Just 83 years ago today, The Shadow first appeared!

“Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?” . . . why Orson Welles, of course.

Today, July 31^st marks the 83 anniversary of the first appearance of The Shadow as a mysterious narrator on the Street & Smith radio program, Detective Story Hour. He was so popular that they gave him his very own pulp magazine starting on April 1^st, 1931.

The nature of the publishing game at the time was to invest as little as possible in new ventures – the awful world economy of the early 1930s was not conducive to “rolling out” new magazines with any kind of “bang.” Thus, this first Shadow cover used recycled art that had originally appeared as the cover of The Thrill Book on Oct. 1, 1919.

http://www.thepulp.net/the-links/theshadow/shadow-cover/ 

Edgar Allan Poe and Pulp Magazines

Researching the history of pulp magazines must inevitably include the history of mystery and detective fiction. It is widely recognized that Edgar Allan Poe invented detective fiction with the publication of “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” in 1841 (over 45 years before Sherlock Holmes appeared in Beeton’s Christmas Annual in Britain).

The first pulp magazine was Frank Munsey’s Argosy Magazine in 1896. This was soon followed by the Street and Smith publication, The Popular Magazine, in 1903. More important to what would become the pulp magazine industry, Street and Smith had earlier published The Old Detective's Pupil; or, The Mysterious Crime of Madison Square as a dime novel in September, 1886. This was the first appearance of the Nick Carter character who appeared regularly in Street and Smith magazines for nearly 20 years and then had several revisions well into the 1950s.

Nick Carter was originally conceived by John R. Coryell and Ormond G. Smith (son of Francis S. Smith, one of the founders of Street & Smith). Frederic Marmaduke van Rensselaer Dey agreed to write the stories and stayed with that assignment for 17 years. The character was clearly very successful for Street and Smith and also for the pulp magazine business in general. Nick Carter was a crack shot, a versatile and skilled fighter, a talented linguist, and a master of disguise. He was honest and clean – he didn’t smoke, drink, curse or swear. He was a truly mythical hero and became a model for future fiction detectives.

Le Chevalier C. Auguste Dupin was Poe’s detective in “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”.  Dupin had a superior intellect and the ability to use is mind quite creatively to solve the crime. The narrator of the story is Dupin’s nameless friend (these characters have come to be known as Watsons after Sherlock Holmes’ sidekick, Dr. Watson). 

Lines can clearly be drawn that trace detective characters back almost 175 years to Poe. So, we must also consider how Poe’s story was originally published. Poe has also been said to have been the first well-known American writer to have tried to support himself in this trade, although not a very good living. In fact Poe had anything but a good life. An orphan, he never seemed to have much of a relationship with his guardian, John Allan, and financial support was repeatedly an issue.

Times were particularly difficult for writers in the late 1830s when Poe was trying to succeed as a writer. A financial crisis in the United States, known as the “Panic of 1837” had devastated the economy  –  recovery went well into the 1840s. There were no international copyright laws, so publishers used whatever they were able to with little regard for payment. This did not give American authors much bargaining power and publishers were very casual about paying for what they published. Poe worked for a number of “magazines” and journals and began working for Graham’s Magazine in 1840.

It is at Graham’s Magazine that Poe’s contribution to what would become "detective fiction" took place. “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” was published in April, 1841. A month later, “A Descent into the Maelstrom” was published. The third of Poe’s ground-breaking detective stories starring C. Auguste Dupin, “The Masque of the Red Death”, was published in May, 1842.  

Graham’s Magazine might be considered a significant model for the publishers that more than a half century later would be publishing what have come to be known as “pulp magazines”.  During the 1840s a typical number of Graham’s would consist of 3 or 4 short stories, a light essay on manners, a biographical sketch, a literary article, a considerable amount of poetry, narrative, lyrical and didactic, an outdoor sketch by “Frank Forrester,” a travel article, fine arts and book review departments, a “chat” with the editor, as well as a colored fashion plate and one or two art plates by well-known engravers. 

So, what the hell am I doing at PulpFest? What is PulpFest? Who cares?

My career in the book biz was mostly a very fulfilling experience and I can think of very little that I would change. Sure, it would have been nice to have made a whole lot more money, but that was never something that was on the table. It was the people, the ideas, and the dynamic relationships between both.

My retirement has also been pretty damn nice for the past decade. Spousal unit and I are always busy, mostly healthy, travel, have plenty of time with family and friends, and would not complain about comfort.

So, what the hell am I doing at PulpFest? What is PulpFest? Who cares?

The term “pulp” refers to the pulp paper that was a cheap medium for publishing in the infancy of a highly competitive, new industry that began with the maturation of society after the industrial revolution – yes, I’m referring back to the early to mid-19^th century.

After the age of discovery and exploration and the industrial revolution, society was adjusting to a transition from an agrarian base to one of trade, manufacturing, and new ways of viewing the world. More and more of the populace began to reach out, beyond the microcosm of their immediate community for ideas and opportunity. There had always been a fascination with those who had left the nest and reported back on their adventures, discoveries, successes, and tragic failures.

To put this in perspective, we must realize that there was no Facebook, no Internet, and no telephones. Many were illiterate. Mail (Pony Express, 1860), the telegraph (1837), and newspapers (Gutenberg, 1450) were relatively new innovations and not always widespread resources.

As a society reaps the benefit of greater economic efficiency, it begins to prosper. An early measure of prosperity is a greater awareness of the broader world. There is a growth in sophistication and education. Literacy provides the potential for even greater knowledge.  The growth of the publishing industry and the evolution of written storytelling are integral parts of our culture.

The Pulp Magazines and periodicals provided the basic incubator for many styles of storytelling that have both filtered and broadened our knowledge of human experiences.  They form a foundation for today’s literature, movies, entertainment, and what has become known as “popular culture”. Thus, the history of this industry has also contributed to our overall social and cultural history.

During the process of this evolution, all kinds of things were tried. Some was good, some was brilliant, and much was just plain awful. There were many stories shared through a broad opportunistic medium. The early publishing industry helped  to define what the market would become – what kind of information do people want to learn about, what kind of storytelling best conveys this information, and what is not desired. We learned that entertainment and learning are related. We learned how to manipulate information consumers for both good and bad reasons.

The “Pulps” provided a laboratory that was essential. However, because this medium was so basic and included rougher experimental elements of what would evolve to levels of greater refinement, there is a tendency to be disdainful and ignore the importance of this stage in the development of our culture. Some of the pulp writers were very good wordsmiths but not very creative. Some were terrific at plot development. Others explored how dialogue is converted from the ear to the page. Some were prolific, while others were slow and deliberate. Very few had all the skills to be looked back on as literary all-stars, but it is evident that they influenced each other and together contributed to an end product.

PulpFest is one of a number of “meet-ups” where collectors, traders, aficionados, writers, editors, and publishers get together and help to sustain and proliferate the knowledge this history. Since I have been researching the history of the pulp magazines for a course that I will teach, the idea of attending PulpFest was compelling. Summertime is the time for road trips. So, here I am!