One of the leading artists to bring the First World War alive for pulp readers was Frederick Blakeslee. Born on December 4, 1898 in Buffalo, New York, today marks the 125th anniversary of his birth.
Trained in mechanical drafting by the Curtiss Aeroplane Company in his hometown, Blakeslee began to study at the Pratt Institute after moving to Brooklyn. Working part-time for the Curtiss-Sperry Company while seeking certification as a draftsman, the developing artist met fellow students Walter M. Baumhofer, Rudolph Belarski, Eugene M. Frandzen, John Fleming Gould, and Arthur Leslie Ross.
Hired as an instructor by Pratt, Blakeslee began selling freelance pen and ink story illustrations to pulp magazines during the late 1920s. He sold his first cover painting in 1929.
According to pulp art historian David Saunders, “Blakeslee became a leader in the field of aviation pulps, as well as a top cover artist for railroad pulps. He was also a top pen & ink man, who drew over one thousand interior black and white story illustrations for Popular Publications, his primary publisher.”
Frederick Blakeslee painted 423 pulp covers, including every issue of Battle Birds, Captain Combat, Dare-Devil Aces, Dusty Ayres and His Battle Birds, and G-8 and His Battle Aces. He also contributed covers to Adventure, Argosy, Battle Aces, Fighting Aces, Flyers, Submarine Stories, War Aces, War Birds, and War Stories, as well as over fifty cover paintings to Popular Publications’ Railroad Magazine.
After serving in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve during the Second World War, freelance work became harder to find. Frederick Blakeslee eventually returned to industrial drafting, where he finished his professional career. After retiring, he turned to landscapes. He passed away on March 5, 1973, at the age of 74.
Our featured image is excerpted from Frederick Blakeslee’s original cover art for G-8 and His Battle Aces for June 1936, illustrating the story “Patrol of the Cloud Crusher,” by Robert J. Hogan.
Our lead image is Blakeslee’s cover for Dell’s War Stories, dated September 26, 1929. It was Frederick Blakeslee’s first cover assignment. Our final image is the artist’s cover for Popular Publications’ Railroad Magazine, dated August 1950. It was one of Blakeslee’s final cover assignments for the pulp industry.
Derek Starr is a writer and popular culture enthusiast who began contributing to our website in 2022. He particularly enjoys the Fiction House pulps, including the publisher’s classic air pulps — Aces, Air Stories, and Wings.
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