Mail-Order Mysteries Book Trailer - Secrets Revealed!

Mail-Order Mysteries: Real Stuff from Old Comic Book Ads!

Amazon link: http://tinyurl.com/mailmystery

This new book written and photographed by Kirk Demarais, author of "Life of the Party: A Visual History of the S.S. Adams Company," helps readers "Rediscover their sense of wonder!"

Generations of comic book readers remember the tantalizing promises of vintage novelty advertisements that offered authentic laser-gun plans, x-ray specs, and even 7-foot-tall monsters (with glow-in-the-dark eyes!). But what would you really get if you entrusted your hard-earned $1.69 to the post office?

Mail-Order Mysteries answers this question, revealing the amazing truths (and agonizing exaggerations) about the actual products marketed to kids in the '60s, '70s, and '80s.

Review
"If childhood disappointment could ever be considered an art form, then Mail-Order Mysteries is a masterpiece. Really. The metaphors for life itself are inescapable, the disillusion heartbreakingly laid bare, the tackiness a drug you just can't quit." - Chip Kidd, graphic designer and author of Bat-Manga!

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• mail
• order
• mysteries
• book
• kirk
• demarais
• comic
• ad
• advertising
• design
• Chip
• Kidd
• retro
• nostalgia
• classic
• novelty
• funny
• vintage
• humor
• books
• comedy
• toys
• x-ray
• specs
• glow-in-the-dark

[captmoonbeam]

what about the submarine with the periscope.

[kidkosmic]

@captmoonbeam It's in the book!

[eluap]

A "glow in the dark book cover"?!! Honest and for true?

[kidkosmic]

@eluap The cover really does glow in the dark!

[Karabinato]

what if i order the book and its not what i expected?

[kidkosmic]

@Karabinato Not knowing is part of the fun!

[WandaYue]

lol I actually want a few of those XD

[rabidreels]

this is now my favorite book of all time.!! thanks

[moviemaking45]

Where can you buy all that stuff now it's actually pretty cool

[allstar2bein2023]

This is book is awesome! I had a great time reading and being nostalgic.

[ConejoZing]

A scary, enigmatic video game character ... wait, no .. it's ... a severely underpowered yet incredibly expensive car. Just another bloody (vampire pig) pen trick.

[knibscratch]

Sea Monkeys don't wear crowns!!!

[Tenguzame99]

@doceigen I remember having that as well!

[FargoMarc]

@doceigen Yep, she occasionally will send me a few... :-)

[doceigen]

@FargoMarc "My mom is still uncovering them in her garden, 35 years later!" And everyone of those ...a smirk and a tear in her eye, ya know what I mean?

[doceigen]

@happybro1 It was the excitement of waiting, running to the mailbox, thinking about getting stuff in the mail and ripping open the package that was more important than what I finally got. I once sent for a submarine that you put an alka seltzer type foaming pellets into and it would 'dive and surface' over and over from that pellet... it DIED after about a week, never to dive and surface on its own again... BUT IT WAS THE BEST TOY EVER! Yeah... kids.

[MrFeatheredSerpent]

I remember some of this stuff in the galleria mall's gag shop, back in the early 90's. LOL