THEGIVEAWAYSTORIES

FIRESTONE

From 1943 the American tyre/tire company Firestone had a number of 20-page comic books published. The books had advertisements for Firestone on all 4 covers and were distributed to Firestone's dealers at Christmas. They in turn gave them away to customers (and their kids!) for free. The first issue was titled Firestone Presents Comics but future issues were all titled Donald and Mickey Merry Christmas from Firestone.

			FG 1945 Donald Duck's Best Christmas - 1945 Pages: 8 Synopsis: Donald and the nephews rent a horse-drawn sleigh to visit Grandma Duck over Christmas. But the trip is not a simple one... Comments: First Barks story featuring Grandma.

			FG 1946 Santa's Stormy Visit - 1946 Pages: 8 Synopsis: Donald manages a lighthouse that is pestered by an albatross. Furthermore he has forgotten to buy Christmas presents for his nephews... Comments: All later editions incorporate diverse altered panels.

			FG 1947 Three Good Little Ducks - 1947 Pages: 8 Synopsis: It is Christmas Eve and the nephews fear that Donald has forgotten their presents. They decide to be extremely good... Comments: The title was possibly a swipe at Westerns line of 'cute' children's books.

			FG 1948 Toyland - 1948 Pages: 8 Synopsis: Donald and the nephews are invited by Santa himself to come and test his toys. They are wasting no time... Comments: Barks rewrote another artist's script. Firestone asked Barks to mellow the ducks' facial expressions.

			FG 1949 New Toys - 1949 Pages: 8 Synopsis: The nephews want lots of toys for Christmas but Donald refuses as they already have enough toys. They decide to earn some money themselves... Comments: Barks ends up portraying the nephews as thoroughly self-sacrificing characters.

See more at
www.comicsinfo.dk/firestonegiveaway.htm

MARCH OF COMICS (MOC)

The longest-lasting Disney character giveaway series started in 1946 and ran for several decades. It bore the somewhat complicated title Boys' and Girls' March of Comics (MOC) and was published as a promotional for all sorts of retail stores and department stores trying to boost sales on shoes, bicycles, detergents, and so on. MOC was published irregularly throughout the years which also accounts for the several hundreds of issues published.

			MOC04 Maharajah Donald - 1947 Pages: 28 Synopsis: Through clever trading, the nephews end up with a ticket to India which Donald commandeers. During the trip a Maharajah has a task for him... Comments: Barks also made a 2-pager titled The Peaceful Hills.

			MOC20 Darkest Africa - 1948 Pages: 22 Synopsis: Donald is a butterfly hunter and he is hired to go to Africa and collect the world's rarest butterfly. A villainous competitor follows... Comments: In the later editions the natives' appearances were altered. Barks made a similar story in DD54 Forbidden Valley from 1957.

			MOC41 Race to the South Seas - 1949 Pages: 22 Synopsis: Donald and Gladstone Gander are each given a yacht from Scrooge McDuck who apparently has been marooned on an island. They both try to be the first to rescue him... Comments: In the later editions some of the story panels underwent minor alterations.

See more at
www.comicsinfo.dk/marchofcomicsgiveaway.htm

CHEERIOS

In the 1940s two American producers of cereals, Cheerios and Wheaties, launched massive campaigns in which they mailed newly-written Disney comic book material to customers who had sent in a cereal box top. In 1947 the Cheerios customers received an oblong, one-tier pocket-size comic book containing stories starring many different Disney characters such as Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Pluto, and Brer Rabbit. For their campaign Cheerios issued 4 sets named W, X, Y, and Z and each set contained 4 issues numbered from 1 to 4 - in all 16 books with 32 pages in each.

CG Y1 Donald Duck's Atom Bomb - 1949

Pages: 10 standard pages broken into 3-tiers

Synopsis: Donald invents a bomb that goes 'fut' instead of 'boom'. This is because it has a very special quality...

Comments: This is a so-called strip story defined as a narrative sequence of cartoon panels published in a horizontal layout.

See more HERE

See more at
www.comicsinfo.dk/cheeriosgiveaway.htm

ELECTRICITY COMPANIES

The Kites Giveaways were specialized stories that can be seen as some sort of mini-series where the first issue came in 1953 and was titled Pinocchio Learns About Kites, but the next year a new issue drawn by Barks was published under the title Donald Duck Tells About Kites. The story was a special order from three power companies (Florida Power and Light Company, Southern California Edison Company, and Pacific Gas and Electric Company). It was an instructional story about how to treat electric power in a safe way.

KG Donald Duck Tells About Kites - 1954

Pages: 8

Synopsis: The nephews are playing with their kites in dangerous ways and Donald has to reprimand them.

Comments: Barks made slight text alterations in the splash panels allowing for the necessary use of the different company names. Furthermore, in the Pacific version he was asked to provide three completely different panels incorporating a warning about broken power lines.

See more HERE

http://www.cbarks.dk/THEGIVEAWAYSTORIES.htm

Date 2018-01-20