Golden age size difference

[poundofbull]

Hello all,

I have recently started picking up golden age comics and had a couple of questions. Did the sizes change during certain years for war efforts? I know that some companies used only one staple for a time, but did the books also get smaller? Reason I ask is that I picked up a Marvel Mystery #42 and a #59. 42 is "typical" golden age size, but 59 is much smaller( almost modern size). I thought 59 might have been trimmed but comparing to other examples online everything looks right. The one thing that threw me was on my cover there are to "gas" tanks at the bottom of cover. One tank says chlorine on it and the other says mustard. No other image of this cover I have seen online is cut low enough to have the word mustard showing. So I am stumped about the size difference between the two as all my other golden age appear to be about the same size.

[marvelmaniac6169]

From what I see in my Golden Age books what you describe seems to be normal.

I do not have a definitive answer other than from what I have heard/read is that the printing process/printers were not that accurate/reliable back in the 40's/50's and part of the size difference could be due to changing printers...???

Here are 2 examples I can show from my books.

KID COLT OUTLAW
#3(12/48) is smaller than #6(7/49)


TWO GUN KID
#1(3/48) is smaller than #10(10/49)