I stumbled on this photo, below, on eBay and I just had to have it. Most of you reading this won’t need me to explain why.

[ Click to enlarge, and use the back button or arrow on your browser to return here.]

And I won’t need to point out that, whereas pictures of this sort tend to be in black & white, this one… isn’t.

In fact, the image is so colourful, and with a certain 1940s tone as well, that at first I read it as a Norman Rockwell painting. No real need to try and explain that any further either, I suspect.

The seller said it came from a calendar, but unfortunately it has been removed from its context, and probably trimmed pretty tightly to boot. The copy now owned by me measures 19.0 x 25.4 cm. The reverse is blank.

Apart from simply enjoying the picture, “the game” is now afoot, of course.

For anyone who hasn’t played before, the rules are simple enough: try to figure out when the photo was taken based on the comics on view. Which must all be identified and listed, obviously.

This time there is a tougher extra round: Can anyone identify the calendar the photo appeared on? This round may be difficult, but possibly attracts very few points, as it doesn’t really matter much. As ever, it’s all about the old comic books!  (Of course, if the calendar turns out to be a special “nostalgic old photos of old comics” calendar, that could change everything.)

At the risk of spoiling your fun, I’ll say that one of the comics is Action 120 from May 1948. And another is from July of the same year: Patsy “Looking good for her age in 2015 on Netflix’s Jessica Jones” Walker, no.17.

I must admit that I had to look these up. I know that most of you, unlike me, won’t need the help of the Wikis. Extra points for knowing the comics from memory, and triple points, natch, for having them all in your very own humidity-controlled vault.

You will already know that comics went on sale something like two months before their cover date. And its pretty obvious that the combination of that Norman Rockwell lighting and the kids clothing denotes a summery day.

Clicking on the main image (or any of them) would, last time I posted, have given you a super-large version to delve into. That doesn’t seem to be happening today.  [Update: fixed that problem; the main pic can now be enjoyed full size.]  So here are a few close-ups to help the game along:

Finally, the traditional extra question: what nostalgic old comics are the cute nostalgic kids in the nostalgic picture of cute kids reading nostalgic old comics actually reading?

This is also a tough question – at least in parts – but attracting mega-points. I mean, little girl, were you not thinking about nostalgic comics historians of the future at all ?!?  Or worse still, were you thinking of us and mercilessly teasing us ?!?

The outright winner will be anyone who can conclusively prove that they are one of the kids in the photo. You will probably do well if you can prove you are a descendant, or even just that you have a bunch of prints of other pics from the shoot.

Anyway gang, have a ball!

Feel free to leave comments and links to other resources.

And don’t forget to claim your No-Prize.