The Golden Age laughable book appeal that collector call the " Eldon Pedigree " has become democratic with collector , but there ’s an interesting bend .
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As we ’ve noted in posts aboutLamont Larson , thePromise Collection , andEdgar Churchamong others over the years , provenance has always been important to serious comic book accumulator . Comic book are more than the sum of their contents , and sift through the sound reflection of comic strip history , which includes the reader who buy them , is valuable . The stories of the people who created , print , distributed , sold , and purchased comic books throughout the decennary helps us realize what the world was like during those time . This is why CGC denotes a number ofcomic book pedigree collectionson their labels . The Eldon Pedigree collection is every bit as interesting as some of the more notable comic book pedigrees , especially because the backstory come with an unexpected twist . There are copies offour issue ofJumbo Comicsfrom the Eldon Pedigree at the 2024 July 7 - 9 Sunday , Monday & TuesdayComic Books Select Auction # 122428at Heritage Auctions .
The Eldon Pedigree was officiallydesignated by CGC in 2019 in an announcement that included five newly recognized pedigree collection . detail about the range and nature of the collection had been emerging in recent years as collector link up and liken notes on the internet . The collection had become remarkable to vintage comic Holy Scripture buyers because it is promptly identified by the handwritten name " Eldon " on the cover or elsewhere on the comics . One requirement of a pedigree designation is that the collection must primarily have been accumulated by an original owner who bought the comic books off the newsstand . But in a engrossing plot twist , it would come along that the backstory for this pedigree , as described by CGC , focuses on the wrong original owner .
Incredibly , based onyears of accumulated evidenceon the CGC forum and elsewhere , it can be once and for all determined that there were three comic - collecting Eldons who wrote their name on the covers of their comics during the Golden Age and whose comics have come to the aid of collector . Most confusingly , two of these mirthful al-Qur’an readers wrote their name " Eldon " in cursive on their comics , lived in neighboring midwestern states , and went on to serve in the Korean War , and this is the crux of the matter of the question about the background of the Eldon Pedigree . Fortunately , the details and differences between the comic books owned by the three Eldons can be determined from mailing labels and filled - out coupon on the mirthful book and from a close examination of the handwriting among other elements .
Eldon John Hamman , ( 1934 - 1987 ) of Rock Rapids , Iowa hada subscription toTrue Comicsin the tardy 1940s via his father . Of course , the mailing labels and a handwritten full name " Eldon Hamman " ( along with his sister Iva ’s name)on at least one occasiondefinitively links these comics to Hamman . A faithful look at the handwriting on these comics reveals that the " E " and " l " almost alwaysconnect together at the bottom , and that the handwriting overall has a comparatively politic , confident style . As of this written material , there seems to be no conclusive evidence that any Eldon Hamman comic books besides issues ofTrue Comicshave occur to marketplace . It is Hammanwho has been linkedto the Eldon Pedigree by CGC , but because of these details , this look to be an fault .
Eldon Dedini(1921 - 2006 ) wasa noted cartoonistwhose work appeared inEsquire , theNew YorkerandPlayboyamong others . In 2010 , Philip Weiss Auctions sold a telephone number of comics from what was identify as Dedini ’s " monolithic aggregation " of later 1930s to early 1940s risible books which he purchased off of the newsstand , many in high grade and with many keys present . These comics normally includeda striking number code on the book binding , sometimeswithout a name , sometimes with Dedini ’s full name " Eldon Dedini"hand printed in block Capital , and sometimes withjust the last name"Dedini " used as well . There is little room for mix-up between know comics from the Eldon Dedini collection and the other Eldons due to obvious hand differences , the very prominent number computer code , and no known exemplar of first - name - only usance . That said , if the dependable range of the accumulation is as Weiss line in 2010 , the Dedini collection might someday deserve a parentage of its own . [ 2025 update : Jenny Robb , Head Curator of Comics and Cartoon Art at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at the Ohio State University , tell me that some of Dedini ’s comics were donatedalong with his nontextual matter and newspaper , and that some of the comics had his brother ’s name on them as well . train thelisting of the Dedini holdings , I see items that let in the first appearance of Archie inPep Comics # 22,Jumbo Comics # 6 , 7,New Adventure Comics # 12 , 14 , 17,Detective Picture Stories # 1,New Comics # 5 , 11,Funny Pages # 3 , 7 , 8and a number of others . ]
Eldon M. Tuffentsamer(1928 - 1978 ) of Morton , Illinois had wide range interests in a number of publishing company including Fiction House , Lev Gleason , Fawcett , DC Comics , and Marvel among others from roughly 1940 - 1945 . Tuffentsamer wrote his name in aprinted script stylein many of the other issues of the collection , before flip-flop to cursive . His cursive mode alwaysloops the " einsteinium " at the bottomrather than connecting it to the " l " as Hamman did , and is often a somewhat more cramped style . There are a identification number of component that plug in Tuffentsamer to this much declamatory body of funnies , include the function of " Tuffy " ( likely a soubriquet establish on his last name ) on some book , " Eldon M. T. " ( first name plus initial ) and evenhis full namecan also be found . Critically , there is at least one illustration ofhis cursive styleon the front screening and a voucher occupy out inhis printed handwriting styleon the back binding of the same comedian which links both styles to Tuffentsamer . The signature onhis 1946 potation registration cardalso utterly matches the cursive writing on his comic books . Outside of theTrue Comicsissues linked to Hamman and the distinctive constituent of the Dedini funnies , a big body of grounds supports linking all other Eldon comic books to Tuffenstamer as of this writing . In other watchword , Eldon M. Tuffentsammer is " the correct Eldon " of the Eldon Pedigree .
Tuffentsamer was a womb-to-tomb house physician of Morton , Illinois and an army veteran of the Korean War . Prior to put down the service in November 1950 , he had worked in the auto fixing shop class of the Morton Ford dealership . According to military records , he was earnestly wounded in action by a projectile in October 1951 in North Korea , returning to tariff the next January . He reach out to the rank of Corporal before his August 1952 dismissal . Eldonmarried in 1951and the duo had five baby . He serve as a police force ship’s officer in Morton 1960 - 1977 , follow in his father ’s footsteps in that regard , according to 1940 nose count records . It appears that Eldon Tuffentsamer may have passed his love of comic Quran on to at least one of his fry . A 1969Peoria Journal Starprofile of his 14 year sure-enough Logos Ricki , a carrier for the paper , lists one of his hobbies as " commercial cartoon type drawing . "
By some accounts , Eldon Tuffentsamer ’s comic book accumulation had surfaced among the collector community by the mid-1980s , and it has advance stature over the past decade or so as collectors have begun to understand the background of the collection . sport issue of a historic Golden Age title of respect from an of import bloodline collection , there are copies offour issues ofJumbo Comicsfrom his collection at the 2024 July 7 - 9 Sunday , Monday & TuesdayComic Books Select Auction # 122428at Heritage Auctions .
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