Somewhere I have a small stash of Chick tracts — Jack Chick’s little Christian comics. I had two collecting rules: I wanted the ones that were openly anti-witch, anti-metaphysical or anti-occult, and second, I had to find them in the wild. Sending away for them would not count; I had to them tucked inside a library book on witch trials or something like that.
Amazingly, there is a collection in the library at Yale University.
So who was Jack Chick, and why did he do it? He died in 2016, and here is the write-up he got in Christianity Today:
The biggest name in tract evangelism, Chick distributed more than 500 million pamphlets, nicknamed “chicklets,” over five decades. His signature black-and-white panel comics warned against the dangers of everything from the occult to Family Guy.
And if you ever in New Haven, Conn., stop by the Yale library.
Chick tracts? Man, I used to love those things! I’d sauté them with a little garlic, onion and pepper until brown and crispy, and munch them while watching re-runs of “Bewitched” and “Charmed” on TV! They were as tasty as Chick’s soul!
Chick tracts are a good example of comic art in service to agit-prop purposes–Christian anti-occultism, for the most part. And, of course, a niche collectable for a few collectors.
I’m glad Yale Library holds them.
Speaking as a bookseller, I found it intriguing that )in the few Christian bookstores I browsed from time to time), some sold them under the counter. I’d never imagined “underground” tracts. Where I worked, Chick tracts were annoying litter on the shelves and concealed in Pagan and Witchy and progressive Christianity books.