Contexts: Graph

The Rise and Fall of Pulps

The figure below shows the number of unique pulp titles published in an average month, i.e. the number of pulps on a newsstand that carried every pulp published, for every year from 1895 to 1960. It also shows, for every year, the total number of pulp issues published in an average month; this is higher because some pulps were published more than once a month. The information included in this figure was compiled by John Locke―an author, cultural historian, publisher, and advisory board member for the Pulp Magazines Project; his conclusions, based on this information, are also included below.

 
 

Explanation of graph lines

Lower line: represents, for every year, the number of unique pulp titles published in an average month; i.e. the number of pulps on a newsstand that carried every pulp published

Upper line: represents, for every year, the total number of pulp issues published in an average month; this figure is higher because some pulps were published more than once a month

The gap between the two lines: The Age of the Weeklies (bi-monthlies, tri-monthlies, etc.), i.e. the period when the pulp magazine market was strong enough to support titles with greater than monthly publication frequency

 

Key events in timeline of pulps (grouped by decade)

Pre-1930s

1900-28: decline of dime novels
1917-18: United States in WWI
1929 October: stock market crash

1930s

1930s early: pulp cover prices, page lengths, circulations drop
1932: Depression unemployment reaches peak of 25%
1937: unemployment spikes up again
1938 April 18: Action Comics #1, first comic book featuring Superman
1938-54: Fiction House comic books
1939 June: first modern paperbacks
1939-56: Standard Magazines (Thrilling) comics

1940s

1940-49: Street & Smith comics
1940: circulation of Action Comics reaches 800,000
1942-45: United States in WWII
1948: regular commercial TV available
1949: Street & Smith discontinues remaining pulps (and comics)

1950s

1949-50: sales of TV sets boom
1950s: decline of pulps, radio drama, cinema attendance

 
 
© 2012 John Locke
 
This material has been reprinted—by permission of the author—from materials presented during his lecture, "The Rise and Fall of the Pulps: and the Authors Who Rose and Fell With Them," which took place at the Thompson Library, Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio on Thursday, August 9, 2012, 4:30-5:30 PM. The lecture was co-sponsored by the Aldus Society and the Rare Books and Manuscripts Library of the OSU Libraries, in conjunction with Pulpfest 2012.