Beano #1 sells for £26,000

The latest COMPAL auction saw an incredible price achieved for Beano #1 (with free gift)...

The lot (#3) was described thus

Beano Comic No 1 (1938) with free gift Whoopee Mask and promotional 8 page flyer for Beano Nos 1 and 2. The first adventures of Big Eggo, Lord Snooty and his Pals, Morgyn the Mighty first illustrated strip, Whoopee Hank and Tin-Can Tommy the Clockwork Boy. Comic pages are tanned and the cover has some narrow RH edge loss [gd]. The free gift Whoopee Mask is the only known No 1 gift to survive. nb: This Beano No 1 with its free gift was sold for £6,820.00 in Comic Book Auctions live sale on 18 February 1999. Also included in the lot is The Times newspaper which reported the sale on its front page the following day, the original auction catalogue and The Beano No 2000 from 1980 with its back page reprint of the first Beano's front cover. (6 items)

The hammer price was £26,000 (plus fees)

Cribbed from the sales blurb here are all the interior pages of Beano #1

Dandy and Beano club Burns night menu

A really lovely item up for sale at 2pm afternoon (here) via auctioneer's Compal. It's described thus

D C Thomson Dandy and Beano Club Burns Night Menus (1936-43) 1-8. All illustrated by Dudley Watkins. With The History of the Beano Book (2008) where pg 45 illustrates their origin. Specific staff notices were printed on the front of each menu: 'Refrain from Spitting / Boots and Dentures should be removed before putting casualties to bed / This hall is regularly disinfected with Jeyeses Fluid/Supper at 7.30, Ambulances at 11.45.' The 1941 main course was 'Nae Steak Pie (There's a war on)' followed by Verismelli cheese and Aspirins. Rare. Only one other menu set has ever come up for auction. Book with dustjacket [fn], Menus: 1938 [vg+], balance [fn/vfn] (9)

I've made the pictures extra large just so you can enjoy these wonderful pieces of ephemera in all their glory

boom! sells for £410 (plus fees)