The Silver Age of Comics was inaugurated by DC Comics in the October 1956 Showcase #4, which introduced Barry Allen as the Flash. The Silver Age is generally considered to have ended in 1970 when comics editor Julius Schwartz left Green Lantern, or in June 1973, when Gwen Stacy died with “the snap heard ’round the world” in Marvel’s The Amazing Spider-Man #121.
Around 700 BC, Greek poet Hesiod described the Five Ages or Races of Man. Following the paradisical Golden Age came the Silver Age, ruled by Zeus. During this time a child could play for a century before growing up; this is when Zeus divided the year into four seasons. But Zeus destroyed the folk of the Silver Age for not honoring the gods. (By the way, we are living in the final, Iron Age.)
An early bit of American folklore tells how George Washington threw a silver dollar across the Potomac River. Even though at points the river was only about 300 feet across in Washington’s day, the first US silver dollars weren’t struck until 1794. Perhaps Washington threw the silver coin from Germany or Holland, called the thaler (pronounced like “dollar”). No matter what denomination made the trip, it’s plain that a few hundred years ago, money went a lot farther than today.
In Eastern European folklore, burying a silver coin under the foundation of a new house will ensure that the inhabitants will never find themselves in want.
In the 1965 Underdog cartoon storyline “The Silver Thieves,” a race of cloud-men from the planet Cumulus come to Earth. They want to steal our silver because they need to replenish their silver linings. They even take Underdog’s ring!
King Nuada, a mythical Celtic king of the gods, lost a hand in battle. To fulfill the gods’ requirements that their king must be physically perfect, his Master Druid fashioned him a hand of silver. Henceforth the ruler was known as Nuada Argetlamh, or “Nuada of the Silver Hand.”
Silver implements have always provided a defense against werewolves, but the idea of a silver bullet wasn’t popularized until the late 1800s, when standardization lowered the price of bullets. The concept was solidified by 1941’s The Wolf Man. In contrast, Universal’s 1935 Werewolf of London ended with its title character being slain with an ordinary firearm. The Grimm story “The Two Brothers” tells of an otherwise bulletproof witch who falls to a silver bullet. The Lone Ranger’s signature— “He left this silver bullet” –—symbolized the purity of justice.
The medieval Irish poem The Journey of Bran includes the Silver Branch, which represented the hero’s passage to Tír na nÓg, the Otherworld. Anyone who entered the Otherworld without carrying the Silver Branch for safe passage would never return.
In mythology silver is often associated with lunar deities and the feminine side. Its alchemical name is “LVNA.”
Did you know that silver has antimicrobial properties? Since Phoenician times, people have used silver vessels to keep water potable; silver dollars used to be dropped into bottles of milk to keep the contents fresh longer.
One folk tradition holds that if you wear a gold ring and a silver ring on the same hand, you will never marry.
The book and movie The Mothman Prophecies tell about UFO sightings and paranormal phenomena centered around Point Pleasant, West Virginia. The weirdness culminated with the collapse of the Silver Bridge on December 15, 1967, into the Ohio River. Forty-six people lost their lives.
There’s a logical explanation for the folk belief that vampires don’t cast reflections. Until recently, mirrors were backed with silver. This purity refused to be sullied by the vampire’s evil. Likewise, it was often believed that a vampire couldn’t be photographed, because of the silver nitrates necessary for early film and processing.
Fantasy writer Manly Wade Wellman wrote a series of stories featuring a wandering folksinger, John the Balladeer. His silver-stringed guitar was named Silver John, and its charms provided protection against the folkloric evils he often encountered.
These Secrets of Silver were part of the fun of SoonerCon 25, "The Silver Age," which touched down briefly in 2016.
See you Monday, fellow treasure seekers!
