I'm proud of Junior. He just used his boyish enthusiasm to murder Flattop Jones.

Dick Tracy still runs in the dwindling number of newspapers that publish, but Chester Gould’s comic strip was truly a sensation during its heyday, when feds squared off with gangsters, Nazis and Cold War villains. Dick Tracy was the first strip to introduce brute violence to the funnies page, so it’s no surprise to see this 1947 advertisement for a toy tommy gun. For just $3.79, a kid could own a 20-inch replica firearm (“that looks and sounds like the real McCoy”). An excerpt from the ad:

“Watch other kids’ eyes pop when they see this wonderful TOMMY GUN. And when they hear that realistic “rat-a-tat-tat” of its trigger, they’ll stick ’em up in a hurry! Everyone wants one of these Dick Tracy TOMMY GUNS…but it’s first come, first served, so get your order in today… It’s the ideal gift for every youngster. Parents, here’s the perfect gift for your growing boy. If he’s a real Dick Tracy fan, his eyes will ‘pop’ when he sees this authentic Dick Tracy TOMMY GUN. And playing detective with this wonderful Dick Tracy TOMMY GUN and badge will increase his respect for the law, and at the same time offer him an outlet for his ‘boyish enthusiasm!'”