Fox Giants and other annuals/giants. Where did the books come from? What were returns like in the 1940's/1950's? 0

[SOTIcollector]

I love the GA giants and annuals, and I'm happy to have acquired a few Fox Giants over the years.  However, I'm curious about the contents and hoping one of the more seasoned collectors here can enlighten me.

I'm quite familiar with the fact that a typical Fox Giant is made up of four coverless Fox books, rebound, with a new cover added, and then trimmed on three sides.  The guts of a Fox Giant are typically described as "remindered" books.

I'm also familiar with the fact that back in the old newsstand distribution days books were not necessarily returned whole.  Instead, a news dealer would slice off the logo, report the books as destroyed, and send the logo back to the distributor for credit.  At least, that's what happened to some comics in the 60's, which is why we sometimes see Silver Age books with the logo sliced off.  

The term "remaindered" makes me think that the books are unsold copies that were returned.  Which brings me to my question.  Where did the books come from?  At the time these Giants were created (from about 1945 to 1954 or so), was it common practice for entire unsold comics to be returned to the publisher?  If so, then mystery solved and it's obvious where the remaindered books came from.  If unsold books were not fully returned, and only the covers (or portions of covers) were send back when books were unsold, then where did Fox (and EC and St. John) get the "remaindered" books from which they built their giants/annuals?

A Google search didn't get me my answer, and a search of the boards turned up this old thread about Fox Giants, but I was still left scratching my head and figured I'd put it out to the wise and helpful crew here.

 

[rjpb]

Good question. Maybe they came from print over runs. 

[SOTIcollector]

While re-reading the 1955 US Senate report on comics and juvenile delinquency, I came across my answer.  It appears that it was common for entire books to be returned in their entirety.

"The newsdealer is charged for the entire contents of the bundle he receives. However, the newsdealer may return the comic books, if they remain unsold, as in the case of other items, and receive credit. The Wholesaler may route the returns to other dealers. When it is finally determined that certain returns are not salable, the wholesaler returns them to the distributor, for use in his accounting with the publisher, returning either the comic books themselves or their covers. There is also a practice in the industry of putting groups of returned comics books into thicker books, and reissuing them under a new title and cover for a sale price of 25 cents."