Captain Midnight's 1940-41 Mystery Dial Code-O-Graph
(metal)
value
good fine mint
$15 $25 $40
(this is an original, but reproductions valued at $3 are circulating)
Captain Midnight's 1940-41 Flight Commander Ring
(metal)
value
good fine mint
$50 $90 $150
Captain Midnight's 1942 Photomatic Code-O-Graph
(metal)
value
good fine mint
$50 $70 $100
Captain Midnight's 1943 Insignia Shoulder Patch
value
good fine mint
$30 $60 $125
Captain Midnight's 1946 Secret Squadron Manual
(explaining, among other things, proper use of the decoder)
value
good fine mint
$60 $100 $150
Captain Midnight's 1947 Whistling Code-O-Graph
(this was one of the first plastic premiums)
value
good fine mint
$25 $30 $60
Captain Midnight's 1949 Key-O-Matic Code-O-Graph
(metal)
value
good fine mint
$40 $55 $80
Captain Midnight's 1955-56 SQ "Plane Puzzle" Decoder
(plastic)
value
good fine mint
$75 $200 $325
The prices show here were take from: Tomart's Price Guide to Radio Premium and Cereal Box Collectibles
by Tom Tumbusch
Wallace-Homestead Book Company
Radnor, Pennsylvania
1991
$22.95
ISBN: 0-87069-635-1
The above items are in my personal collection. I would be willing to sell them, although it is likely that prices have changed since 1991.
I am also interested in buying your old-time radio premiums. If you have any decoders, rings, books, or other premiums,
"Captain Midnight" started as a regional program produced in Kansas City, sponsored by Skelly gasoline and oil products. He was the successor to Jimmie Allen as the trend in hero worship shifted from boy aviators to more mature fighter pilots.
World War II was brewing and everyone knew it. The same writing team - Robert Burtt and Wilfred Moore - who wrote Jimmie Allen, penned Captain Midnight (and later Hop Harrigan and Sky King).
Ovaltine also realized times were changing and sought the rights to the "Captain Midnight" show to replace "Radio Orphan Annie." So in the fall of 1940 - September 30 to be exact - "Captain Midnight" went network from Chicago.
The origin was retold how a daring captain of World War I penetrated deep into enemy ranks to complete a highly secret mission against 100 to 1 odds. He returned exactly at the stroke of midnight, earning the name "Captain Midnight." The real identity of the pilot was to forever remain top secret, but readers of this site are privileged to know the true identity of Captain Midnight. His name was Stuart "Red" Albright.
Together with his ward, Chuck Ramsey, the good Captain tamed the sinister Ivan Shark and his daughter, Fury. Chuck's father, Robert, a test pilot of experimental aircraft, was a long time friend of "Red" Albright. His work was top secret and even Capt. Midnight wasn't totally sure of his fate. The female interest was at first Patsy Donovan, but was changed to Joyce Ryan in the Ovaltine years.
Due to war material shortages, premiums were largely suspended from late1942 until the fall of 1945. Still, there is a strange phenomenon connected with Captain Midnight. Nearly everyone who has ever heard of the program can conjure up a "decoder ring." Yet, exhaustive research has failed to prove there ever was such a premium.
Captain Midnight served courageously during the balance of the '40s on radio and had a resurgence on television in the '50s. His image was changed to a jet pilot and the Secret Squadron designation was changed at this time from SS to SQ.
In the video version he was also known as Jet Jackson in certain non-Ovaltine sponsored cities and in re-runs. There is no evidence of any premiums marked "Jet Jackson."
