Comics UK

Pre decimal coinage still in use in the 1960's included the halfpenny (1/480th of a pound), the penny (1/240th of a pound), the threepenny bit, the sixpence, the shilling (1/20th of a pound, value equivalent to 12 pennies), the two shilling piece or florin and, last but not least, the mighty half-crown (1/8th of a pound, value equivalent of thirty pennies). Then there was also the ten shilling note, a dried blood
coloured piece of paper currency that made one feel very rich indeed, if ever an aunt or uncle gave you one for your birthday.
Ah the memories of buying a summer special with that half-crown clenched in your fist.
Happy days!

Of course, pre-decimal coinage meant that schoolchildren had to learn two versions of maths at the same time. I remember that I had one exercise book for working out sums in columns of pounds, shillings and pence ('LSD' - but not the Timothy Leary sort!) and another for straightforward 'hundreds, tens and units'. Not only that but we also had to know about groats, farthings, perches, poles and chains! And then to add insult to injury they brought in newfangled metric measurements while I was only halfway through Secondary School!

Happy days indeed - but not as uncomplicated as some people might think!

philcom55 wrote:Of course, pre-decimal coinage meant that schoolchildren had to learn two versions of maths at the same time. I remember that I had one exercise book for working out sums in columns of pounds, shillings and pence ('LSD' - but not the Timothy Leary sort!) and another for straightforward 'hundreds, tens and units'. Not only that but we also had to know about groats, farthings, perches, poles and chains! And then to add insult to injury they brought in newfangled metric measurements while I was only halfway through Secondary School!

Happy days indeed - but not as uncomplicated as some people might think!

I can rember the change over as I was also at secondary school, a couple of small shops closed down in the seaside town I live in as the old shop keepers could not work out how to give change and to price up goods in new pence, I can also remember some comics had dual pricing or stickers with new pence prices for a while,
When I think what I could get for my sixpence or shilling pocket money
And the second hand comic stall with British comics halfpenny and american comics for tuppence

Bethanys grandad wrote:I can rember the change over as I was also at secondary school, a couple of small shops closed down in the seaside town I live in as the old shop keepers could not work out how to give change and to price up goods in new pence, I can also remember some comics had dual pricing or stickers with new pence prices for a while,
When I think what I could get for my sixpence or shilling pocket money
And the second hand comic stall with British comics halfpenny and american comics for tuppence

Commando was certainly dual priced for a while around that time.

I was gainfully employed when metrication came in and recall sitting through training sessions in the office. So many people proclaimed it as the end of the world - or at least the end of British values.
Comics did have dual prices for a while, as did labels in shops.
Like Phil, I learned about all those ancient British measurements and in arithmetic, we had to do calculations using them. It's a lot easier now with money in 10's.
The French use the phrases, "une demi douzaine - 6" and "une demi dizaine - 5" Don't know why that should interest you but I've nothing much to say about dual price comics.

philcom55 wrote:Not only that but we also had to know about groats, farthings, perches, poles and chains! And then to add insult to injury they brought in newfangled metric measurements while I was only halfway through Secondary School!

Happy days indeed - but not as uncomplicated as some people might think!

I've heard of groats and farthings, but have only just heard of perches, poles and chains from reading this! Maths have never been my strong point anyway... Let's just say that at least on THIS point, I'm glad to have been born in the 1980s

TwoHeadedBoy wrote:

philcom55 wrote:Not only that but we also had to know about groats, farthings, perches, poles and chains! And then to add insult to injury they brought in newfangled metric measurements while I was only halfway through Secondary School!

Happy days indeed - but not as uncomplicated as some people might think!

I've heard of groats and farthings, but have only just heard of perches, poles and chains from reading this! Maths have never been my strong point anyway... Let's just say that at least on THIS point, I'm glad to have been born in the 1980s

I was rubbish at maths at school too, and failed every exam, yet bizarrely I passed with a credit for a more difficult exam I did at day-release college. Dunno how that happened.

Anyway, I always felt the adjustment to decimal currency was very easy for those of us who were kids at the time. (I was 11 when the changeover was complete.) It was our parents and grandparents who struggled with it. Having said that, I don't ever recall hearing about perches, poles and chains! Sounds like equipment for a lynch mob!

If anyone's interested, here's a blog post I did four years ago about Decimal Day, with a couple of relevant comic covers:
http://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2011/ ... y-day.html

Just won a bid on Fury no.3 with free poster at £6.15 including postage. Same issue has been on offer at glastopopcult for a couple of months nearly double the price except that the cover is tainted with cello tape marks, which always put me off. So, quite chuffed.

I just got an issue of Sally off ebay that was listed as "excellent condition, except for one page missing", which is a bit like describing a car as "excellent runner if you don't include the missing wheel". I don't honestly see that you can claim something is excellent condition when it is incomplete. I mean the pages that are included might be pristine, but if one page has been obviously torn out, then that should be reflected in the description of the overall condition. To be honest, even if the comic had been complete I don't think it would qualify any higher than "good".

It's not even the first time I've seen something like this, which describes something as high grade other than a single gaping flaw which somehow doesn't factor in to the general quality.

I suppose that's why things tend to go cheaper on eBay than in retail - most of the time the quality matches the description but I find about 1 in 10 is not what you thought you were getting. Occasionally that means you get a beautifully high-grade copy but usually it means something is flawed. I'm getting close to the point where I want to give up on eBay and stick with the retailers, but things come up on eBay that just don't show up in the shops, so it's tricky...

Marionette wrote: It's not even the first time I've seen something like this, which describes something as high grade other than a single gaping flaw which somehow doesn't factor in to the general quality.

Yes, I've noticed that too. Some people's idea of 'excellent condition' is about as unreliable as their description of 'good for its age'. Makes me wonder what they'd consider 'damaged' to mean.

It always amuses me when people see fit to remind us that something published in 1990 is "25 YEARS OLD!!!!"

I received some Red Star Weeklies that i won on ebay a couple of weeks back and the 1958 issues had a nice eight page comic section in the centre. Here is one of the strips but I cannot identify the artist. Not even sure if it isn't a syndicated strip as there are some American strips in the eight pages.

That style looks American. Reminds me a little of Jack Kamen's work but I don't think it is by him.

Did the Americans do strips like that with the text beneath the picture? Now that you've mentioned Jack Kamen it looks even more American to me - shades of Milton Cannif.

Here's the only other two pages I have. Sadly the eight page strip section wasn't in the 1956 or 1957 issues so was probably short lived. Shame but then it was a ladies magazine rather than for kids.