I'll pound you to a "Pulp" if you don't show off yours! 23 23

[Sarg]

Why are some pulp covers trimmed? Who did the trimming? I've never been clear on this. 

[OtherEric]

2 hours ago, Sarg said:

Why are some pulp covers trimmed? Who did the trimming? I've never been clear on this. 

Some pulps were trimmed by the publishers; most bedsheets and digests were trimmed, as were Street & Smith publications starting around 1936.  Not sure who trimmed pulps after the fact, other than the people who owned the book.  As to why, as far as I know it was because they looked neater and it helped prevent further damage along the edges.  I'm sure somebody who is more expert in the subject can elaborate.

[OtherEric]

A couple today.  I had never seen the zombie cover before; and a Williamson story is always neat:

[detective35]

3 hours ago, Sarg said:

Why are some pulp covers trimmed? Who did the trimming? I've never been clear on this. 
 

 

Street in Smith titles start such as the Shadow Doc Savage,The Avenger, along with other street and Smith titles, and some other companies in general,  did not start factory trimming until November 1939.

The spiders Continued with overhangs into the early 40s but their books went into smaller format.   I think a reason with a smaller format was due to the paper shortage in World War II so they were cutting down on the size of the books.  It seems like when they went into the smaller format they also started the factory trim them in many cases, but not all.

If we’re talking about people that actually trimmed them at home, one reason could be that most of the time pulps were stood upright in shelves and the overhang‘s got tattered or shredded.  Therefore they trimmed them to takeoff the overhang damage.  A number of people back then even taped the overhangs on the interior side of the cover To protect and reinforce them.

Even collectors from the last decade or two that stored their pulps upright using in My-lites with the small backing boards offered very little protection to the overhangs.

 Using at Gold or Super gold My-lite 2’s with either a silver/gold or gold (thick 42mil) backing board will offer much more protection if you need to stand them up.  If you need more protection;  use the above, plus put them in a magazine mylar with a magazine backing board as well, for ultimate protection if you need to stand them up.

 

 

 

Edited May 16, 2020 by detective35DF

[OtherEric]

4 minutes ago, detective35 said:

Street in Smith titles start such as the Shadow Doc Savage,The Avenger, along with other street and Smith titles, and some other companies in general,  did not start factory trimming until November 1939.

 

Astounding, at least, started trimming in February 1936.  I don't have any other books from them in the relevant window to know when they started being factory trimmed; so I apologize if I was incorrect above... I assumed most of the S&S books went to trimmed edges about the same time.

Cover from my copy; interior page scan located online:

[detective35]

10 minutes ago, OtherEric said:

Astounding, at least, started trimming in February 1936.  I don't have any other books from them in the relevant window to know when they started being factory trimmed; so I apologize if I was incorrect above... I assumed most of the S&S books went to trimmed edges about the same time.

Cover from my copy; interior page scan located online:

That is great!

I’ve never seen that page that you posted from the interior.

Thanks for posting! Thanks 

[N e r V]

How do people here feel about keeping them in small stacks to protect overhangs? I’ve heard of some collectors stacking them on their spines but that seems like a weird way to store them. 

[rjpb]

I just read my first Spider novel since I was a teen-ager and read the first couple in paperback form, and the first I've read in pulp form, "Slaves of The Crime Master", April 1935. While the action is non-stop, a shoot out and/or daring escape every few pages, with a few some gruesome deaths, the plot was pretty thin, and the prose turgid. As with other Spider stories apparently, the story opens with the crime wave/ mad scheme already underway. I guess Norvell Page didn't trust the readers to stay interested long enough to build the plot, and wanted to drop them into the action. As I recall, the Shadow stories of the era were more mysterious, along the lines of a Detective novel. If this Spider novel is typical, it seems they were more action adventure stories, with little detective work, the only mystery being the identity of the main antagonist. The story also suffers from a weakness found in many a Golden Age super-hero story, where the Spider just happens to know where to find the various players he will need to squeeze information out of, or kill, as the story demands. The Spider is certainly blood-thirsty and the body count high. He doesn't always wait to catch a criminal participating in or abetting a violent crime before pulling the trigger, if he decides you are a gangster, homicide is on the menu. 

It was an interesting exercise, though I'm not sure I'll read any more of them. I'll stick to the shorter hard-boiled detective stories of the pulp era. 

Edited May 17, 2020 by rjpb

[detective35]

10 minutes ago, N e r V said:

How do people here feel about keeping them in small stacks to protect overhangs? I’ve heard of some collectors stacking them on their spines but that seems like a weird way to store them. 

I store them laying flat!

 

[buttock]

4 minutes ago, detective35 said:

I store them laying flat!

 

Same here.  I don't trust them not to get damaged otherwise. 

[N e r V]

30 minutes ago, detective35 said:

I store them laying flat!

 

 

25 minutes ago, buttock said:

Same here.  I don't trust them not to get damaged otherwise. 

What do you guys feel is the max number in stacking per pile?

[Ricksneatstuff]

I went to laying flat (mostly) a few months ago. 
 

[detective35]

I think that I have mine stacked too high in the safe.  Probably 10-15 high would be good.

Dwight

[buttock]

28 minutes ago, detective35 said:

I think that I have mine stacked too high in the safe.  Probably 10-15 high would be good.

Dwight

I'd be guessing if I said anything.  But I would think 20 is no problem. 

[N e r V]

I’ve had mine flat for years with 10-12 being at or near my max. height. No problems just curious if I was the only nut concerned about not destroying any overhang.

[detective35]

No 

Not at all, I basically do the same thing, probably stack mine a little too high in the safe until I get another one..LOL!

Dwight

Edited May 17, 2020 by detective35DF

[RedFury]

5 minutes ago, Sarg said:

 

Thanks for the very informative explanation. Based on this information, if we find a trimmed pulp today dated prior to November, 1939, it was most likely trimmed at home by the buyer, either at the time, or (I'm guessing) more likely in the 1960s, or later. 

So the reason for "overhanging" covers was that the covers were glued on after the inside had been trimmed. Why not simply glue the cover on first and then trim the whole book?

 

No, it depends on the title and publisher.  Weird Tales began factory trimming in late 1930.

[Sarg]

15 hours ago, detective35 said:

That is great!

I’ve never seen that page that you posted from the interior.

Thanks for posting! Thanks 

 

I have the June, 1936 Astounding Stories. It is also factory-trimmed, but under-trimmed .125" on the right side.

A letter from a reader says, "The trimmed edges sure make Astounding look swell." 

[sagii]

5 hours ago, RedFury said:

No, it depends on the title and publisher.  Weird Tales began factory trimming in late 1930.

So, 'general' consensus: Is trimming viewed as as 'toxic' on Pulps as it is with comics (hurt value, viewed as ' deceptively altered")?

[detective35]

3 minutes ago, sagii said:

So, 'general' consensus: Is trimming viewed as as 'toxic' on Pulps as it is with comics (hurt value, viewed as ' deceptively altered")?

Yes,

Sometimes some of the Spicys look like they have about a 16th of an inch trim but it’s hard to tell tell, so that isn’t so bad

Pulps like the street and Smith with large overhang‘s, if they’re trimmed, then that is certainly is toxic...kills the value!!

Edited May 17, 2020 by detective35DF