Popular Publications was one of the largest publishers 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 during its existence, at one point publishing 42 different titles per month. Company titles included

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

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

Western fiction Western fiction is a genre of literature set in the American Old West frontier and typically set from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth century. Well-known writers of Western fiction include Zane Grey from the early 20th century and ...

. They were also known for the several '

weird menace Weird menace is a subgenre of horror fiction and detective fiction that was popular in the pulp magazines of the 1930s and early 1940s. The weird menace pulps, also known as shudder pulps, generally featured stories in which the hero was pitted a ...

' titles. They also published several

pulp hero 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 ...

or character pulps.

History

The company was formed in 1930 by Henry "Harry" Steeger. It was the time of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, and Steeger had just read ''

The Hound of the Baskervilles ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' is the third of the four crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialised in ''The Strand Magazine'' from August 1901 to April 1902, it is set i ...

''. Steeger realized that people wanted

escapist fiction Escapist fiction is fiction that provides psychological escape from reality by immersing readers in a "new world" created by the author.Galgut, E. (2019). Literary Form and Mentalization. In ''The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Psychoanalysis'' ...

, allowing them to forget the difficulties of daily life. Steeger wrote "I realised that a great deal of money could be made with that kind of material. It was not long before I was at it, inventing one pulp magazine after another, until my firm had originated over 300 of them." In the late 1930s Steeger was under pressure to lower his rate of pay to below one cent a word, which he felt was the minimum decent rate he could offer. He didn't want to have Popular pay less than one cent per word, so a new company, Fictioneers, was started; it was essentially a fictional company, with an address (205 East 42nd St) that corresponded to the rear entrance of Popular's offices at 210 East 43rd St. It was given a separate phone number, and the switchboard girl was instructed to put calls through to staff working on Fictioneers titles only if the calls came to the Fictioneers number. Many staff were working on magazines for both companies at the same time, which made it difficult to maintain the pretense of separation. Science fiction writer

Frederik Pohl Frederik George Pohl Jr. (; November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013) was an American science-fiction writer, editor, and fan, with a career spanning nearly 75 years—from his first published work, the 1937 poem "Elegy to a Dead Satelli ...

, on the other hand, was hired specifically to edit two Fictioneers titles: ''

Astonishing Stories ''Astonishing Stories'' was an American pulp magazine, pulp science fiction magazine, published by Popular Publications between 1940 and 1943. It was founded under Popular's "Fictioneers" imprint, which paid lower rates than Popular's other magazi ...

'' and ''

Super Science Stories ''Super Science Stories'' was an American pulp science fiction magazine published by Popular Publications from 1940 to 1943, and again from 1949 to 1951. Popular launched it under their Fictioneers imprint, which they used for magazines, payin ...

''.Pohl, ''Early Pohl'', pp. 23–24. In 1934, Popular acquired ''

Adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

'' from the Butterick Company. Around the same time, the purchased a number of titles from

Clayton Publications Clayton may refer to: People * Clayton (name) *Clayton baronets *The Clayton Brothers, Jeff and John, jazz musicians * Clayton Brothers, Rob and Christian, painter artists *Justice Clayton (disambiguation), the judges Clayton Places Canada * Cla ...

such as ''Ace-High Magazine'' and ''Complete Adventure Novelettes.'' In 1940, they purchased '' Black Mask'' from The Pro-Distributors, Inc. In 1942 the firm acquired the properties of the Frank A. Munsey Company In 1949, they acquired all of the pulp titles

Street & Smith Street & Smith or Street & Smith Publications, Inc. was a New York City publisher specializing in inexpensive paperbacks and magazines referred to as dime novels and pulp fiction. They also published comic books and sporting yearbooks. Among t ...

had recently cancelled, with the exceptions of ''

The Shadow The Shadow is a fictional character created by magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator, and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by writer Walter ...

'' (due to the radio show) and their other hero pulps, and ''

Astounding ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William Cl ...

,'' although Popular did not publish revivals of them all. Other imprints used included Fictioneers, Inc. (1939–58), All-Fiction Field, Inc. (1942–58), New Publications, Inc. (1936–60), Recreational Reading (1936–60), and Post Periodicals, Inc. (1936–60). In 1972, the company was sold to Brookside Publications, a company owned by advertising magnate David Geller. At the time it was still publishing ''Argosy, Railroad'', recently ending ''Adventure'' and ''True Adventure''. In c. 1977, Geller sold Popular to French publisher Hachette. In 1981, they sold the rights to Joel Frieman who established Blazing Publications, which in 1988 renamed itself Argosy Communications, Inc. Under those names, it published a few comic-book versions of characters, as well as allowed the reprinting of several of their properties. In 2014 most of its titles–including all copyrights and associated intellectual property–were acquired by Steeger Properties, LLC, with Argosy Communications retaining only a few pulp heroes such as The Spider, G-8, and Operator #5.

Character magazines

Captain Combat Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Captain Satan Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Captain V Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

* Captain Zero (considered the last hero pulp) *

Dr. Yen Sin ''Dr. Yen Sin'' was a short-lived pulp science fiction magazine published by the New York City-based Popular Publications during 1936. It superseded a similar magazine from the same publishers entitled '' The Mysterious Wu Fang'', which had ceas ...

Fu Manchu Dr. Fu Manchu () is a supervillain who was introduced in a series of novels by the English author Sax Rohmer beginning shortly before World War I and continuing for another forty years. The character featured in cinema, television, radio, comic ...

clone) *

Dusty Ayres Dusty may refer to: Places in the United States * Dusty, New Mexico, an unincorporated community * Dusty, Washington, an unincorporated community * Dusty Glacier, Washington People * Dusty (given name) * Dusty (nickname) * Slim Dusty, Austra ...

and his Battle Birds * G-8 * Wu Fang (a

clone) * The Octopus/The Scorpion (one-shot villain pulps) *

Operator No. 5 ''Operator #5'' was a pulp hero that appeared in his own ten cent pulp magazine. It was soon renamed ''Secret Service Operator #5'' and was published by Popular Publications between 1934 and 1939. Characters Within the world of the series, A ...

* Secret 6 *

The Spider The Spider is an American pulp-magazine hero of the 1930s and 1940s. The character was created by editor Harry Steeger and written by a variety of authors for 118 monthly issues of ''The Spider'' from 1933 to 1943. A 119th Spider novel manuscrip ...

Other titles

* ''Ace-High Detective Magazine'' * ''Ace-High Magazine'' * ''Ace-High Novels Monthly'' * ''Ace-High Western Magazine'' * ''Ace-High Western Stories Magazine'' * ''

'' * ''All Aces Magazine'' * ''All-American Fiction'' * ''All-Star Love Magazine'' * ''All-Story Detective'' * ''All-Story'' * ''All-Story Love'' * ''All-Story Love Stories'' * ''All-Story Love Tales'' * ''All-Story Western'' * ''A. Merritt’s Fantasy Magazine'' * '' Argosy'' * ''

Argosy All-Story Weekly ''Argosy'', later titled ''The Argosy'', ''Argosy All-Story Weekly'' and ''The New Golden Argosy'', was an American pulp magazine from 1882 through 1978, published by Frank Munsey until its sale to Popular Publications in 1942. It is the fi ...

'' * ''

'' * ''Battle Aces'' * ''Battle Birds'' * ''Big-Book Detective Magazine'' * ''Big-Book Western Magazine'' * ''Big Chief Western'' * '' Black Mask'' * ''Blue Steel Magazine'' * ''Bulls-Eye Western Stories'' * ''Candid Confessions'' * ''Cavalier Classics'' * ''Complete Mystery Novelettes'' * ''Confession Novel of the Month'' * ''Cowboy Movie Thrillers'' * ''Crack-Shot Western'' * ''Dare-Devil Aces'' * ''Daring Confessions'' * ''Detective Action Stories'' * ''Detective Dime Novels'' * ''Detective Fiction'' * ''Detective Fiction Weekly'' * ''Detective Story Magazine'' * ''Detective Tales'' * ''Dime Adventure Magazine'' * ''Dime Detective Magazine'' * ''

Dime Mystery Magazine ''Dime Mystery Magazine'' was an American pulp magazine published from 1932 to 1950 by Popular Publications. Titled ''Dime Mystery Book Magazine'' during its first nine months, it contained ordinary mystery stories, including a full-length n ...

'' * ''Dime Mystery Book Magazine'' * ''Dime Sports Magazine'' * ''Dime Western Magazine'' * ''

'' * ''Double Detective Magazine'' * ''Dusty Ayres and His Battle Birds'' * ''Everybody’s'' * ''

Famous Fantastic Mysteries ''Famous Fantastic Mysteries'' was an American science fiction and fantasy pulp magazine published from 1939 to 1953. The editor was Mary Gnaedinger. It was launched by the Munsey Company as a way to reprint the many science fiction and fanta ...

'' * ''Famous Spy Stories'' * '' Fantastic Novels Magazine'' * ''Fantasy Fiction'' * ''Fantasy Stories'' * ''F.B.I. Detective Stories'' * ''Fifteen Detective Stories'' * ''Fifteen Love Stories'' * ''15 Mystery Stories'' * ''Fifteen Range Romances'' * ''Fifteen Sports Stories'' * ''15 Story Detective'' * ''Fifteen Western Tales'' * ''Fifth Column Stories'' * ''Fighting Aces'' * ''Flynn’s'' * ''Flynn’s Detective'' * ''Flynn’s Detective Fiction'' * ''Flynn’s Weekly'' * ''Flynn’s Weekly Detective Fiction'' * ''Focus Magazine'' * ''Foreign Legion Adventures'' * ''.44 Western Magazine'' * ''Four Star Love Magazine'' * ''Fun for All'' * ''Fun for One'' * ''Gang World'' * '' G-8 and His Battle Aces'' * ''Glamorous Love Stories'' * '' Horror Stories'' * ''Knockout Magazine'' * ''The Live Wire'' * ''Love Book Magazine'' * ''Love-Crime Detective'' * ''Love Novel of the Month'' * ''Love Novelettes'' * ''Love Novels'' * ''Love Revelations'' * ''Love Romantic Magazine'' * ''Love Short Stories'' * ''Love Story Magazine'' * ''Lovers Magazine'' * ''Mavericks'' * ''Max Brand’s Western Magazine'' * ''Men’s Pictorial'' * ''Munsey’s Magazine'' * '' The Mysterious Wu Fang'' * ''New Detective Magazine'' * ''The New Fiction Library'' * ''New Love Magazine'' * ''New Sports Magazine'' * ''New Western Magazine'' * '' The Octopus'' * ''The Pecos Kid Western'' * ''Pioneer Western'' * ''

Railroad Magazine ''Railroad Magazine'' was a pulp magazine founded by Frank Munsey, Frank Anderson Munsey and published October 1906 to January 1979. It was the first specialized pulp magazine with stories and articles about rail transport, railroads. The magazin ...

'' * ''Rangeland Love Stories'' * ''Rangeland Romances'' * ''Rangeland Sweethearts'' * ''Red Star Detective'' * ''Red Star Love Revelations'' * ''Red Star Mystery'' * ''Red Star Secret Confessions'' * ''Red Star Western'' * ''Romance Western'' * ''Romance Western Roundup'' * '' The Scorpion'' * ''Sea Novel Magazine'' * ''The Secret 6'' * ''Shock'' * ''Silver Buck Western'' * ''Sinister Stories'' * ''

'' * ''Sports Novels Magazine'' * ''Star Western'' * ''Startling Mystery Magazine'' * ''Story Digest'' * ''Strange Detective Mysteries'' * ''

'' * ''Sweetheart Love Stories'' * ''10 Story Mystery Magazine'' * ''10 Story Western Magazine'' * ''

Terror Tales ''Terror Tales'' was the name of two United States, American publications: a pulp magazine of the weird menace genre of the 1930s, and a horror comic in the 1960s and 1970s. Pulp magazine ''Terror Tales'' was originally published by Popular Publ ...

'' * ''Thrilling Mysteries'' * ''True Adventures'' * ''True Love'' * ''True Love Affairs'' * ''Underworld Love Stories'' * ''Underworld Romances'' * ''Walt Coburn’s Western Magazine'' * ''Western Ace High Stories'' * ''Western Dime Novels'' * ''Western Love Romances'' * '' The Western Raider'' * ''Western Rangers'' * ''Western Rangers Stories'' * ''Western Story Magazine'' * ''Western Story Roundup'' * ''Western Tales''

Footnotes

References

* Haining, Peter. ''The Fantastic Pulps''. Vintage Books, a division of Random House. 1975. * {{Authority control Pulp magazine publishing companies of the United States Publishing companies established in 1930 Companies based in New York City 1930 establishments in New York City