I'm interviewing Nat Gertler on Jim Freund's “Hour of the Wolf” tonight (March 28/29) at 1 AM. He's reprinted some of Charles Schulz's non-Peanuts work & issues of Capt. Billy's Whiz-Bang. And several editions of the Green Book, which, during Jim Crow, helped black people find gas stations, hotels, restaurants, etc. to go to. Like the Gay Yellow Pages does now. There's an exhibit about it at a NYC museum at Columbus Circle right now. Nat co-founded the annual 24 Hour Comics Day, co-wrote The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating a Graphic Novel and reprinted one of Diane Duane's graphic novels.
Capt. Billy's Whizbang was the first Fawcett publication. Fawcett is best known among comics fans as the publisher of Captain Marvel, who debuted in Whiz Comics and whose name was Billy Batson, but they publish puzzle magazines nowadays. The non-Peanuts comic strip by Charles Schulz was "It's Only a Game," which was about sports and games and it's interesting to see what are essentially adult versions of Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, Violet, Schroeder, etc. The Green Book originally was published annually from 1936-1967 and younger black people have often never heard of it. Diane Duane's graphic novel, "The Misadventures of Prince Ivan" was originally published in issues of "The Dreamery" from Eclipse Comics in the late '80s.
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Sidney Smith I think three. Not sure. There's rumor of more in limited editions for a few news stands.Manage
Sidney Smith Yes as I say in my comment my family used it when we traveled. It listed the few safe places we could use while on the road.Manage
Sidney Smith Not all Esso stations were safe outside of cities. let's say they were somewhat safer than most. Mobil-Flying Horse was always better for us on the road. I imagine it was a corporate decision thing early on. For the others it was mostly the attitude of whoever was running the individual stations. Esso as it happened just had more reasonable folks in their trade. As for portable Johns yeah it was called stopping the car, and taking the kids to the bushes. Btw the worst was "Sunoco" gas stations. These were the "Denny's" of Jim Crow gas stations. The Green Book was specific about them guys..."Danger Danger Will Robinson!"Manage
Ken Gale At the museum exhibit (southern end of Columbus Circle, for a few more days), they said that Esso was the only large gas chain that would allow black people to have a franchise and that most of them were safe, even if not black-run. The exhibit has a bookcase full of books from or about the Jim Crow era, including 1940, 1954 & 1964 Green Books.Manage
Sidney Smith Yes I think I remember when in Georgia visiting family when I was a young kid. Black people running some of them. The Esso stations as I said were mostly safe for Coloreds...mostly. They should re-publish some of the Green Books. That or perhaps someone could do a compilation. Folks should know what it was like then. Though things are still bad...the shoot us dead instead of lynch us now. Still that time, and it's still very much alive post Civil War culture should be remembered.
Ken Gale aboutcomics.com HAS republished some of the Green Books. Besides listings, which clearly were meant to be used with maps, they also had tourist attractions listed. The 1940 book's comments on NYC's Chinatown were very interesting, especially when I think of how Chinatown was so often portrayed on the Golden Age of Radio shows Max plays. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is NOT listed and it turns out that they had whites-only days.Manage
Sidney Smith True the Met was a place my folks never took us. I didn't understand why at the time. I'd have to look up the specific Jim Crow rules they used, and the dates they used them through. It's no surprise that to this day I have never been to the Met. It just became an off limits area that stuck. Those of us that live during Jim Crow have reflexive reactions to certain places. Even whole regions that were unsafe for us. To this day I'm uncomfortable traveling deep on to Long Island. Even though now it's far more multicultural. Back then if you weren't a maid driver or laborer you had problems. In my mind's eye it's still "Whites Only". I imagine it always will be. This despite the large Indian Paki Mexican Haitian population out there now. Racism leaves strange scars.Manage
Ken Gale There was a children's book about the Green Book at the museum that I read. From the point of view of a little girl traveling from Chicago with her parents to visit her grandparents in Alabama or Mississippi.
