One of the most popular presentations at PulpFest 2013 was Chris Kalb’s discussion of hero pulp premiums. As reported by Sam Maronie, “Graphic designer Chris Kalb presented a dynamite presentation Saturday night on pulp premiums—those little geegaws that readers received for mailing away coupons and a dime to the pulp publishers.”
How did pulp magazine publishers keep readers coming back month after month? Of course the best way was to publish excellent stories. Regardless of genre, the leading pulps — Adventure, Astounding Stories, Black Mask, Blue Book, Dime Western, Doc Savage, G-8 and His Battle Aces, Love Story, The Shadow, The Spider, Sports Stories, Startling Stories, Weird Tales, Wings — attempted to do just that, issue after issue.
Another method that publishers employed to lure dimes on a regular basis from buyers with thin wallets was to create a club and offer premiums. For a few cents or by clipping coupons from a favorite pulp magazine, a devoted fan could become a member in good standing of the Doc Savage Club, one of the Friends of the Phantom, or Adventure magazine’s Camp-Fire Club. Also available were rings, pins, and items such as the Spider Pencil, a celluloid mechanical pencil with rubber eraser of The Spider seal, produced in very limited quantity during 1941-42.
Once again, Chris Kalb will take us back to a time when a few cents not only bought a pulp magazine filled with thrills, but also a Shadow board game or a Spider pennant. Please join him on Friday, August 8th, at 9 PM for a look at how pulps and the radio and movie presentations inspired by them were promoted. You’ll also learn which pulps hosted “The Trail’s End Club,” “The Hollow Tree Club,” or “The Globe Trotter’s Club” and all about the “Shadow Christmas” of 1940. And how about those beautiful promotional items that publishers sent to newsstands? Chris will cover these and more in part two of his presentation on pulp premiums and other collectibles.
To learn more about pulp premiums, please visit The Pulpster editor Bill Lampkin’s ThePulp.Net website and do a search for “premiums.” Bill has photographs of rings, membership cards, pins, and other items on his highly informative website.
