“Hey Times Union, where’s my $5,000?”

Boy, I bet that caught your attention.

Well, at one time the TU actually offered a contest – and, in conjunction with that contest, they presented several comic strip characters in a “safety first” series of trading cards.  Those cards are now very collectible today… but the promotion itself happened so long ago, that I don’t even think the TU has any of the original cards in their vast archives.

So let’s take a trip back in time, shall we?

In 1953, the Hearst Corporation, in partnership with King Features Syndicate, produced a series of “Lucky Safety” cards.  The 48-card set was designed as a collectible list of “safety lessons” and as a specialized lottery promotion.  If you had the lucky collectible card whose serial number appeared in the TU that day… well golly gee whiz you could win $5,000!

Of course, it doesn’t hurt to collect the cards themselves.  The 48-card set featured such characters as Popeye the Sailor, Dagwood Bumstead (from “Blondie”), the Katzenjammer Kids, the Little King, Little Iodine and Beetle Bailey.  The Times Union was one of several Hearst newspapers to run the promotion; you could also get the cards from the Baltimore News Post and American and from the New York Journal-American.  A complete set, depending on condition and completeness (all 48 cards from one newspaper) can sell for as much as $1,000.

I should note that although the TU offered a $5,000 prize if the serial number on your “Lucky Safety Card” matched the one printed in the newspaper; the other Hearst publications offered more money in their prize contest.  The Baltimore News Post and American, for example, offered $6,500 to the winning ticket holders, while the New York Journal-American awarded $15,000 to the big winner.

The TU partnered with local merchants to distribute the cards.  An ad in the October 27, 1953 edition of the Knickerbocker News featured an advertisement from Myers Department Store that offered the Lucky Safety Cards “… in the Maiden Lane Toy Department, the Boys’ Department in the Broadway Building, or the Youth Departments on the third floor … Be sure to watch our ads for the Lucky Number!”

Now if you were trying to amass a complete set of this trading card series, you would certainly need a checklist.  Which, after searching through various sources on line, I’ve come up with one.  This list is incomplete; I am open to anyone who can add to the list.

Card	Character	Message
1	Jiggs (Bringing Up Father)	Caution, Care and Common Sense Eliminate Home Accidents
2	Dagwood Bumstead (Blondie)	It Pays to Play Safe
3	Hans and Fritz (the Katzenjammer Kids)	When Walking, Look Up, Look Out, Look Twice
4	Little Iodine	Use Your Eyes, Ears and Knows
5	Popeye the Sailor	The Best Rule: Do Not Touch Firearms
6	The Little King	Walk and Drive So You Will Arrive Safely
7	Snuffy Smith	The Right-of-Way Isn’t Worth Dying For
8	unknown
9	Jiggs (Bringing Up Father)	A Slip or a Trip May Break a Hip
10	Dagwood Bumstead (Blondie)	Children May Dare – Drivers Beware!
11	Jiggs (Bringing Up Father)	“Always Be Cautious…”
12	Little Iodine	The Light of Your Life is Green
13	Popeye the Sailor	Your Team’s Worst Enemy is a Careless Player
14	The Little King	A Lifetime Can Be Spent in Crossing a Street
15	Snuffy Smith	“Always Alert…”
16	Beetle Bailey	“Traffic Control…”
17	unknown
18	Dagwood Bumstead (Blondie)	“Cross a street…”
19	Hans and Fritz (the Katzenjammer Kids)	Walking Carefully is a Step in the Right Direction
20	Little Iodine	See – Hear – Heed – Then Proceed
21	Popeye the Sailor	Be Alert – Be Ready for the Unsafe Actions of Others
22	The Little King	Don’t Walk on the “Suicide” of the Road
23	Snuffy Smith	Better to Prevent Than To Lament
24	Beetle Bailey	Move Over – Give Narrow Minds a Wide Road
25	Jiggs (Bringing Up Father)	All Bonfires Need Chaparones
26	Dagwood Bumstead (Blondie)	Teach Children Walking Rule Long Before They Enter School
27	Beetle Bailey	Weaving is a Pain – Stay In Your Lane!
28	Little Iodine	From Here to Hereafter is Measured in Feet – Your Feet
29	Popeye the Sailor	Be a Good Sport.  Give the Other Fellow a Break!
30	unknown
31	Snuffy Smith	The Chance Taker is the Accident Maker
32	unknown
33	unknown
34	Dagwood Bumstead (Blondie)	It Pays To Look Your Best Before Crossing the Street
35	Hans and Fritz (the Katzenjammer Kids)	The Rule Breaker is an Accident Maker
36	Little Iodine	Never Mind Who’s Right – Walk So You’ll Be Left
37	Popeye the Sailor	Take It Easy, You’ll Get There Sooner and Safer
38	The Little King	Careless Walking Can Cripple Your Entire Future
39	unknown
40	Beetle Bailey	A Watched Road Never Turns Up Unexpectedly
41	Jiggs (Bringing Up Father)	Watch Gas Jets Always – Not Off and On
42	unknown
43	Popeye the Sailor	“It’s your job to see…”
44	Little Iodine	The End of a Perfect Trip – No Accidents
45	Popeye the Sailor	It’s Your Job to See that Accidents Don’t Happen
46	The Little King	Sight of Way is as Important as Right of Way
47	unknown
48	Jiggs (Bringing Up Father)	“Cyclists beware…”

Now most of these messages are kinda heavy-handed and over-protective, and everybody in the card series talked as if they had the same voice.  The Teutonic-accented Katzenjammer Kids spoke their safety messages in perfect English, as did Popeye the Sailor (no “I yam what I yam, where’s me spinach” patois).  The biggest surprise in the series was the addition of dialogue from The Little King – who, in his daily and Sunday strips, never spoke.

And don’t even get me started on the fact that most of the characters that participated in this series – Little Iodine, Beetle Bailey, the Katzenjammer Kids – were troublemakers in their own right.   I almost expected to find appearances by Krazy Kat and the brick-throwing Ignatz Mouse in these trading cards, but no…

Anyways, back to the headline.

One of these days, I’m going to find a “Lucky Safety Card,” whether it’s on eBay or at a trading card show.  And once I do, I’m going to double-check that serial number against whatever microfilm copy of the TU I can find.  And so help me, if I do find that one of those serial numbers matches one that was posted in the TU…

You know I’ll be at the TU’s offices, waving this ticket around and demanding my money.

Now let me see… according to the rules, I should be able to redeem the ticket at the Times Union’s corporate headquarters at 24 Sheridan Avenue in downtown Albany…

Hey, if I have to redeem a 60-year-old prize, I’ll wait at the building where the TU operated its business 60 years ago.  So what if they moved?  They might move back downtown, you don’t know… #hahahahaha