With the possible exception of the western genre, romance pulp magazines were perhaps the most popular of the era. “Between 1912 and 1971, 139 romance titles appeared at one point or another, with an average of 20 different titles competing for space on newsstands during the genre’s most popular period, the 1940s” (Laurie Powers, Art of the Pulps, 2017). They captured readers’ hearts with tales of daring encounters, romantic adventures, and passionate desire, much in the same vein as a modern romance novel or television series.
Love Story Magazine, one of the longest running romance pulps (1921-1947), was also the highest-selling pulp magazine of all time. It was also managed by renowned editor Daisy Bacon, who introduced readers to writers like Maysie Greig, Peggy Gaddis, and Gertrude Schalk, a notable figure of the Harlem Renaissance movement. There were also a number of talented artists who contributed cover and interior illustrations to the romance pulps, including Gloria Stoll Karn, Dorothy Flack, and Xena Wright. Throughout the years, other genres would often merge with romance for wider appeal.
Stories of ranch life and western colonization were popular in the states and abroad long before the appearance of pulp story magazines. The exploits of cowboys, settlers, and (often misrepresented) Indigenous peoples first appeared in the dime novels of the 19th century, so there was already a large audience for the genre when western pulps stampeded newsstands in the early 20th century.
Many of these magazines featured the work of women authors, such as B. M. (Bertha Muzzy) Bower and Elsa McCormick Barker, as well as covers painted by Gloria Stoll Karn. The long-running Ranch Romances was edited by Fanny Ellsworth from 1932-1954, as well as issues of Rangeland Love Story, Sure-Fire Western, and other titles. While women characters were often relegated to the status of forlorn love interest or flirtatious saloon girl, there were plenty of sharpshooting women to rival the likes of Annie Oakley, including the popular Action Stories character, Señorita Scorpion.
Ranch Romances, September 1946, edited by Fanny Ellsworth and featuring a story by Elsa McCormick Barker (Warner Publications)
While slower to gain popularity, science fiction eventually became a bestseller among pulp magazine readers, although the stories would often be referred to as ‘planetary romances’ in the early years. Tales of otherworldly encounters and interstellar travel provided a much desired escapism from the harsh realities of the Great Depression in the 1930s, but as the 20th century progressed, these stories reflected the public’s growing interest in scientific progress and new technologies. Stories by Margaret St. Clair, Katherine MacLean, C. L. (Catherine Lucille) Moore, Leigh Brackett, and James Tiptree, Jr. (aka Alice Bradley Sheldon) quickly became favorites among readers who were fascinated by futuristic concepts and the possibilities of scientific discovery.
While the 19th century certainly gave us a healthy dose of the fantastic and horrific, often in the form of ‘penny dreadfuls’ or serialized fiction, it wasn’t until the early 20th century that these stories gained a status as separate genres in their own right. Even the earliest pulp magazines would blend fantasy and horror elements with more mainstream narratives, but this would soon change with the introduction of magazines like Weird Tales and Unknown.
Writers and readers would engage in far-ranging debates and editors would fan the flames in the legendary letters column, The Eyrie, which helped define the style, elements, and tropes of fantasy and horror as we know them today. It was thanks to Weird Tales and similar titles that we were also introduced to the fantasy work of writers like C. L. (Catherine Lucille) Moore, Dorothy Quick, Mary Elizabeth Counselman, and Allison V. Harding, as well as the iconic pastel paintings of Margaret Brundage.
Weird Tales, January 1938, featuring a story by Dorothy Quick and a cover painting by Margaret Brundage (Popular Fiction Publishing, from the Swarthmore College Keller Collection)
Who doesn't love a good ‘whodunit’? There was certainly no shortage of sleuths and gangsters in the pulps, which featured Agatha Christie’s detectives in Blue Book and Dashiell Hammet’s ‘femme fatale’ characters in popular crime magazines. The cozy parlor mystery would switch to the gritty streets as the years went by, but women writers and characters proved time and time again that they had the moxie to thrive in a hardboiled world.
Leigh Brackett and Georgiana Craig (writing as Craig Rice) are well-known for their crime fiction, while Marijane Meaker (writing as Vin Packer) would pen psychological crime before writing the classic lesbian pulp novel, Spring Fire. And once you’ve met them, who could forget characters like Carrie Cashin from Crime Busters or the daring agent of The Shadow, Margo Lane? Add the women gangsters from Gun Molls Magazine and Gloria Stoll Karn’s Dime Mystery covers to the culprit list, and you’re guaranteed to have an entertaining case in hand.
Gun Molls Magazine, February 1932, facsimile reprint of the famous gangster pulp (Real Publications, Inc)
Every format has its day, and the golden era of pulp magazines was drawing to a close in the middle of the 20th century. A spiritual successor was poised to take its place, however, as the pulp paperback swiftly gained popularity after the introduction of Armed Service Editions for soldiers in World War II. This ‘pocket size’ format shared similar traits with the short story magazines, selling cheaply and printed on equally cheap paper.
All genres were on display and some pulp stories were even reprinted, but there was also a newcomer to the publishing scene: the lesbian pulp novel. While several of these paperbacks were written by men and featured ridiculous (and often dehumanizing) plots, there were also many early classics such as Women’s Barracks, Spring Fire, The Price of Salt, and Odd Girl Out that paved the way for realistic characterization and positive representation of the community.
Many of the paperbacks featured were graciously loaned to the exhibit by Ashley Netanel.
