The Age of Dimes and Pulps: A History of Sensationalist Literature, 1830–1960

243 Pages·2018·12.87 MB·English

by  Jeremy Agnew

The Age of Dimes
and Pulps
AlsobyJeremyAgnew
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The Age of Dimes
and Pulps
A History of Sensationalist
Literature, 1830–1960
J A
eremy gnew
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina
All photographs are from the author’s personal collection
unless otherwise indicated. All pulp images are the trademark
and copyright of their respective copyright holders.
librAryofcongresscATAloguing-in-PublicATionDATA
names: Agnew, Jeremy, author.
Title: The age of dimes and pulps : a history of sensationalist literature,
1830–1960 / Jeremy Agnew.
Description: Jefferson, north carolina : mcfarland & company, inc.,
Publishers, 2018. | includes bibliographical references and index.
identifiers: lccn 2018023992 | isbn 9781476669489 (softcover : acid
free paper)
♾
subjects: lcsH: Pulp literature, American—History and criticism. | Dime
novels, American—History and criticism.
classification: lcc Ps374.P63 A36 2018 | DDc 813.009—dc23
lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018023992
briTisHlibrArycATAloguingDATAAreAvAilAble
ISBN (print) 978-1-4766-6948-9
ISBN (ebook) 978-1-4766-3257-5
© 2018 Jeremy Agnew. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
front cover image of stack of books © 2018 Diane labombarbe/istock
Printed in the united states of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
forDennis,
alifelongfriendwhohastraveledwithme
downthetrailofsensationalistliterature
overmany,manyyears
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Table of contents
Preface 1
1. A love of the lurid 5
2. Publishing the sensational 22
3. enter the Dime novel 33
4. Dime novel Heroes 50
5. glorifying the outlaws 64
6. The rise of the Detective 79
7. Transition to the Pulps 91
8. fantastic Heroes and High Adventure 105
9. Detectives become Hard boiled 121
10. And even Harder boiled 134
11. Pulp visions of the cowboy 145
12. The western Pulp matures 158
13. Pulps for everyone 173
14. yellow Perils and weird menaces 188
15. The Pulps fade Away 204
Postscript 219
Chapter Notes 221
Bibliography 228
Index 231
vii
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Preface
Sensationalism
The use of subject matter, style, language, or artistic expression that is intended
to shock, startle, excite, or arouse intense interest.—Webster’s New World
Dictionary of the American Language, 1959
writing in the July 1937 issue of Harper’s magazine, margaret macmullen said,
“[s]ensationalism is the age- old need of the uneducated.”1while this is a valid opinion,
it is not a totally accurate one because it should apply to all readers, not just the unedu-
cated. lurid and sensationalistic writing has fascinated readers of all socio- economic
groups for as long as reading has been a form of cultural entertainment. The lure of the
lurid, as it might be called, has attracted avid readers to stories of crime, war, pirates,
romance, exotic adventures, horror, westerns, detectives, science fiction, mysteries, terror,
sea stories, sports, and many others.
because of their lurid reputation, pulp books and magazines, which are the focus
of this book, have been considered by much of the academic world to be inferior literature
not worthy of extended interpretation. not too many years ago researchers looked down
on them, believing that the investigation of everyday culture was not suitable for academic
study. w.H. Hutchinson, a professor of history at california state university, echoed this
view when he said, “The pulp paper magazines [are] looked down upon by any and every
right- thinking literary person.”2Amoremodernviewpoint,however,isthatdimenovels
and pulp magazines were the forerunners and foundation for much of today’s popular
fiction. furthermore, they can serve as invaluable references for researchers looking for
information that reflects the popular culture of earlier times.
Although sensationalist and lurid stories have been told and read for hundreds of
years, this volume will concentrate on the history of dime novels, pulp magazines, and
other sensationalist literature from their start in the nineteenth century to the transition
into today’s paperback novels in the 1950s. Part of the focus of this book will be on two
of the most successful literary creations of American popular reading in dime novels and
pulp magazines, the cowboy hero and the hard- boiled detective. Due to the prevalence
and popularity of these two iconic figures, the reader will note a corresponding emphasis
on them in this book. The western hero arrived in print in the 1820s with James fenimore
cooper’s Hawkeye, was reborn in the dime novels and pulp magazines in the last half of
the nineteenth century, was promoted in film starting at the turn of the twentieth century,
and persisted into television in the 1950s. The hard- boiled detective (and the crime fighter
in general) is considered by many to be the essence of pulp literature. stories about both
1