Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a crippling and potentially deadly infectious disease, caused by the poliovirus. The virus spreads from person to person and can invade an infected person’s brain and spinal cord, causing paralysis and death in extreme cases.

Most people who get infected with poliovirus, estimated at about 72 out of 100, will not have any visible symptoms. However 25% of people with poliovirus infection will have flu-like symptoms, which usually last two to five days then go away on their own.

A smaller proportion of people will develop more serious symptoms that affect the brain and spinal cord. One is paresthesia which is the feeling of pins and needles in the legs. Another is meningitis, an infection of the covering of the spinal cord and/or brain which occurs in about 1 out of 25 people. Even more serious paralysis or weakness in the arms, legs, or both, occurs in about 1 out of 200 people with poliovirus infection.

Paralysis is the most severe symptom associated with polio because it can lead to permanent disability and death. Between 2 to 10 out of 100 people who have paralysis from poliovirus infection die because the virus affects the muscles that help them breathe.

Two polio vaccines have been developed and are used throughout the world to combat poliomyelitis (or polio). The first was developed by Jonas Salk in 1952. An oral vaccine was developed by Albert Sabin and it was licensed in 1962.

In August 1921, 39-year-old Franklin Roosevelt became one of the unlucky people who contracted and suffered the more serious effects of the disease. That August he took his family on vacation to Campobello Island in Canada, a favorite vacation spot for FDR who had family vacations there since childhood. Unfortunately, on this trip Roosevelt contracted the illness.

In his case that was characterized by both fever and protracted ascending paralysis of his upper and lower extremities. He suffered facial paralysis, bladder and bowel dysfunction, numbness, and dysesthesia. The symptoms gradually eased except for paralysis of the lower extremities. The result of his illness left him totally and permanently paralyzed from the waist down. He was able to stand only by using full-leg steel braces that locked at the knee, then bracing himself against a lectern or other immovable object. He could walk haltingly for very short distances while using a cane in one hand and grasping someone's arm in the other.

Despite the lack of a cure for paralysis, for the rest of his life Roosevelt refused to accept that he was permanently paralyzed. He tried a wide range of therapies, but none had any effect. Nevertheless, he became convinced of the benefits of water therapy, and in 1926 he bought a resort at Warm Springs, Georgia, where he founded a hydrotherapy center for the treatment of polio patients. Today it still operates as the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation, with an expanded mission.

In 1932, with the Great Depression raging across America, in a wheelchair and already governor of New York State, he ran for and won the office of President of the United States, a position he would hold for the rest of his life.

On January 3, 1938, while he was president, Roosevelt helped to create the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, known today as the March of Dimes, to combat polio. The March of Dimes initially focused on the rehabilitation of victims of paralytic polio, and supported the work of Jonas Salk and others that led to the development of polio vaccines. Today, the Foundation focuses on preventing premature birth, birth defects, and infant mortality. Roosevelt's association with the March of Dimes led to his image being placed on the face of the American dime.

In 1943 Detective Comics Inc. (today known as DC Comics) began a promotion to raise money for the March of Dimes. Using its three most famous characters, they asked readers to send in at least one dime (and hopefully more) to DC by cutting out and mailing in a coupon from the comic that featured their favorite character involved in the promotion. During the course of the campaign readers were told that every year the March of Dimes celebrated the president’s birthday and that it was their dimes that helped the fight against polio, but while the campaign ran they would receive something special.

The company would send the money to the president for the March of Dimes and the readers would get a free full color postcard of the character whose name was on the coupon they chose to send in. There was no mention that FDR had the disease in any of the house ads for the campaign and seldom was it ever mentioned anywhere in the media of the time. Only a handful of pictures even exist of FDR in a wheelchair, let alone stories about how he coped with it. That would come after his death when the historians began recording his life and history. But the work he did to fight polio was known while he was alive and it was extremely important to him until the time of his death.  

First up, was a full page ad for Wonder Woman in Sensation Comics #15, cover dated March 1943. Fans of the Amazonian princess could get a signed postcard of their favorite heroine by sending in a dime or more. This card featured the art of H.G. Peter the principal Wonder Woman artist who helped her creator, William Marston, to design her look just two short years earlier. It must be noted that there was no expiration date for the offer mentioned in the ad.

In several DC titles – including Detective Comics #85, cover dated March 1944 – a full page house ad featured Superman. Fans of the Man of Steel could send in their dime for a full color postcard signed by Superman. He was drawn with his arms folded, over a yellow background with a white circle framing his upper body. Unlike the ad for Wonder Woman, Superman’s came with a deadline of March 1, 1944.

The third postcard ad was for Batman in Detective Comics #97, cover dated March 1945. The card featured a classic 1940s pose of Batman and Robin in a spotlight against a yellow background, taken from Batman #9. The art was mostly likely done by Fred Ray and Jerry Robinson, as was the Batman #9 cover. Like the Superman postcard, a time limit was set, with an expiration date of March 1, 1945.

With his health failing rapidly, President Roosevelt would die 42 days later on April 12. The president's attending cardiologist, Dr. Howard Bruenn, diagnosed a massive cerebral hemorrhage as the cause of death.

It is interesting to note that the card offers for Superman and Batman both expired on March 1, one year apart, unlike the Wonder Woman offer which did not have any expiration date. One might suspect a larger than expected response to the first offer and war time paper restrictions as a cause for that. Why that particular date was picked is a mystery as the president’s actual birthdate was January 30.

One could also ask why the ads ran in books cover dated the same month as the expiration of the offers for Superman and Batman. That would seem to give limited time to mail the coupon so that it would be received before the deadline. But comics in those days would have had a lengthy amount of time on comic racks before being pulled. A book cover dated March could have gone on sale as much as two months earlier, giving readers time to get those dimes in.

The March of Dimes cards are considered key pieces for a vintage comic character or Wonder Woman, Superman, or Batman collection. In particular the Batman and the Wonder Woman ones are scarce and go for significant sums of money on the rare occasions that they come up.

DC would not forget President Roosevelt after his death. In the June 1965 issue of Justice League of America #36 in a story titled “The Case of the Disabled Justice League” the JLA puts on a show for a group of handicapped boys. Five JLA members stage a mock battle against Batman, posing as a monster, but discover themselves handicapped. They trace their ailments to Brain Storm, who takes them under his power. The rest of the League fights the Leaguers who are under Brain Storm's power and finally Brain Storm himself. The story ends with a full page resolution which states that people will treat those with physical handicaps with dignity and respect and not with pity. Five famous people from history are shown as examples of making their mark despite their handicaps. They were Helen Keller, Ludwig van Beethoven, John Milton, Demosthenes and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The story was written by Gardner Fox, with pencils by Mike Sekowsky, inks by Bernard Sachs, and edited by Julie Schwartz.

The March of Dimes Cards reflected a trend by DC/National that started in 1943 and continued on through the late 1960s of promotions, public service ads, and stories which tried to promote religious and social tolerance and aid to others who need it. It is a part of comics history that has perhaps not received the attention it deserves until now.

Contributed by Collector and Overstreet Advisor Art Cloos