Throughout the nineteen sixties, seventies and eighties, most issues of Archie Comics featured a two-page spread titled Archie Club News. The banner at the top of the page announced, "ARCHIE CLUB MEMBERS send in your reports and be eligible to win cash prizes in the Archie Series Magazines." The results of this venture were generally irrelevant notes sent in like, "Dear Archie, I want to tell you about my infection..." Often what was sent in appeared to be part of a class project. Elementary school children were in the process of learning how to write letters and encouraged by a teacher to send something Riverdale way. Sometimes the letters were weird or even profound and other times prophetic or just silly.
The following letter originally appeared in Reggie & Me #42, July 1970:
Dear Archie,
I would like to tell you about my project for the year 1970. The project is raising money for my mother's and father's anniversary gift. My goal is $8.00. I am going to raise this money by doing odd jobs around the house and not spending any money on candy. These are some tips if someone else is trying to raise money.
Deborah Lofthouse
5905 Electric Avenue
Berkely, Calif. 60163
Deborah was two dollars closer to her goal when she won the third prize for her letter this issue. Any punctuation or spelling errors are recreated here just as they appear in the actual comic book.
Hmmm. Berkeley, CA's zip codes are not even close to 60163 and I am pretty sure there is no Electric Avenue there. Could this all be some massive scam? An Archie conspiracy??? It's almost too shocking to think about.
Posted by: Jenny | September 16, 2007 at 12:22 PM
Electric Avenue in Berkeley, 1970. I like that. There is, at present at least, no such address.
Posted by: Eric Fixler | September 16, 2007 at 01:17 PM
There is, however, one in Berkeley, Illinois!
Posted by: Jeff Nagle | September 16, 2007 at 05:16 PM
Deborah is "raising" money for her parents gift by being paid by her parents.....a forerunner of Reagans trickle-down economic policies, no? By the by, doesn't Archie know he'd be much happier with Betty? Veronica would never be happy outside her social circle.
Posted by: Dale Hazelton | September 17, 2007 at 08:31 AM