Doc Savage premium envelope return address
The beautiful Doc Savage set of two premium pictures from Street & Smith are a most desirable addition to any collection. The pictures were obtained by cutting 3 consecutive coupons from Doc Savage magazines. Curiously, the pictures were of different sizes.
Dpoc Savage premium picture
A complete 1936 kit consists of the following, an 8.5 x 10.25″ picture of Doc with his tie blowing in the wind (perhaps the best premium picture of all), cardboard backer of the same size, a Street & Smith Subscription folder & envelope with a string closure on the back. The 9 x 12″ mailer has no return address. The subscription folder describes the Doc Savage Adventures as, “Bold undertakings of modern Sir Galahad…rides to the help of the helpless…as modern as to-morrow’s newspaper headlines…with his five scrappy pals Doc Savage tracks down evildoers in all parts of the globe…physical and mental giant…book-length novel of Doc’s dangerous conquests in every issue…together with daring short adventure stories…illustrated…on sale third Friday of each month.” This art was used for the cover of the 1936 Doc Savage pulp, “The Quest of Qui.” Another mailer has been discovered with a picture of Doc Savage & return address on the upper left. The picture is the same as the picture on the 1937 envelope. The 1936 & 1937 envelopes are a different size.
The 1937 kit consists of a 8 x 11″ full length picture of Doc in a bathing suit, cardboard backer of the same size & envelope with a return address and a portrait of Doc Savage above the address.
No string closure on the back of the 8.25 x 11.25″ envelope. The art was used on the cover of the 1937 Doc Savage pulp, “The Sea Angel.” This picture originally came with a Street & Smith Subscription Folder!
The cardboard backing is an important feature! There are TWO sizes of the 1936 picture, the other size has a larger border (same sized picture) and is 8.75 x 11.25″, possibly a prototype. Having the backer helps identify which picture goes where because the larger picture would also fit into the 1936 mailer.
Tags: doc savage, pulp premiums
