''The Popular Magazine'' was an early American literary magazine that ran for 612 issues from November 1903 to October 1931. It featured short fiction, novellas, serialized larger works, and even entire short novels. The magazine's subject matter ranged over a number of genres, although it tended somewhat towards men's adventure stories, particularly in the waning years of the publication when the vogue for

hardboiled fiction 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 ...

was strong. ''The Popular Magazine'' touted itself as "a magazine for men and women who like to read about men." The magazine had its headquarters in New York City. Mike Ashley and John Eggeling.
Popular Magazine, The
in ''

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo, Locus and British SF Awards. Two print editions appeared in 1979 and 1993. A third, continu ...

'', edited by John Clute and Peter Nicholls. April 03, 2015. Retrieved February 19, 2019. ''The Popular Magazine'' was published by

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 ...

and edited by Henry Harrison Lewis from 1903 to 1904, and Charles Agnew MacLean from 1904 to 1928. A typical bi-monthly issue usually ran from 194 to 224 pages. In October 1931, ''The Popular Magazine'' was merged with another Street & Smith pulp, ''Complete Stories''.

History

''The Popular Magazine'' initially started as a boy's magazine, but the editorial focus was shifted after only three issues to one of adult mainstream fiction, a program the magazine would retain for the rest of its publication run."The Popular Magazine: Appreciating the 'Slickest' Pulp" by Ed Hulse, ''Blood 'N' Thunder'' magazine. Part I, No. 24 (Summer 2009) (pp. 76-100); Part II, No. 25 (Winter 2010), pp. 78-99. The magazine was printed on pulp paper. The magazine can be considered a forerunner of the pulp fiction magazines that were prominent from the 1920s to 1950s, as it avoided more highbrow fare in favor of fiction "for the common man." Several issues of ''The Popular Magazine'' featured illustrations by N.C. Wyeth. One of the magazine's earliest successes came with the publication of H. Rider Haggard's novel '' Ayesha'' in 1905. Other notable writers published by ''The Popular Magazine'' include

Morgan Robertson Morgan Andrew Robertson (September 30, 1861 – March 24, 1915) was an American author of short stories and novels, and the self-proclaimed inventor of the periscope. Early life Robertson was the son of Andrew Robertson, a ship captain on th ...

, H.G. Wells,

Rafael Sabatini Rafael Sabatini (29 April 1875 – 13 February 1950) was an Italian-born British writer of romance and adventure novels. He is best known for his worldwide bestsellers: ''The Sea Hawk'' (1915), ''Scaramouche'' (1921), ''Captain Blood'' (a.k.a ...

Zane Grey Pearl Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939) was an American author and dentist. He is known for his popular adventure novels and stories associated with the Western genre in literature and the arts; he idealized the American fronti ...

Beatrice Grimshaw Beatrice Ethel Grimshaw (3 February 1870 – 30 June 1953) was an Irish writer and traveller. Beginning in 1903, she worked as a travel writer for the ''Daily Graphic'' and ''The Times'', leading her to move to the Territory of Papua, whe ...

, Elmer Brown Mason, James Francis Dwyer and

William Wallace Cook William Wallace Cook (1867-1933) also known by the pen-name John Milton Edwards, was an American journalist and author of popular fiction. His works include westerns, adventure stories, dime novels The dime novel is a form of late 19th-cent ...

.''The Dime Novel Companion: a source book'' by J. Randolph Cox Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000, (pp. 72, 186) ''The Popular Magazine'' published

Craig Kennedy Professor Craig Kennedy is a character created by Arthur B. Reeve. Description Kennedy is a scientist detective at Columbia University similar to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Thorndyke. He uses his knowledge of chemistry and psychoanalysis to s ...

stories by Arthur B. Reeve, and other crime fiction by Frederick William Davis and Lemuel De Bra. MacLean also ran spy fiction by E. Phillips Oppenheim and George Bronson-Howard. MacLean stated in a 1910 editorial that he did not want ''The Popular Magazine'' to publish "tales of the utterly impossible". Despite this, ''The Popular Magazine'' did carry

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 uni ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

stories by

Edwin Balmer Edwin Balmer (July 26, 1883 – March 21, 1959) was an American science fiction and mystery writer. Biography Balmer was born in Chicago to Helen Clark (Pratt) and Thomas Balmer. In 1909, he married Katharine MacHarg, sister of the writer Wil ...

, John Buchan, John Collier, Roy Norton,

Sax Rohmer Arthur Henry "Sarsfield" Ward (15 February 1883 – 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was an English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu."Rohmer, Sax" by Jack Adrian in Da ...

and

Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was a war correspondent during th ...

. The magazine went through several slight name changes towards the end of its run. In December 1927 it became ''Popular Stories'', and then a month later, ''The Popular''. In October 1928 the name was changed back to ''The Popular Magazine'' once again. There was a significant turnover of writers around 1930, and

correspondence with one of its authors at that time admitted that it had been decided to "cut out the old writers and get down to material of speedier, cheaper quality."

References

External links

A History of ''The Popular Magazine''
at the Pulp Magazines Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Popular Magazine, The Bimonthly magazines published in the United States Defunct literary magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1903 Magazines disestablished in 1931 Magazines published in New York City Pulp magazines 1903 establishments in New York City 1931 disestablishments in New York (state)