Comic Con has descended on New York City. We dug this little snippet from the archives of Angelina Kruppe, a parent of Junior High School 29 in Brooklyn, interviewed on the WNYC show Youth Builders in 1949. When asked about her opinion about the perniciousness of comics on children, she sounds equivocal --probably reflecting the feelings of many parents at the time-- but ultimately states that comic books have had no apparent ill effect in her home.

Ms. Kruppe's concerns were widespread among American parents at the time: while most could not discern the damaging effects of comic books on their own children, reports seemed to increasingly link the medium to delinquent behavior. This culminated in the 1954 hearings of the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency, where --among many amusing moments-- presidential hopeful Estes Kefauver stated that "Hitler was a beginner compared to the comic-book industry."

Of course such arguments are bound to happen with every new medium: today's debates over video game content very much parallel those over comic books in the 1940s and 1950s. But such oddly strident statements as Senator Kefauver's were also a reflection of the times, where post-war optimism gave way to the Second Red Scare and, ultimately, the McCarthy era.

We can only hope to be wiser in our current media discussions --much like Ms. Kruppe above.

You can listen to the entire show here.