Capt. Quick’s Space Patrol (1953)

 

Part 2 of the punch out books I wanted to share. Part 1 was Quick's Flying Saucers and Rocket Ships (blogged on July 31, 2026). 

Capt. Quick’s Space Patrol was the other punch out book issued at the same time. Probably the same artist but totally different designs. Between the two, a child had a complete set of masks, space guns, rocket ships, and space port facilities. (Sorry for the awkward scans, these are large 73 year old sheets of cardboard.)

These books were responding to all the fictional space shows on television for children in the early 1950s. I enjoy the idea of children "dressing up" as a space pilot (or a Moon Man) and having their own imaginary missions. They were preparing young minds to think about going into space themselves.

Jones, Jim and Virdone, Paul. Capt. Quick’s Space Patrol. (vol 1 is Quick's Flying Saucers and Rocket Ships.) (10 p.) 1953. 

Quick's Flying Saucers and Rocket Ships (1953)

 

A couple of rare (ish) punch-out books from 1953. I had tried to find copies for a while but finally it cam together. I really like the space graphics and the space helmet on the back. I also want my own "Robot Man" mask to wear. Lots of cool space toys.

Jones, Jim and Virdone, Paul. Quick's Flying Saucers and Rocket Ships. (vol 2 is Capt. Quick’s Space Patrol.) (10 p.) 1953.

 

Secrets of Space Exploration (1958)

 

Celebrating 2,883,898 views of my Dreams of Space site today. I started this Blog in Feb of 2009 so now it is over 17 years old. (Drinking party next year!)

My first "space" book in Arabic. I am pretty sure that it was more for adults and from the illustrations may be a translation of a Russian book. It still fascinates me that spaceflight is so knew that people published space books for the layperson to explain the basics of space flight. Finding these book in many languages convinces me that the "space race" was global as people tried to understand what had changed with Sputnik launches.

So it is a bit of an oddity and can't be very common or well known. 

Sharaf, Dr. Abdulaziz Tareeh. Secrets of Space Exploration. ( كتاب أسرار غزو الفضاء الأقمار الصناعية Arabic) (101 p.) 1958. 

Illustration of Sputnik satellite

A Russian space station?

A more traditional Russian space station

Maintain gravity on a longer trip using centripetal force.

My favorite illustration in the book. A Moon lander with return ship.

Getting to Mars

Getting to Mercury and Venus

Science Fiction and Readers Guide (The Children's Hour, vol 16) 1954

 

As I work through odds and ends to scan I have an anthology of children's science fiction. It is actually the 141 page section of Volume 16 of the 16 volume anthology called The Children's Hour. It is rare to see anthology like this. I chose to select some illustration to share. I will tell you the title of the story and the artist (if available).

Science Fiction & Readers Guide. (Volume 16, The Children's Hour) Edited by Marjorie Barrows. Chicago: The Spencer Press, Inc. (376 p. ) 1954.

What Time Is It? By Richard Elam. Illustrated by Hardie Gramatky

Mars and Miss Pickerell. By Ellen MacGregor. Illustrated by Paul Galdone

Lancelot Biggs On The Saturn. By Nelson Bond. Illustrated by John McKee

The Black Pits of Luna. By Robert A. Heinlein. Illustrated by Brinton Turkle.

An interesting Glossary of Science Fiction words found in the stories.

A Trip Through Space with Elsie the Cow (1957)

 

This was a promotional comic from Borden's dairy staring their mascot Elsie the Cow. It contains 16 pages of "Space-Fun, Games, Puzzles, Cut-Outs." Their is not much story but it was illustrated well. I choose to included the whole comic for your pleasure.

A Trip Through Space with Elsie the Cow. (Borden promotional comic) The Borden Co. 16 pg. 1957.