Adventure House held their first pulp convention in Maryland recently. I found cheapish tickets for the trip, and there I was. A good beginning to what I hope is a new annual show. Rain depressed attendance (Hurricane Florence sent preliminary rain storms up and down the east coast) and flights and in general I got… Continue reading Adventure House Pulp and Collectibles Show – Trip Report
Category: Pulp Magazines
Confessions of a pulpeteer – Jack Smalley article about his days as a pulp author and editor – part 2
Part 1 appeared the previous week. A discovery I made early in life was that pulp publishers were a daring breed, ready to plunge into new fields at the drop of an idea and gamble thousands on what might turn out to be a flop. Life was exciting in the Twenties and readers wanted to… Continue reading Confessions of a pulpeteer – Jack Smalley article about his days as a pulp author and editor – part 2
Confessions of a pulpeteer – Jack Smalley article about his days as a pulp author and editor – part 1
[Jack Smalley was the editor of Battle Stories, a pulp published by Fawcett from the late 1920s to the early 1930s. This memoir appeared in Westways magazine, June 1974 with the title: Amazing Confessions of a Pulpeteer. It was later reprinted in Murania Press‘ Blood and Thunder prozine in 2014. I read it first in an… Continue reading Confessions of a pulpeteer – Jack Smalley article about his days as a pulp author and editor – part 1
Canine Covers in honor of National Dog Day
Pick your favorite. Mine’s the German Shepherd in the Argosy. Adventure, July 18, 1919 cover by James Reynolds Argosy, February 7, 1925 cover by Charles Livingston Bull Blue Book, February 1934 cover by Joseph C. Chenoweth The Popular Magazine, March 20, 1916 cover by John A. Coughlin Short Stories January 10th, 1941 cover by A.R. Tilburne… Continue reading Canine Covers in honor of National Dog Day
Index to the fanzine Xenophile – part 2
Had the good luck recently to acquire a complete run of the fanzine Xenophile. Have been reading a few issues, shocked by the low prices and high dudgeon evinced by subscribers at price increases of pulps to as much as $3 for a late 1930s Black Mask issue. Didn’t find it indexed, so this is… Continue reading Index to the fanzine Xenophile – part 2
Five Stahr covers
On his birthday, a few of the artist Paul Stahr‘s cover paintings for Argosy. High resolution photos made from multiple photos taken by me (click on the pictures to view in their full glory), the odd angles are to avoid reflections as much as possible. All paintings except the last one are from the astonishing collection… Continue reading Five Stahr covers
Pulpfest 2018 – trip report
Recently returned from Pulpfest 2018, a 4 celebration of the pulp magazines. This year, the theme was World War 1. As usual, the convention had something for everyone. A fantastic job by the organizing committee – thanks to Jack Cullers and his family, Barry Traylor, Mike Chomko, Chuck Welch and many others. The Panels John… Continue reading Pulpfest 2018 – trip report
Gayle Hoskins – prints from “A Cowboy’s Day” series of covers
[On the occasion of the artist’s birthday] The artist Gayle Hoskins did many covers for Western Story Magazine, starting in 1929. One of the few positive things to emerge from the Great Depression was that many excellent cover artists were forced to do illustrations for pulp magazines as their incomes dropped. This led to improved… Continue reading Gayle Hoskins – prints from “A Cowboy’s Day” series of covers
Index to the fanzine Xenophile – part 1
Had the good luck recently to acquire a complete run of the fanzine Xenophile. Have been reading a few issues, shocked by the low prices and high dudgeon evinced by subscribers at price increases of pulps to as much as $3 for a late 1930s Black Mask issue. Didn’t find it indexed, so this is my… Continue reading Index to the fanzine Xenophile – part 1
Encoded messages in the pulps – Adventure and Detective Story Magazine
Came across this, and thought you might find it interesting. Encrypted messages exchanged in Detective Story Magazine, solution was found and is in the comments on the blog. An unsolved encrypted message from a missed person http://scienceblogs.de/klausis-krypto-kolumne/2018/03/19/an-unsolved-encrypted-message-from-a-missed-person/ Around 1920, a US pulp magazine published an encrypted message exchange in its “missed persons” column. The cleartexts… Continue reading Encoded messages in the pulps – Adventure and Detective Story Magazine