Kids and Comics in 1969/70

Most kids in 1969 &70 were only vaguely aware of the social upheaval; they were concerned with gold metal flake 5-speed bikes with banana seats.  Things like trading football cards with your friends then attaching them to your bike spokes with clothes pins was a priority.  Arguing with your brother about which car is best, Matchbox or Hotwheels.  Running through the house like a lunatic when you heard the words, “Space, the final frontier…”  Then there was the day that every kid lived for, their existence depending on Saturday morning and the flood of cartoons.  Hours of mesmerizing characters and violence danced before you in Technicolor.  There was no way to tape a show or Tivo it, you either saw it or you didn’t.  Imagine a time when your biggest choice of the week was which show to watch Scooby Doo and the Banana Splits?  The choices got worse as lunch approached, Wacky Races vs. Underdog vs. American Bandstand.  The choice might have been made for you though, odds are good that if you had an older teenage sibling in the house the television (because you only had one TV) was on Bandstand.

One of the most interesting things that I learned in my research was the bond between Saturday morning cartoons and comic books.  You would think that there was SOME crossover between the two but listen to this.  The Saturday morning TV schedule for 1969 included 24 cartoons or live action shows for kids.  Of those 24 shows, 20 had comic books or 83%.  That’s an astounding number of tie-ins.  Frankly the cartoons that didn’t get a comic book deserved to be left off the comic book rack.  Who really remembers “Jambo” or “Here comes the Grump” anyway?  Here’s the list that made it to the funny pages:

            If you were a kid in 69/70 you could only watch “your” shows on Saturday morning but at least you could make it through the week with a comic book adaptation.  When your Mom was shopping at the local 5 and dime store or the grocery store maybe you could talk her into buying you a comic or two.  “Alright dear, I’ll buy it as long as you promise not to have nightmares about Witchiepoo stealing your stuff again.”