Tales From The Quarter Bin--Charlton, The Partridge Family, And Synergy!

Let's get this out of the way: my sister was a HUGE fan of the Partridge Family, so I was exposed to waaaay to much of it in my impressionable youth.



Well, whatever the reason, I can't be too harsh on the show, or the "band." Perfectly typical early 70s sitcom, and perfectly serviceable (and ofttimes quite catchy pop-rock). So sue me.

And of course, they had their own comic book:

Again, a mostly harmless adaptation of a mostly harmless sitcom about a mostly harmless faux band. It was the early 70s, man!

But indulge me for one second, as I present every single advertisement from this particular comic book:

Yeah, Charlton managed some incredible synergy here, with almost every ad being Partridge Family related. No Sea Monkeys, no X-ray glasses,  no Grit or greeting card salesman offers, no Kung Fu lessons. If nothing else, Charlton certainly knew to tailor the ads to the book's audience!

But if you look more closely, you'll see that every single ad--all of them--have you sending money to Charlton Publishing HQ, and making your checks payable to Charlton. EVERY. ONE.

Charlton Publishing did publish and distribute magazines, including Hit Parader and Song Hits. I don't think they ever owned Tiger Beat, but maybe as a distributor they worked out a deal to get a bunch of copies of their Partridge Family specials. Or maybe it was just part and parcel of their Partridge Family license.

Whatever the circumstances, I find it fascinating that at a time when comics were still very dependent on advertising dollars, Charlton found a way to not only eliminate outside ads, but to have every single ad causing people to mail them money.

Anyway, enjoy some song lyrics:

From Partridge Family #15 (1973)