The Fiction Factory

From Pulp Row to Quality Street

By Quentin Reynolds. Random House, New York, 1955. B&W and color illustrations. Hardcover in dust jacket. Reddish brown cloth with Street & Smith emblem embossed in gold on front cover. Spine wrapped in black with gold lettering.

"The Story of 100 Years of Publishing at Street & Smith."

From pre-Civil War years with the New York Dispatch and New York Weekly, to Buffalo Bill Stories, to the hundreds and hundreds of "dime novels," such as the Frank Merriwell books, to Pulps such as Doc Savage, and on to "quality" magazine, such as Mademoiselle and Astounding Science Fiction.

Street & Smith is a name synonymous with literature that was affordable to the masses. The company's run was long, profitable and notable. Five years before this book was published, they sold their pulp magazine rights to Popular (and only four years after the book came out, the company was sold, in its entirety, to Condé Nast).

   It's a good history book. Interesting text with eye-catching graphics.