Johnson Smith Company (Johnson Smith & Co.) was a mail-order business established in 1914 by Alfred Johnson Smith that sold novelty items and gag gifts such as miniature cameras, invisible ink, x-ray goggles, whoopee cushions, fake vomit, and joy buzzers. Founded in Chicago, the company relocated to Racine, Wisconsin in 1923, to Detroit in the late 1930s, then to Bradenton, Florida in 1986. The company advertised in magazines devoted to children and young adults such as Boys' Life, Popular Mechanics, and Science Digest. Their ads appeared on the back cover of many historically significant comic books, including Action Comics #1, June 1938 (first appearance of Superman) and Detective Comics #27, May 1939 (first appearance of Batman). In 1970, humorist Jean Shepherd wrote the introduction for the reprint of The 1929 Johnson Smith & Co. Catalogue, writing After marking its centennial anniversary in 2014, the company ceased operations on December 31, 2019, and was acquired by Collections Etc. in 2020.

Johnson Smith Timeline

Catalogs