Pilot of the Future who stamped his name in history

There has always been huge interest in Dan Dare memorabilia among men (especially) of a certain age who recall the stirring exploits of the “Pilot of the Future” in Eagle comic.

So, when a 1950’s Dan Dare Ingersoll pocket watch, with its dial decorated with an automated Dan Dare scene, came up for sale at McTear’s in Glasgow, I knew it would soon take off for a new home – which it did for £160.

The dashing Dan Dare made his first appearance in Eagle in 1950 – and copies of that period sell from around £200.

The popularity of the boyhood inter-galactic adventurer extended to a range of merchandise.

There was a Dan Dare rocket launcher, a set of lead figures, a spaceship, a metal ray gun – even a mug from Horlicks, who, from 1951-1956, sponsored the Dan Dare show on Radio Luxembourg. A fine example of the red rocket-shaped mug recently sold at auction for £390! Add a zero to that for pages of original Eagle artwork featuring Dan.

As a stand-in for the 91st Congress of Scottish Philatelic Societies, which was due to attract 35 dealers in stamps, postal history and postcards to Perth over April 17-18, until it fell victim to a coronavirus cancellation, I illustrate a rare Dan Dare survivor.

The Dan Dare Stamp Album was published by R Richards of Worthing, Sussex and probably dates to 1956, as its one-time, young Motherwell owner proudly annotated that it contained 154 stamps in September of that year.

Philately, according to a recent Royal Mint study, is Britain’s biggest collecting interest, with a vast number of auctions, fairs, dealers and collectors’ societies.

Let’s hope its flagship Scottish event returns soon to Perth.

Picture: Dan Dare Stamp Album (private collection).

by Norman Watson