Posted
on July 3, 2014
Today
is the anniversary of the very first actor to play Superman.
(His
name was Ray Middleton.)
In
the very first Superman costume.
(It
said “Superman” above the “S” on his chest.)
(And
it included lace-up boots.)
Middleton
played Superman at the World's Fair on this date in 1940 (or some
people claim 1939). There was a special edition of DC Comics on sale
at the fair, and publicists were hoping that a personal appearance of
the man of steel would spark interest and promote sales.
There
was a Super-boy and Super-girl contest, a live radio show, and a
parade with floats, elephants, and of course Superman himself! There
was also a release of 10,000 balloons, some containing coupons for
Superman-themed prizes. (I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be allowed
now, since balloons are dangerous for wildlife.)
By
the way, some people celebrate a modern Superman Day (sometimes
called Man of Steel Day) on June 12, and there is a four-day festival
called Superman Celebration in Illinois each year, also in June.
My
favorite story about Superman in the 1940s is the one about the
fictitious hero bringing down the real-life villains, the Ku Klux
Klan. Of course, Superman had a lot of help – a real-life hero
named Stetson Kennedy.
After World War II was over, the white-supremacy organization the Ku Klux Klan had a huge upswing in popularity. Membership was increasing by leaps and bounds, local law enforcement was loathe to take on the well-connected group, and the Klan's political power was growing as well.
After World War II was over, the white-supremacy organization the Ku Klux Klan had a huge upswing in popularity. Membership was increasing by leaps and bounds, local law enforcement was loathe to take on the well-connected group, and the Klan's political power was growing as well.
Kennedy
decided to infiltrate the Klan so he could expose its secrets, but
like I said, the police didn't want to even try to build a case
against the Klan.
That's
when Kennedy got creative. He turned to the writers of the hugely
popular Superman radio show. It was one of those
right-places-at-the-right-time situations, because the Superman
writers were in need of villains. The Nazis had been battled and
vanquished (by Superman and in real life) – what now? the
writers wondered.
Thanks
to Kennedy's research, the Superman writers crafted a 16-episode
series titled “Clan of the Fiery Cross.” The villains of the
series were men in white hoods – men who had all manner of secret
code words, special handshakes, and solemn rituals that were exactly
the same as the ones used in the real KKK.
Superman
fought against the Clan, and he won. Little boys who wanted to be
just like the Man of Steel playacted some of the action that they'd
heard on the radio show, and in so doing made those secret code words
and rituals seem silly and childish. People began to laugh at the
KKK's ceremonies, seeing it as a bunch of grown men wearing sheets
and indulging in overdramatic foolishness. Rather that the KKK losing
favor because it was anti-human rights, it lost favor because it was
ridiculous.
But
the good news is, it really did lose a lot of its mystique and
popularity. Recruiting fell to zero, the organization's charter was
canceled, members started skipping meetings in droves, and whenever
the members tried to appear in public in their white hoods, onlookers
didn't shrink away in fear or clap their hands in support –
instead, they laughed and pointed fingers.
Some
historians say that Superman (and Stetson Kennedy) pretty much
destroyed the KKK's growth and vastly reduced its size and influence.
That
alone is a very good reason to say hooray for the Man of Steel
today!
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on this date:
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