Pulp Magazine Archive

  The Internet Archive is a massive and growing resource, and I have long since given up on the idea of exploring it all.  Thus, I am always happy to find when someone else posts about an IA collection with which I was not yet familiar.  Unfortunately, I have managed to completely forget where I found out about the IA's Pulp Magazine Archive, but to that now forgotten blog poster, please accept my thanks.  This collection has full color scans of pulp magazines starting in the early 20th century, proceeding through the height of the pulp era in the 1930's to 1950's, and even up to the (relatively) more recent, glossy (but still pulp-like in content) magazines of the 1980's and 1990's.  The cover art, especially on some of the science fiction titles, is especially cool.

The Shadow In Vengeance Bay

Unlike some other heroes who branched out into radio, serials and feature films, the Shadow did not start in comic books, but rather in pulp fiction, from which he later moved to the comics.  Although these pulp stories had illustrations, it was the imagery in the prose that told the story.  Comics, Old Time Radio & Other Cool Stuff posted this review of a March 1942 issue of The Shadow magazine.

Richard Halliburton: Memphis' Own Adventurer

I do not remember how I discovered the writings of Richard Halliburton, but I have read several of his books, and enjoyed them.  Bear in mind, there is little food for deep thought therein.  They are light-hearted, and at some points exaggerated, descriptions of world travels by a colorful and head-strong young man.  I can see why they became popular in their time (1920s-1930s), if not critically acclaimed.  Today, they offer a very interesting glimpse into the past, providing the additional escape of history into what was already escapist literature of its time.  Memphis Magazine posted this article about Memphis' home-grown adventurer. 

James Jones: Author & Summer Avenue Resident

James Jones, the author of the award winning novel From Here To Eternity, which served as the basis for the Academy Award winning film of the same name, wrote the work in the late 1940's while living the old Leahy's Tourist Court on Summer Avenue in Memphis.  Ask Vance posted this article relating the story. 

Growing up as I did in the Berclair neighborhood of Memphis, Summer Avenue was the nearest main street, and Leahy's always struck me as a bit of a time capsule, even into the 1980's.  Leahy's was an old fashioned tourist court, that included cabins and parking spaces for trailers/mobile homes.  By the 1980's, essentially all of Summer Avenue was commercial/industrial, with Leahy's - a quiet, residential community unto itself - quietly sitting in the middle. 

Leahy's continued until 2014, when the owner of the property could no longer afford the utilities and upkeep of the old property.  There was a fear that the residents would have their utilities disconnected.  That fate was avoided, but some residents moved out while things were uncertain.    An investor bought the property, began making repairs, and it remains as a trailer park in the middle of Memphis, although some of the quaint charm of Leahy's has been lost.