Pulp magazines were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from around 1896 to the 1950s. The term “pulp” derives from the cheap wood pulp on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazines printed on higher-quality paper were called "glossies" or "slicks".
The pulps gave rise to the term pulp fiction in reference to run-of-the-mill, low-quality literature. Pulps were the successors to the penny dreadfuls, dime novels, and short fiction magazines of the 1800s. Although many respected writers wrote for pulps, the magazines were best known for their lurid, exploitative, and sensational subject matter. Modern superhero comic books are sometimes considered descendants of "hero pulps"- pulp magazines often featured illustrated novel-length stories of heroic characters, such as Flash Gordon, The Shadow, Doc Savage, and the Phantom Detective.
At their peak of popularity in the 1920s and 1930s, the most successful pulps could sell up to one million copies per issue. The most successful pulp magazines were Argosy, Adventure, Blue Book, and Short Stories, collectively described by some pulp historians as "The Big Four.” Among the best known other titles of this period were Amazing Stories, Black Mask, and Dime Detective, among others.
1939 Robert de Graff launched Pocket Books. It was the first American mass-market-paperback line, and it transformed the industry. But paper book covers are almost as old as print. They date back to the sixteenth century, and paper-backing has been the ordinary mode of book production in France, for a long time. The first edition of James Joyce’s “Ulysses,” published in Paris in 1922, is a paperback. In the United States, paperback publishing was tried on a major scale at least twice during the nineteenth century: first, in the eighteen-forties, with an enterprise called the American Library of Useful Knowledge, and after the Civil War, when, unfettered by international copyright agreements, American publishers brought out cheap editions of popular European novels.
Many notable authors and books were first published as pulp fiction:
Tarzan of the Apes first appeared serialised in 1912-13 editions of All-Story magazine. Dashiell Hammet’s The Maltese Falcon was originally published in Black Mask magazine in 1930, and The Thin Man in 1934 in Redbook.
This is part 3 of a 4-part series on Pulp Fiction featuring the 1910s - 1920s.
Later larger series will feature Pulp Fiction of the 1930s, and Pulp Fiction of the 1940s - 1950s.
Jerome & George Rozen:
Jerome Rozen
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| George Rozen (1895-1973) |
George & Jerome Rozen were twins born 1895 in Chicago. Their parents had emigrated to America in the 1860s from Bohemia (the Czech Republic).
After WW1 George was discharged as a Sergeant. He returned to his job at the Flagstaff Western Union and joined the National Guard. Meanwhile, his brother Jerome had decided to pursue a career in art and attended the Chicago Art Institute. Jerome graduated in 1923 and was hired as an art tutor at the school. When he began to earn good money as an illustrator, George decided to give up telegraphy and to instead follow in his brother's footsteps. He enrolled in the Chicago Art Institute, and even took one class that was taught by his brother.
George Rozen’s first published assignments were covers and interior pen & ink story illustrations for Fawcett magazines, Battle Stories, Triple-X Magazine, and Modern Mechanix. He was soon painting covers for College Stories, The Popular, Top-Notch, War Birds, Wild West Weekly, and Western Romances.
In 1931 George suddenly replaced his brother Jerome as the cover artist for Street & Smith's The Shadow Magazine. George became The Shadow's most renowned cover artist, while his brother branched out into the more prestigious fields of advertising and slick magazines. During the Great Depression George was content to work for pulp magazines, such as War Aces, War Stories, Western Aces, Western Trails, Doctor Yen Sin, Phantom Detective, Popular Detective, Thrilling Adventures, Thrilling Ranch Stories, and The Shadow, which became the world's top selling pulp magazine.
During the Second World War George was too old for military service, but he remained busy producing pulp covers. After the war his illustrations appeared regularly on paperbacks from Popular Library and Ace Double Books. He retired in 1954.
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1927 The Popular Magazine June 7 edition Marching Men cover artwork by Jerome Rozen oil on canvas 76.2 x 53.3 cm |
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| 1927 The Popular Magazine June 7 edition Marching Men cover by Jerome Rozen |
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| 1932 The Shadow August issue The Blackmail Ring artwork by George Rozen |
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| 1932 The Shadow August issue The Blackmail Ring cover by George Rozen |
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| 1932 The Shadow Detective Monthly July issue The Crime Cult cover by George Rozen |
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| 1933 The Shadow April 1 issue The Silent Death cover by George Rozen |
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| 1933 The Shadow February 1 issue The Shadow's Shadow cover by George Rozen |
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| 1933 The Shadow Magazine January 15 issue The Creeping Death artwork by George Rozen |
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| 1933 The Shadow Magazine January 15 issue The Creeping Death cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1933 The Shadow Magazine April 15 issue The Shadow's Justice cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1933 The Shadow Magazine July 15 issue The Silver Scourge cover by Jerome-George Rozen |
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| 1933 The Shadow Magazine March 15 issue Murder Trail cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1934 The Shadow Magazine August 15 issue Gypsy Vengeance cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1934 The Shadow Magazine July 15 issue Chain of Death cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1934 The Shadow Magazine March 15 issue The Green Box cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1935 The Shadow July 15 issue cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1935 The Shadow Magazine April 1 issue Lingo cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1935 The Shadow Magazine January 15 issue The Blue Sphinx cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1935 The Shadow Magazine May 15 issue The Third Skull cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1936 The Mysterious Wu Fang March issue The Case of the Hidden Scourge artwork by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1936 The Mysterious Wu Fang March issue The Case of the Hidden Scourge cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1936 The Shadow Magazine December 1 issue The Broken Napoleons cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1936 The Shadow Magazine September 15 issue Jibaro Death cover artwork by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1936 The Shadow Magazine September 15 issue Jibaro Death cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1936 The Shadow September 1 issue The Golden Masks cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1937 The Shadow October 1 issue The Pooltex Tangle cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1937 The Shadow December 15 issue Racket Town cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1937 The Shadow Magazine May 1 issue The Cup of Confucius cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1937 The Shadow October 15 issue The Keeper's Gold cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1938 The Shadow January 1 issue The Crystal Buddha cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1938 The Shadow September 15 issue The Murder Master cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1938 The Shadow August 15 issue The Green Hoods cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1938 The Shadow December 15 issue Double Death artwork by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1938 The Shadow December 15 issue Double Death cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1938 The Shadow July 1 issue Murder for Sale cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1938 The Shadow June 1 1938 issue Voodoo Trail cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1938 The Shadow November 15 issue Chicago Crime cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1938 The Shadow October 1 issue The Dead Who Lived cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1938 The Shadow September 15 issue artwork by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1939 The Shadow January 1 issue Silver Skull cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1939 The Shadow March 1 issue River of Death cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1941 The Shadow December 1 issue Murder Mansion cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1941 The Shadow November 1 issue The Blackmail Gang cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1942 The Shadow June 15 issue The Devil's Feud artwork by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1942 The Shadow June 15 issue The Devil's Feud cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1942 The Shadow The Book of Death artwork by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1942 The Shadow January 1 issue Alibi Trial cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1942 The Shadow July 1 issue Five Ivory Boxes cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1942 The Shadow May 1 issue The Northdale Mystery cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| 1942 The Shadow September 15 issue Syndicate in Sin cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| n.d. Daring Detective Tabloid New York's Honeymoon of Death cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| n.d. Range Riders Western cover artwork by Jerome/George Rozen |
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| n.d. The Mysterious Wu Fang The Case of the Suicide Tomb cover by Jerome/George Rozen |
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