''Gangster Stories'' was a controversial

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 ...

of the early 1930s. It featured

hardboiled Hardboiled (or hard-boiled) fiction is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction (especially detective fiction and noir fiction). The genre's typical protagonist is a detective who battles the violence o ...

crime fiction that glorified the gun-toting

gangsters A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

of the

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

era. It was published by

Harold Hersey Harold Brainerd Hersey (April 11, 1893March 1956) was an American pulp editor and publisher, publishing several volumes of poetry. His pulp industry observations were published in hardback as ''Pulpwood Editor'' (1937). Early life He was born o ...

, as part of his

Good Story Magazine Company In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...

pulp chain. The inaugural issue was dated November 1929; the final issue was dated November 1932. When Hersey sold his assets to another company, ''Gangster Stories'' was continued under the title '' Greater Gangster Stories'', under which it lasted through the May 1934 issue. ''Gangster Stories'' (and its companion, '' Racketeer Stories'') quickly came under censorship pressure in New York state, instigated by

John S. Sumner John Saxton Sumner (September 22, 1876 - June 20, 1971) headed the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice (NYSSV), a New York state censorship body empowered to recommend obscenity cases to the appropriate prosecutors. He served as Associat ...

of the

New York Society for the Suppression of Vice The New York Society for the Suppression of Vice (NYSSV or SSV) was an institution dedicated to supervising the morality of the public, founded in 1873. Its specific mission was to monitor compliance with state laws and work with the courts and di ...

, a state entity empowered to recommend obscenity cases to prosecutorial authorities. Hersey was forced to agree to abide by certain rules, e.g. not letting gangsters triumph over lawmen. The fiction in ''Gangster Stories'' (and '' Racketeer Stories'') constitutes a unique genre. Though properly categorized as

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

, the emphasis was on action and gunplay. The stories only tangentially resemble the traditional

detective story Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as specu ...

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

. A typical ''Gangster Stories'' epic featured rival mobs shooting it out in the streets with

Tommy guns The Thompson submachine gun (also known as the "Tommy Gun", "Chicago Typewriter", "Chicago Piano", “Trench Sweeper” or "Trench Broom") is a blowback-operated, air-cooled, magazine-fed selective-fire submachine gun, invented by United Sta ...

. Perhaps the most popular author in the magazine was Anatole Feldman, with his stories of the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

mobster Big Nose Serrano. Playwright Feldman initially based Serrano on the character of

Cyrano de Bergerac Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac ( , ; 6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655) was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist. A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the libertine literature of the first half of the 17th cen ...

. The first Big Nose story, "Serrano of the Stockyards" (''Gangster Stories'', May 1930), roughly followed the plot and characters of the famous play. Thereafter, Serrano evolved into an unlikely crusader against the social ills of the Depression. Another popular author was former newspaper reporter

Margie Harris Margie Harris (birth and death dates unknown) was a pulp writer from 1930 to 1939. She was one of the most popular authors in the short-lived gang pulp genre. Even in an era of hardboiled crime fiction, her stories were unusually hard-edged and bitt ...

, a clever writer with an ear for the distinctive vernacular of the mobs. Other authors include Arthur J. Burks, former

Sing Sing Sing Sing Correctional Facility, formerly Ossining Correctional Facility, is a maximum-security prison operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining, New York. It is about north of ...

convict Henry Leverage, C. B. Yorke, Walt S. Dinghall, George Bruce, Richard Credicott,Credicott, Richard. ''Crime Stories by Richard Credicott'', Off-Trail Publications, 2011. . and D.B. McCandless.

References

Defunct literary magazines published in the United States Fiction magazines Magazines established in 1929 Magazines disestablished in 1932 Magazines published in New York City Pulp magazines {{italic title