A short time after my father (Jim) passed away, I ran across a collection of books being sold on eBay – many of which were signed “Jimmy Peterson” and a few stamped “The Publishers News Co. Perry Iowa.” It instantly took me back to when I was a kid in Iowa riffling through stacks of my dad’s own collection.
Over the ensuing months I estimated 1,000 books were sold. Most were relatively higher grade, averaging Very Fine (8.0). The vast majority were Dell funny books. The seller listed them has having been “acquired from the original owner who was very careful when reading the comics taking excellent care of them. He protected them and kept them all perfectly flat for all these years.” This is supported from the note written on the cover of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies “Jimmy said take good care of these and he’s worrying about his others”
From the 25 comics I purchased, publishing dates spanned six years ranging between November 1945 to September 1951. Of the group, eleven had Jimmy’s name or signature and/or store stamp on them (browse images below). My purchases included Four Color (Porky Pig), Marge’s Little Lulu, New Funnies, Tom and Jerry Comics and Tom Mix Western.
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