre. I sent a small donation to a comic book seller in California who was sending a free copy to any kid in Kentucky who asked for one.
ReplyDeleteSome younger folks in my book group are studying graphics. I pick one up once in awhile.
George Takei (of Star Trek fame) recently wrote one, "They Called Us Enemy," about his family's forced internment in the camps for Japanese Americans during WWII. It was quite good. Suitable for kids age 8+ if you have grand kids.
Shaun Tan is a master at graphic stories for older kids and grown ups. "Tales from Outer Suburbia" is full of surreal and oddly touching stories. "The Lost Thing" was recently made into a short film: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ILUxUrjjpyg
Off topic: Daylight Saving Time is back. Please consider writing your elected reps to pass a national law to leave the clocks the hell alone. It's been known for years that switching back and forth is hard on people's health, but we continue to be slaves to a scheme that helps no one. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-heart-daylightsaving-idUSBREA2S0D420140329
You're right that comic books have graduated into graphic novels, they're not just little kid stuff any more.
DeleteNo comic books in my Catholic elementary school in the late 60s/early 70s. We did get a Weekly Reader. I guess it was enriching.
ReplyDeleteWe had a rumpus room in our house when I was a kid, too. I guess the idea was, when we were down there (it was in the basement), the parents could sit on their rumpus?
ReplyDeleteBtw, per whatever dictionary comes up when you google "dictionary" in Google (does Google have its own English language dictionary?) "rumpus" isn't a Latin word; its origin is the 18th century and is thought to be "fanciful". Similarly with "ruckus". Perhaps that was an age when Latin was widely enough taught in schools that it would occur to writers of a fanciful turn to invent their own pseudo-Latin terms.
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