X-Ray Specs! Sea Monkeys!

Remember all those ads in the back of comic books when you were a kid? Did you ever order the ant farm (complete with stock of live ants!) or were you more the Junior Achiever-type that sold stuff to your unsuspecting relatives and neighbors for crappy prizes? Stuff like Christmas cards, the ever popular Grit magazine (go, Gritboy!) or maybe even salve. Yes, I said salve. Kids. Selling salve. Door to door. Salve.

And what's the deal with the miniature dogs and monkeys? Were these the real deal or were they just dolls or what? What did you really see when you look ed through those X-Ray Glasses? So many questions, so little time...

The one thing I do remember ordering was the Very Special People book. In fact, I still have it. Great stuff on John "The Elephant Man" Merrick, Robert Wadlow: "The World's Tallest Man" and Grace McDaniels a/k/a "The Mule-Faced Woman", and others.

(via Scrubbles)