If you’ve ever read about Scrappy’s Own Magazine before, I have a hunch it was in this piece, which I wrote back in August of 2005. I said I might eventually post the magazine in its entirety. And here you are — only eight years later.
I only know a little bit more about this publication than I did in 2007. It was produced by Evanco Products Corp. of Madison Avenue in New York, which was apparently associated with the Engel-Van Wiseman Book Corporation, which published Big Little Book-like movie adaptations in the mid-1930s and at least signed a deal to do fairy-tale tomes based on Ub Iwerks’ ComicColor cartoons.
The Scrappy magazine apparently came out in late 1935. Judging from the quantity of references to Runkel Brothers chocolate, that company had a hand in instigating it, and it was given out at movie theaters. Here’s an evocative, star-filled ad from the December 6 Woodbridge Independent of New Jersey which mentions it.
Scrappy’s Own Magazine is in a comic book-like format, and is almost–but not quite–a comic book. It does have four pages of comics, but it’s dominated by brief features of other sorts — puzzles, a fudge recipe, a short story which may or may not be about Yippy, a Pledge of Allegiance-like motto for kids, drawing lessons, a creepy poem involving the possibility of Scrappy and Yippy dying in their sleep and much, much more. It’s Scrappy, so it goes without saying that a lot of it is a tad peculiar. (I like the fact that Scrappy and Oopy’s “mum” appears to be a wizened senior citizen.)
This issue makes repeated reference to a second issue being in the works, but I’ve seen no evidence that one was ever released. Then again, almost the only evidence I have that the first issue was published is the fact that I own a copy — even by Scrappy standards, it seems to be a rare artifact.
Anyhow, here are all thirty-two pages of it. Click on the cover, then keep clicking to see everything at a legible size.
True the prayer seemed a bit strange but that whole “If I should die before I wake” thing always struck me as weird. I used to read a lot and I was always thinking that if I had to go it wouldn’t be until I finished whatever I was reading. Here however Scrappy is just saying that if he and Yippy die together before they wake, he is asking that God let’s Yippy into heaven with him. On the other hand prize #3, and its accompanying photo, in that jingle contest looks pretty suspicious to me for Scrappy aged kiddies even by today’s standards.
All in all the mag looks pretty good and would have been terrific in color. Who knows? maybe they would have made Scrappy’s Mom a blonde.
GREAT site.