Collecting Calendars: Fun New Year After New Year
This time of year, walk into any bookstore or retailer and you’ll be bombarded by a mind-boggling assortment of calendars for virtually every subject or interest, no matter how obscure. After a year, most will end up in the trash, but a rare few will weather the vagaries of time and taste to become collectibles.
Marilyn Monroe’s iconic “Golden Dreams” nude pose from 1952 is the epitome of calendar collectibles—with authentic specimens fetching hundreds or thousands of bucks—but the Big Bang of the modern calendar industry can be traced to the early 1970s when a handful of savvy publishers realized there was a mint to be made from what had previously been primarily a giveaway—and throwaway—advertising item you got free from the local Texaco.
Calendars go from throwaways to collectibles
Suddenly people were not only buying calendars featuring their favorite pop-culture fetishes but saving them, too, as collectibles. Often packaged in cardboard mailers or envelopes that encouraged hoarding, calendars from this era routinely turn up in online auctions in excellent condition at budget-conscious prices.
The following is an introductory primer examining some of the most time-tested and fan-favorite calendars of the last 30 years.
B. KLIBAN’S CAT—In 1975, Workman Publishing Co. released “Cat,” “Playboy” cartoonist Bernard Kliban’s flaky take on felines (“one hell of a nice animal, frequently mistaken for a meatloaf”). Showcasing Kliban’s tubby black-and-white tabbies engaging in anthropomorphic antics taken to surreal extremes, the book was a phenomenal hit, launching a merchandising juggernaut that included T-shirts, posters, mugs and, of course, calendars.
Workman released the first Kliban Cat Calendar in 1977 with new illustrations by the artist and some retreads from “Cat.” It became the bestselling calendar in the U.S. that year, a feat duplicated every year through 1981. The series later went to a larger, full-color format and today is published by Pomegranate, with the cartoonist’s widow (Kliban died in 1990), Judith Kamman Kliban, guiding the brand with affection and intelligence and assuring fans of always having a wacka-wacka year, as Kliban would say. Take a look at Kliban’s site.
MARVEL COMICS—Debuting in 1975 from Simon & Schuster, this calendar line brilliantly tapped into fanboys’ rabid interest in the Marvel mythos and featured sumptuous illustrations by a who’s who of comic-art masters, including John Romita (cover artist on most editions), John Buscema, George Perez, Herb Trimpe, Frank Brunner, Gil Kane, Gene Colan, Jack Kirby, Mike Ploog, Barry Windsor-Smith and many more.
The date boxes are replete with clever graphics and irreverent notes, quotes, plugs and milestones celebrating not only Marvel’s vast universe of characters but also its creators, known affectionately as the bullpen, whose birthdays are acknowledged throughout. Following the 1975 calendar, subsequent editions were themed: 1976—Bicentennial; 1977—Memory Album; 1978—Spider-Man (arguably the best early Marvel calendar, with gorgeous art panels and a special “anti-Spidey” edition of The Daily Bugle); 1979—The Hulk; 1980—Doctor Strange; 1981—20th Anniversary.
“STAR TREK” AND “STAR WARS”—Ballantine Books issued the first “Star Trek” and “Star Wars” photo calendars in 1976 and 1978, respectively. Ingeniously packaged inside sturdy cardboard mailers, the calendars were ready to be shipped to your favorite Vulcan in a galaxy far, far away (ye geeks, pardon the mixed metaphor, please). The 1976-1979 “Classic Trek” calendars feature the anal-retentive innovation of “stardates”—January 1, 1976, becomes 7601.01, for instance—in addition to traditional dates (which Trekkies are not known for having). Both calendar lines sport nifty center-spread posters devoted to the franchises’ iconic characters.
Ballantine Books offered the first “official” Tolkien calendar in 1973, featuring drawings by Professor Tolkien and Pauline Baynes, beginning a long association with the brand that peaked creatively with a trio of calendars (1976-1978) illustrated by fantasy legends Greg and Tim Hildebrandt.
Kevin Cook is a pop-culture junkie who owns more calendars than is normal for a grown man.