In response to some questions raised about the hows and whys of Dell comics series subscriptions, I began checking some Dell series in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

And a look at back covers for Walt Disney's Comics & Stories, Little Lulu, and Tarzan showed a variety of approaches -- as you'll see, if you check the hyperlink above. But each brought young readers 12 comic books for $1. Subscription copies arrived folded lengthwise in half with a partial wrapper made out of thin brown paper, the address stamped on that paper. (The resultant fold in the copy was indelible: the proverbial "subscription crease" that survives to this day.) In a day in which finding current comics on local newsstands was a chancy matter, subs guaranteed you wouldn't miss the latest issue. And it was thrilling to have entertainment delivered in what was otherwise mail for the family's adults.

One collector of my acquaintance, by the way, told me years ago (when there were no Disney comics being published) that he planned to put issues of Walt Disney's Comics and Stories in sequence from earlier decades into their own envelopes. He'd then pretend to his child that it was that month's "subscription copy" of the series so that the youngster could have the same thrill he'd had when he was young.

Lots of companies offered subscriptions, but my parents only subscribed to a few of the Dell titles for me. (The way Don knew that an advertised issue of Steve Canyon never existed was that he did have a subscription to the title -- which was completed by Harvey with issues of Sad Sack.)

I've never made much of a study of comic-book subscription plugs from Dell but I think I'm going to check out some more. I already know that the sub push wasn't limited to Christmastime; there were year-round pitches. But their absence in the Four Color series let that showcase title boast "All Comics" on the cover long after its other titles carried advertisements.