Homesteading in the 1920s: part 4 by Cherry Wilson

Part 3 of a personal account of homesteading in the 1920s by western author Cherry Wilson. Grass, brush and trees had been steadily drying out during the hot months of July and August, needing only a spark to transform the peace­ful land into a roaring furnace. Then fires were reported on distant moun­tains. Day by… Continue reading Homesteading in the 1920s: part 4 by Cherry Wilson

Homesteading in the 1920s: part 3 by Cherry Wilson

Part 3 of a personal account of homesteading in the 1920s by western author Cherry Wilson. But to go back to those first glo­rious days of Spring, after the event­ful Winter; when the very air made one’s head light. The call of the out­door was so strong that while snow still lay in canyon pockets… Continue reading Homesteading in the 1920s: part 3 by Cherry Wilson

Homesteading in the 1920s: part 2 by Cherry Wilson

Part 2 of a personal account of homesteading in the 1920s by western author Cherry Wilson. Two days later, when order was established, we looked with pardon­able pride upon our work. For out of that rude shack we had made a home. The bare logs were hung with bright pennants, cheery cur­tains of cretonne draped… Continue reading Homesteading in the 1920s: part 2 by Cherry Wilson

Cherry Wilson: Life as a homesteader In the 1920s

When you think of a homestead, you probably think of something like this, the log cabin where Abraham Lincoln was born; but Cherry Wilson and her husband Bob homesteaded in the 1920s, driven by Bob’s tuberculosis into a place where they needed fresh air and quiet. This is her account of their experience, published in… Continue reading Cherry Wilson: Life as a homesteader In the 1920s

Dime Detective’s first issue: Success in reverse gear

Dime Detective, launched to compete with Black Mask, was the most popular of Popular Publication’s detective pulps. It featured stories by Raymond Chandler, Erle Stanley Gardener, Max Brand, John D. MacDonald and Cornell Woolrich. This editorial, in the first issue, is a mix of rah-rah cheerleading for the magazine’s contents and an anecdote about putting… Continue reading Dime Detective’s first issue: Success in reverse gear

Hidden Sex: The Origin of B. M. Bower

This article by and about B. M. Bower, author of Chip of the Flying U and many other novels and stories, appeared in the December 10, 1928 issue of Western Cattle Markets and News. My Own Tally SheetBy B. M. Bower Note—B. M. Bower, author of “Chip of the Flying U,” which was written in… Continue reading Hidden Sex: The Origin of B. M. Bower

Henry Bassett Comstock – Author, Editor, Illustrator

Henry Bassett Comstock (1908 – 2003), the son of illustrator Enos Benjamin Comstock and Christine Frances Bassett, was an illustrator, journalist and editor of Munsey’s Railroad Magazine in the 1940s. This profile of him originally appeared in The Journal News, White Plains, New York, August 6, 1972. Locomotive tootles way into one man’s heartBY VIRGINIA… Continue reading Henry Bassett Comstock – Author, Editor, Illustrator

Right To Reprint Or Not? That Is The Question

The question of whether to reprint old stories or not was always a thorny one for pulp publishers. While many know about the so called “reprint menace” of the 1930s and 1940s when publishers like Harry Donenfeld and Martin Goodman pushed out pulps full of reprints without identifying them as such, few know of an… Continue reading Right To Reprint Or Not? That Is The Question

The Thrilling World of Robert C. Blackmon: Man of Mystery

The depression, back in 1932, made writing sink-or-swim prop­osition for Robert C. Blackmon. Cast out on his own after losing a comfortable clerical position with the Atlantic Coast Line rail road, Blackmon swam and to­day he blesses the day his work terminated with the railroad. Today, eight years later, Black­mon is recognized as one of… Continue reading The Thrilling World of Robert C. Blackmon: Man of Mystery

Mastering Mystery: The Intriguing World of G. T. Fleming-Roberts

THE EDITORS of Better Homes and Gardens magazine unwittingly played right into the hands of G. T. Fleming-Roberts of Brown County, Indiana, when they printed a piece of advice on picking lilies a few months ago. Pull off the stamens, the magazine suggested, and the lilies won’t stain themselves—surely as innocent a tip on gardening… Continue reading Mastering Mystery: The Intriguing World of G. T. Fleming-Roberts