SKEPTICAL OF SUPERMAN??

HA! THIS BEGAN WITH A MOMENTARY SKEPTICISM of the Man of Steel, faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. 

Prior to performing straightforward calculations, for awhile there I thought he was abetting a simple con against kids. 

Here’s the deal and its resolution. 

An Admirable Combatant. Along with other SiriusXM “Radio Classics,” I regularly enjoy “The Adventures of Superman.” His behavior was exceptional, always battling for the little guy, the underdog, the underrepresented. Superman seemed a speedy, sturdy, leaping embodiment of D.E.I., you’ll excuse the expression.

Superman appearing in Action Comics #1000 (April 2018) Art by Jason Fabok via Wikipedia. 

The Charm Bracelet. And then in the spring of 1947 came the Charm Bracelet: Superman’s commentator (who often referred to us amicably as “hey, fellows and girls”) offered us a deal of a youthful lifetime: a charm bracelet with 12 charms, each for only a cereal boxtop and 15¢ (“a dime and a nickel,” the pitchman said) mailed to a Battle Creek, Michigan, address. 

Hmm… This Battle Creek mail drop might have raised suspicion. Why not Metropolis, The Daily Planet’s hometown? And note the repetitive nature of the scam: a total of thirteen purchases, collections of coins, and mailings.

The Calculation. Let’s do some arithmetic (sans cost of the boxtops; mom’ll cover those).  A complete charm bracelet would cost 13 x (15¢ + 3¢/oz. postage), provided, of course, that one stamp would suffice per mailing. 

This calls for more research. According to uscode.house.gov, a dime weighs 2.268 grams (.08 oz.); a nickel, 5 grams (.1764 oz. ).  Hence, 0.08 oz. + 0.1764 oz. = 0.2564 oz., and a single 3¢ stamp would suffice per mailing. 

Therefore a complete Superman charm bracelet would have cost 13 x (15¢ + 3¢) = 13 x 18¢ = $2.34.  (Scam mom for the paper and envelope.) 

To me, this seems a fair piece of change for 1947: According to 247wallst.com, for example, a movie would have cost a grownup 44¢; maybe 5¢-10¢ for a kid. 

By the way, the top-grossing movie for that year was Forever Amber. Whatever do you suppose that was about? Ask your parish priest. 

 But was Superman abetting a con?

Well, my handy CPI Inflation Calculator equates $2.34 in 1947 to $34.09 in today’s dollar. How does this compare with price of a charm bracelet today?

Briefly, it depends. Amazon offers a latter-day Superman Charm Bracelet for $16.88.

Charm It! Another Internet search yields Charm It! offering kids’ charm bracelets in a variety of themes, among them “Harry Potter Collection,” “Barbie Collection,” “Disney Collection,” “Girl Scouts Collection,” “Rebel Girls Collection,” and “Hello Kitty & Friends” (my fav). The basic bracelet varies from $7 to $20. Charms are $7 each.  A current ad “Celebrating 25 Years!” offers 25 percent off everything.

For example, a twelve-charm Hello Kitty & Friends with its basic $14 bracelet would go for $98 – 25% = $73.50. 

Is Superman Vindicated? $16.88 or $73.50. Plus, of course, you got to eat the cereal under the boxtop. Keep up the peace and justice, Man of Steel. ds   

 © Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025