Pickwick Books For All Trades

There was a whole ocean's worth of how-to books that were advertised in Golden Age comics, but the central node for most of these were published by Pickwick Company. They printed everything from books on martial arts, speaking foreign languages, and dancing. One of their most infamous ads tried enticing people by yelling, "don't be a left-over", urging the reader to teach themselves to dance or they'll end up as a sad single girl sullying on a giant dinner plate with chicken bones and unchewed peas. So, unless you get a book about tap dancing or swing steps, then your entire social life is doomed to be stranded in the tremendous aftermath of an unsuccessful Thanksgiving party. The amount of books they offer differs between each ad as you could get up to three for a buck, or later on an entire instruction course for about two bucks, so it varied over time and they weren't always specific with how many books you might get in separate promotions. Pickwick's ads for self-defense included boxing, wrestling, and jiu-jitsu so you can "gain respect for your manliness", which means if you're a guy and don't learn their way of fighting then you'll suffer the fate of losing your manhood somehow, hopefully not involving a botched circumcision. Another ad was a "special offer for lovers" where readers can learn how to send love letters or get an entire book on the art of kissing, which makes you wonder how bad people were at kissing back in your great grandpappy's day or how you were even born if they had to take a full college course on how to love someone. Another ad displayed their entire catalog including books meant to make you popular like ones of cowboy songs, Joe Miller's joke book, card tricks, astrology, how to be a detective, famous hoboes, and of course hypnotism because if all those other hackneyed attempts don't make you popular then you can always wave a watch in front of someone and brainwash them into liking you.

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