An exchange in the Scranton, Pennsylvania, Tribune on the merits of pulps caught my attention recently. The instigator of this exchange was Donald Raub, then a schoolboy attending what used to be Central High School in Scranton, Pa who sent many letters to the editor. The first letter was this screed printed on 15 May,… Continue reading Point, Counterpoint: Contemporary opinions of the pulps from 1940
Author: Sai S
Ham & Eggs: The successful pulp recipe of Alfred L. Gehri
We live in amazing times. Things previously impossible because they’d cost too much to try are now feasible. Like me buying pulps off EBay and shipping them across the world or diving into the lives of pulp authors by reading old newspapers and journals online.A few weeks ago, I read my first issue of Popular… Continue reading Ham & Eggs: The successful pulp recipe of Alfred L. Gehri
“Reckless Ralph” Cummings: Newspaper profile of a dime novel collector
Taken from the Kansas City Star, December 4, 1931 A Farm Hand and His Dime Novel Collection The Hobby of Ralph Cummings Has Resulted in one of the largest “Paper Back” Libraries in AmericaMany Follow Same Pursuit. Ralph Cummings, farm hand, believes that he owns the largest collection of dime and half-dime novels in New… Continue reading “Reckless Ralph” Cummings: Newspaper profile of a dime novel collector
Allen Anderson – The Gunfighting gal
Allen Anderson painted over a hundred and fifty pulp covers for Ace Magazines and Fiction House. This is one of his best, from Bob Lesser’s collection. The printed cover was almost as good as the painting.
Good Griff! British paperbacks of the 1950s
As i was browsing through EBay, I came across this cover. Couldn’t let it pass without investigation, could I? A couple of days later, I emerged from that rabbit hole with a few images gathered here for your enjoyment. Images might take some time to load as they’re reasonably large. Patience will be rewarded. I… Continue reading Good Griff! British paperbacks of the 1950s
Stereotyping in the pulps
There are those who believe that the past was uniformly dark. With the pulps, this attitude leads to an unreasoning belief that all pulp authors and editors were biased, that they never challenged any social or cultural norms and tacitly endorsed the biases and prejudices of their times. That this is wrong should be obvious,… Continue reading Stereotyping in the pulps
Pulp Art: Wings, December 1932 by Rudy Belarski
From time to time, I’m going to share an original pulp cover with you. This one, like a lot of them, is from Robert Lesser’s collection. The cover for Fiction House’ Wings, December 1932 by Rudolph Belarski, possibly illustrating Derek West’s The Wash-Out Kid. The magazine cover is missing from the FictionMags Index but I… Continue reading Pulp Art: Wings, December 1932 by Rudy Belarski
The case of the unknown artists, or Who did the early covers for Blue Book?
A couple of weeks ago, as I was going through the May 1907 issue of Blue Book, I realized that the cover was signed but unidentified. Indeed, the FictionMags Index did not have artists attributed for the first few years of the magazine’s existence. From 1912 onwards, the magazine credited the cover artist in the… Continue reading The case of the unknown artists, or Who did the early covers for Blue Book?
Issue Review: Gangster Stories, December 1929
When Prohibition was enacted in America in 1920, it made production and sale of illicit alcohol very attractive. Organized crime was attracted by the high margins in this trade and the noveau riche gangsters it spawned were celebrities in their day. Gangsters and their lives were topics of public interest. The first pulp publisher to… Continue reading Issue Review: Gangster Stories, December 1929
Wild West Weekly October 14 1933
Wouldn’t this cover by Walter M. Baumhofer have been perfect for the Robert E. Howard collection Skull-face and others?