Columbia Publications was an American publisher of

pulp magazine Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...

s featuring the genres of

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

westerns The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred ...

, detective stories,

romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

, and sports fiction. The company published such writers as

Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...

, Louis L'Amour,

Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16 December 191719 March 2008) was an English science-fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host. He co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film '' 2001: A Spac ...

, Randall Garrett, Edward D. Hoch, and

William Tenn William Tenn was the pseudonym of Philip Klass (May 9, 1920 – February 7, 2010), a British-born American science fiction author, notable for many stories with satirical elements. Biography Born to a Jewish family in London, Phillip Klass mo ...

;

Robert A. W. Lowndes Robert Augustine Ward "Doc" Lowndes (September 4, 1916 – July 14, 1998) was an American science fiction author, editor and fan. He was known best as the editor of ''Future Science Fiction'', ''Science Fiction'', and ''Science Fiction Quarterly ...

was an important early editor for such writers as Carol Emshwiller, Edward D. Hoch and

Kate Wilhelm Kate Wilhelm (June 8, 1928 – March 8, 2018) was an American author. She wrote novels and stories in the science fiction, mystery, and suspense genres, including the Hugo Award–winning ''Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang''. Wilhelm established ...

. Operating from the mid-1930s to 1960, Columbia's most notable magazines were the science fiction pulps '' Future Science Fiction'', ''

Science Fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

'', and ''

Science Fiction Quarterly ''Science Fiction Quarterly'' was an American pulp science fiction magazine that was published from 1940 to 1943 and again from 1951 to 1958. Charles Hornig served as editor for the first two issues; Robert A. W. Lowndes edited the remainder. ...

''. Other long-running titles included ''Double Action Western Magazine'', ''Real Western'', ''Western Action'', ''Famous Western'', ''Today's Love Stories'', ''Super Sports'', and ''Double Action Detective and Mystery Stories''. In addition to pulp magazines, the company also published some paperback novels, primarily in the science fiction genre. Columbia Publications was the most prolific of a number of pulp imprints operated in the 1930s by

Louis Silberkleit Louis Horace Silberkleit (; 17 November 1900 – 21 February 1986) was an American publisher of magazines, books, and comic books; together with Maurice Coyne and John L. Goldwater, he co-founded MLJ Magazines (later known as Archie Comics), and ...

. Nominally, their offices were in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

and

Holyoke, Massachusetts Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,238. Located north of Springfield ...

Ashley, Mike; Thompson, Raymond H. (1985). "Science Fiction". In Tymn, Marshall B.; Ashley, Mike. ''Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Weird Fiction Magazines''. Westport CT: Greenwood Press. pp. 511–519. . (the addresses of their printers, binders, and mailers for subscriptions), but they were actually produced out of 60 Hudson Street in New York City.

History

and Maurice Coyne (two out of three of the men who later founded

MLJ Magazines Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Archie Comic Publications Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York. started publishing pulps in Sept. 1934 with the publisher brand Winford Publications and the title ''Double Action Western Magazine'', soon joined by ''Real Western''. The two men launched the Northwest Publishing imprint in 1935, Chesterfield Publications in 1936, Blue Ribbon Magazines in 1937, and Double Action Magazines in 1938.Saunders, David
"LOUIS H. SILBERKLEIT (1900–1986),"
''Field Guide to Wild American Pulp Artists''. Retrieved February 26, 2017. Silberkleit ran the companies while Coyne acted as a silent partner and business manager. Meanwhile, Silberkleit and Coyne had started Columbia Publications in late 1937.
''The New York Times'' (February 25, 1986) (last visited on July 19, 2015). Columbia's first titles were

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

pulps: ''Western Yarns'' debuted in January 1938 and ''Complete Cowboy'' in January 1939. Beginning with the June 1940 issue, Columbia took over publication of ''Western Action'' from Winford Publications. The same happened in November 1940 with ''Double Action Western Magazine'' and ''Real Western''. Editor

Charles Hornig Charles Hornig (May 25, 1916 – October 11, 1999) was one of the earliest contributors to the science fiction genre. He not only created one of the first fanzines in 1933, as a teenager, he became the managing editor for ''Wonder Stories'' magaz ...

was hired in October 1938.Davin, Eric Leif (1999). ''Pioneers of Wonder: Conversations with the Founders of Science Fiction''. Amherst NY: Prometheus Books. , p. 102.Davin (1999), pp.111–112. He had no office; he worked from home, coming into the office as needed to drop off manuscripts and dummy materials, and pick up typeset materials to proof. He was given broad freedom to select what he wanted to publish; he reported to Silberkleit's chief editor, Abner J. Sundell. In 1941, Silberkleit essentially consolidated all his pulp publishing companies under the Columbia Publications umbrella. Extant titles Columbia took on that year included ''Famous Western'', ''

'', ''Hooded Detective'' (started in 1938 under a different title), '' Future Fiction'', ''Sports Winners'' and ''Super Sports''. At that point, in mid-1941,

came on board, becoming Columbia's lead editor. In late 1941, Silberkleit merged ''Science Fiction'' with ''Future Fiction.'' Two years later Columbia cancelled both ''Future'' and ''

'' (launched in 1941), deciding to use the limited paper they could acquire for their line of Western and detective titles instead.Ashley, Mike (1985d). "Future Fiction". In Tymn, Marshall B.; Ashley, Mike. ''Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Weird Fiction Magazines''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. , p. 280. (The U.S.'s 1941–1942 entry into

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

brought about a paper shortage, which equally effected other pulp publications.) Both magazines, as well as ''Science Fiction'', were revived in the 1950s. In addition to pulp magazines, Columbia published a few

paperback books A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, lea ...

, most notably

Noel Loomis Noel Loomis (April 3, 1905 – September 7, 1969) was a writer, principally of western, mystery and science-fiction, in the middle of the 20th century. Born and raised in the American West, he was sufficiently familiar with that territory to wr ...

' ''City of Glass'' (1955) (a "Double Action Pocketbook"; originally published in 1942 as a shorter piece in

Standard Magazines Thrilling Publications, also known as Beacon Magazines (1936–37), Better Publications (1937–43) and Standard Magazines (1943–55), was a pulp magazine publisher run by Ned Pines, publishing such titles as ''Startling Stories'' and ...

' ''

Startling Stories ''Startling Stories'' was an American pulp science fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1955 by publisher Ned Pines' Standard Magazines. It was initially edited by Mort Weisinger, who was also the editor of ''Thrilling Wonder Stories'', S ...

'') and the five-issue series ''Science Fiction Classics'' (1942), which included novellas by Earl Binder and Otto Binder writing as "John Coleridge," and

John Russell Fearn John Russell Fearn (1908–1960) was a British writer, one of the first to appear in American pulp magazine, pulp science fiction magazines. A prolific author, he published his novels also as Vargo Statten and with various pseudonyms including T ...

writing as "Dennis Clive". As television supplanted magazines as the dominant form of mass entertainment in the 1950s, the pulps suffered from slumping sales. In February 1960, when Columbia's distributor refused to carry any more of the company's titles, that signaled the end of Columbia Publications.Feldman, Michael
"The Secret Origin of Tower Comics,"
in ''The Thunder Agents Companion'' by Jon B. Cooke (TwoMorrows Publishing, 2005), p. 85. Silberkleit, Coyne, and fellow Archie founder

John L. Goldwater John Leonard Goldwater (born Max Leonard Goldwasser;Saunders, David ''Field Guide to Wild American Pulp Artists''. Accessed Oct. 22, 2018. February 14, 1916 – February 26, 1999) co-founded (with Maurice Coyne (publisher), Maurice Coyne and Loui ...

immediately founded

Belmont Books Belmont Books, also known as Belmont Productions, was an American publisher of genre fiction paperback originals founded in 1960. It specialized in science fiction, horror and fantasy, with titles appearing from 1961 through 1971. The company pub ...

, a low-rent paperback publisher devoted to science fiction, horror, and mystery titles.Hyfler, Richard
"Books For Bus Terminals: Whatever Happened to Belmont Productions?"
''Forbes'' (September 15, 2010). In its early years, Belmont published a number of science fiction anthologies that featured content from ''Science Fiction'', ''Future Fiction'', ''

'', and '' Dynamic Science Fiction'', all of which had been published by Columbia Publications.

Gerald G. Swan reprints

British publisher Gerald G. Swan (1902–1980)"Gerald G. Swan,"
Grand Comics Database. Retrieved March 22, 2017. published 16 issues of ''Swan American Magazine'' from 1946 to 1950, the contents of which were culled from Columbia Publications titles. The ''Swan'' issues focused on Western and detective titles, with a couple of science fiction-themed issues thrown in. Five individual issues of ''Swan American Magazine'' were devoted to material reprinted from Columbia's ''Famous Western'', two to ''Western Yarns'', and two to ''Complete Cowboy''. ''Swan American Magazines'' issues: # ''Western Yarns'' (1948) # ''Detective Yarns'' (1948) # ''Crack Detective Stories'' (1948) # ''Famous Western'' (1948) # ''Western Yarns'' (1948) # ''Famous Western'' (1948 # ''Hooded Detective'' (1948) # ''Famous Western'' (1948) # ''Crack Detective'' (1948) # ''Famous Western'' (1948) # '' Future Fantasy and Science Fiction'' (1948) # ''Complete Cowboy Wild Western Stories'' # ''Famous Western'' # ''Complete Cowboy Wild Western Stories'' # ''

'' (1950) # '' Black Hood Detective'' (1950) In 1960, Swan also published three issues of ''Weird and Occult Library'', which mostly featured old stories from Columbia's science fiction pulps.

Titles published

Notes

References

Notes

Sources consulted

Pulp Magazines
Galactic Central website {{DEFAULTSORT:Columbia Publications American companies established in 1937 American companies disestablished in 1960 Publishing companies established in 1937 Magazine publishing companies of the United States Pulp magazine publishing companies of the United States 1937 establishments in New York (state) 1937 establishments in Massachusetts 1960 disestablishments in Massachusetts 1960 disestablishments in New York (state) Defunct companies based in Massachusetts

History

Gerald G. Swan reprints

Titles published

Further reading

Notes

References

Notes

Sources consulted