In a great
many of his comic book stories Carl Barks used brand names in the
panels. Sometimes they were there for a reason (being essential
to the plot), and sometimes he just placed them in the background
for no special reason (other than having a bit of fun,
undoubtedly). Of course, Barks was very cautious not to use any
real brands in his stories; he might have thought about possible
legal complications, but, above all, they were not needed - Barks'
vivid imagination gave him no trouble inventing both catchy and
funny brand names.
So, Barks used his great skill of putting words cleverly together
when dreaming up names for the brands. They can be divided into
three main groups: 1. brands that were already well-known, but
altered slightly still rendering them recognizable, 2. brands
that he invented totally himself, and 3. brands that had
reference to his own personal life in a way that the reader would
not know about at the time. All three groups are represented
below.
| CARS | ||
 WDCS144 Roadhog V24 |
 WDCS251 1910 Crockmobile |
|
 U$34 Chugwagon Derby Joltmobile, Rolls-Regal, Ritzmobile, and many others... |
 WDCS167 300-Horsepower Snobmobile Special Built Sport Convertible |
 FC0147 Volcano Valley 1920 Mixwell engine! 22 Dudge body! 23 Paclac axles! |
| SUBSTANCES | ||
 WDCS220 Weemite |
 U$18 Land of the Pygmy Indians Strombolium |
 U$17 A Cold Bargain Bombastium |
 DBP 'The Impenetrable Money Bin' Forbidium |
 U$48 The Many Faces of Magica de Spell Hex Juice |
 WDCS044 Duckmite |
| BUSINESSES | ||
 FC62/2 Mystery of the Swamp Nacy's (Macy's Department Store) |
 WDCS245 Sitting High Bathé News (Pathé Film) |
 WDCS068 Swelldorf-Castoria (Hotel Waldorf-Astoria) |
 WDCS251 Duck Luck Wun Fat Cat Café (Bon Appetit!!!) |
 U$55 McDuck of Arabia Ajax-Rent-A-Camel (Avis-Rent-a-Car) |
 CP9 Christmas in Duckburg Gare's (Barks' third wife was called Garé) |
| FOOD AND DRINK | ||
 U$14 A Square Inch of Land Canny Brannies |
 FC0029 The Mummy's Ring Hercules Onions |
 WDCS251 Duck Luck Hop Sing's Fortune Cookies |
 WDCS282 Bubbleweight Champ Gurgleurp |
 WDCS278 Have Gun, Will Dance Oatie Floaties |
 WDCS212 San Rio Coffee |
 WDCS102 Super Whinny Oats |
 WDCS312 The Not-So-Ancient-Mariner Tulelake Spuds* - Klamath Spuds** |
 WDCS206 Tulelake Taters* - San Jacinto Spuds*** |
| * Tulelake
is the town in California where Barks' older brother
Clyde lived as a hotel manager most of his life. **Klamath is the name of the Oregon county in which both brothers were born. ***San Jacinto is the area in which Barks lived at the time. |
| MISCELLANEOUS | ||
 WDCS272 Spare That Hair Hoof Glue Hair Wax |
 WDCS262 Way Out Yonder Teeny-Bike |
 U$21 The Money Well Ace Laces |
 DG26 The Christmas Cha-Cha Ajax Christmas Poems Inc. |
 U$42 The Case of the Sticky Money Scandal No. 5 Parfum |
|
|
|
| http://www.cbarks.dk/THEBRANDNAMES.htm | Date 2005-08-10 |
