Was Action Comics #1 distributed in Canada? 0

[Wayne-Tec]

Looking over the list of “winners” from the Action Comics #1 coloring page contest, one winner is listed as being from Canada?

Was Action Comics #1 distributed in Canada?

Detective Comics #27? Superman #1?

[Bronty]

Should have been?   Wasn't until 1941 that WECA came into effect.

So the big keys should have been distributed here but the later keys (Cap 1 etc, 1941-1946) wouldn't have been, which is consistent with what we see in the few Cdn pedigrees

Edited April 14, 2019 by Bronty

[Bronty]

That being said I'm sure distribution was spottier.

Windsor is right across the river from Detroit so its hard to say which side of the border she bought the book on.

[telerites]

I found this website which seems pretty reliable.  @Bronty mentioned the WECA, and the content talks about how this laid the groundwork for the flourishing of Canadian comic book publishers, titles and heroes. 

Some quotes from the content -

"To say the least, Donenfeld's doubts proved to be unfounded, and Action was soon followed by a flood of American superhero comics, which found a huge audience in both the United States and Canada." 

"With the coming of war for Canada in September 1939, the popularity of American comics continued to grow. However, as Canadian government officials responded to the overwhelming demands of the war economy, emergency measures were being formulated that would abruptly deprive kids in Canada of the breath-taking adventures of Superman, Captain Marvel, and the other American superheroes."

"In December 1940, as Canada's trade deficit with the US grew, and British gold shipments were curtailed, government intervention in the economy broadened with the introduction of the War Exchange Conservation Act."

Link (I only read through the page I am linking and the next which seems to focus on the time period @Wayne-Tec is talking about

https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/comics/027002-8300-e.html

 

[Chicago Boy]

Interesting read.  Thx fir the Topic 

[pemart1966]

15 hours ago, Wayne-Tec said:

Looking over the list of “winners” from the Action Comics #1 coloring page contest, one winner is listed as being from Canada?

Was Action Comics #1 distributed in Canada?

Detective Comics #27? Superman #1?

There was also another Canadian winner - 1st column...

Edited April 15, 2019 by pemart1966

[sfcityduck]

6 hours ago, Bronty said:

That being said I'm sure distribution was spottier.

Windsor is right across the river from Detroit so its hard to say which side of the border she bought the book on.

Isn't Windsor South of Detroit?

[fishbone]

Technically ..... we think east though usually

 

 

[Bronty]

yeah.  I'm not far from there either.   I have to go north to go to the US!

[sarvajnatman]

When I interviewed Bell Feature artist Jack Tremblay (born 1926), he said that he bought copies of Action 1 and Detective 27 off the newsstands in Montreal.

[Bronty]

44 minutes ago, sarvajnatman said:

When I interviewed Bell Feature artist Jack Tremblay (born 1926), he said that he bought copies of Action 1 and Detective 27 off the newsstands in Montreal.

That is great to get a first hand confirmation.

I'd bet it was Toronto, Montreal, just the biggest cities.   Rural areas were SOL I bet, particularly rural areas in the west.

I can't imagine that someone in, say, Yellowknife had access to Action 1.     But just going on gut there based on the physical challenge of getting books across this country at that time and the tiny populations in those far flung centres at the time.   

And, also, based on the fact that what few GA finds come from canada seem to all be from the bigger centres. 

Edited April 19, 2019 by Bronty

[aardvark88]

8 minutes ago, Bronty said:

I'd bet it was Toronto, Montreal, just the biggest cities.   Rural areas were SOL I bet, particularly rural areas in the west.

I can't imagine that someone in, say, Yellowknife had access to Action 1.  

I would imagine that Action #1 would have been distributed to all the mag shops and newsstands in Western Canada railway stations like Winnipeg, Calgary, and Vancouver, BC, etc.

[Bronty]

2 minutes ago, aardvark88 said:

I would imagine that Action #1 would have been distributed to all the mag shops and newsstands in Western Canada railway stations like Winnipeg, Calgary, and Vancouver, BC, etc.

That makes sense.   All the train stops.   But no further north I suspect.

Edited April 19, 2019 by Bronty

[aardvark88]

5 minutes ago, Bronty said:

  All the train stops.   But no further north I suspect.

Add Edmonton, AB train stop but I imagine no further north distribution due to lower population of towns in 1938.

[DanCooper]

On 4/14/2019 at 4:27 PM, Wayne-Tec said:

Looking over the list of “winners” from the Action Comics #1 coloring page contest, one winner is listed as being from Canada?

Was Action Comics #1 distributed in Canada?

Detective Comics #27? Superman #1?

Interesting, I had not seen this coloring contest winners list before. Thanks!

Also interesting is in column 1, a Hawaiian winner (Ralph Jay) from when Hawaii was a territory.

Summer 1938 would be three plus years prior to Pearl Harbor and 20+ years from Hawaii becoming a US State.

[Bronty]

The Hawaii point is interesting.   I bet they were distributed there for purposes of being sold to servicemen.   I wonder if other strategic military outposts outside the US similarly had Action 1's sold there.

[woowoo]

I think it's strange DC does not have all the sale info on all this stuff. How many copy's. How many sold. How many returns. Places they where sold. Best place they where sold for sales. All this stuff info they needed.

They know when Superman was on the cover sales went up a lot.

[Bronty]

The main reason those types of records are kept past a year or two (ie for more than short term decision making purposes) is for tax purposes.    So after 7 years or whatever... when the tax records no longer have to be kept... sayonara.   SHRED.

I mean, if no one saw the value in keeping the original cover art to Superman 1, why would we think they'd keep rooms full of dusty records very long either.   IMHO its just wishful thinking but unfortunately not reflective of reality.    This was the day of all manual everything.    Ledgers, receipts, records, all that stuff takes up a ton of space when its all in physical format, pre-computers.

I'm sure they had a record room, and I'd suggest every few years the oldest stuff got tossed to make room for the newer records more relevant to the good old IRS.

I highly doubt the accountants in charge of that record room in 1946 gave a hoot about or saw any value whatsoever in the detailed 1938 sales records down to the individual magazine level.    They wanted the boxes of junk gone so that they could make space.   They were worried about producing 1946 filings, and/or welcoming back servicemen, not worrying about work project from 7-8 years ago. 

Ask yourself, do you have every scrap of paper from 2011?   When you are at work, do you spend time on what the company was doing 8 years ago?    Would we expect Sears Roebuck to be able to tell us the amount of size 9 men's brown leather shows they sold in 1938?

 

Edited April 20, 2019 by Bronty

[telerites]

On 4/14/2019 at 3:27 PM, Wayne-Tec said:

Looking over the list of “winners” from the Action Comics #1 coloring page contest, one winner is listed as being from Canada?

Was Action Comics #1 distributed in Canada?

Detective Comics #27? Superman #1?

Wouldn't it be something if any of these people hung on to their comics or the books remain within their family.

[pemart1966]

5 hours ago, telerites said:

Wouldn't it be something if any of these people hung on to their comics or the books remain within their family.

Even if they did, all of the Action 1 copies would be missing at least one page