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VINTAGRAPH • WPA • WWII • YOU MEAN A WOMAN CAN OPEN IT?

Monster Kid: 1971

For those unfamiliar with the term, "Monster Kid" has become something of an official designation for that subset of the post-WWII baby-boomer demographic that consisted of young and adolescent boys who: read and collected science-fiction and fantasy paperbacks and super-hero comic books, assembled plastic models of movie monsters, subscribed to Famous Monsters of Filmland, wheedled their parents into letting them stay up late whenever Frankenstein, Dracula, The Wolf Man or The Mummy came on TV and oft-times made their own epics with their dad's 8mm movie camera. My friend and model- and diorama-making collaborator Doug, who I captured on Kodachrome in the kitchen of his folks' home in Ross, California perusing an Edgar Rice Burroughs SF novel, fit that profile and, like many others, never lost the passion. I wasn't an MK myself, but was into models and movies, so we eventually took his dad's camera and experimented with stop-motion depictions of fiery toy car cliff-plunges and the like. Alas, our elaborate c.1964 production of Doctor Faustus has remained an unfinished masterpiece. View full size.

For those unfamiliar with the term, "Monster Kid" has become something of an official designation for that subset of the post-WWII baby-boomer demographic that consisted of young and adolescent boys who: read and collected science-fiction and fantasy paperbacks and super-hero comic books, assembled plastic models of movie monsters, subscribed to Famous Monsters of Filmland, wheedled their parents into letting them stay up late whenever Frankenstein, Dracula, The Wolf Man or The Mummy came on TV and oft-times made their own epics with their dad's 8mm movie camera. My friend and model- and diorama-making collaborator Doug, who I captured on Kodachrome in the kitchen of his folks' home in Ross, California perusing an Edgar Rice Burroughs SF novel, fit that profile and, like many others, never lost the passion. I wasn't an MK myself, but was into models and movies, so we eventually took his dad's camera and experimented with stop-motion depictions of fiery toy car cliff-plunges and the like. Alas, our elaborate c.1964 production of Doctor Faustus has remained an unfinished masterpiece. View full size.

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Timeless

I agree with Coljar. But then I live in a house built in 1975, still wear my dad's 70s coat, and I am rarely seen without a magazine from the science fiction magazine collection he left for me (currently on December 1957).

PatQ, I grew up on those Burroughs Aces. :)

In style again.

Most everything about this picture suggests it could have been taken today, right down to his haircut, clothes, and the background.

Pulp and Perforations

Ah, the golden-hued edges of pulp paper, already on its way to disintegration. During high school, I managed to collect all 23 Tarzan paperbacks in the unauthorized Ace paperback editions with the splendid covers by Frazetta or someone equally lurid. We too made 8mm "monster movies" featuring the biggest kid lumbering around and knives dripping with ketchup.

Location?

tterrace, that's not your mother's kitchen!

What a Coincidence

When I was about 13 years old, I used to stay over at my friend Doug's house and we'd watch Shock Theater on TV. Our favorite movie was the 1931 classic "Dracula" with Bela Lugosi. That film was a masterpiece. It built all of its suspense with no musical accompaniment.

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