Before they founded Culture Publications and their Spicy line, Frank Armer and Harry Donenfeld were major players in the field of the so-called “girlie” pulps.
Introduced to the reading public by William C. Clayton with the launching of Snappy Stories in 1912, the girlie pulps delved into matters such as sex outside of marriage and featured illustrations — and sometimes photographs — of scantily clad women.
The success of Clayton’s “Magazine of Entertaining Fiction” soon led to imitators — Breezy Stories, Saucy Stories, Telling Tales, and others.
By the early 1930s, civic organizations were pressuring the publishers and distributors of magazines that they considered “obscene” to clean up their acts. Frank Armer and Harry Donenfeld — known for Pep Stories and other girlie periodicals — addressed the matter by combining sex with hardboiled detective fiction. Calling themselves Culture Publications, the two launched Spicy Detective Stories in early 1934.
Not only did the new pulp help reduce the pressure being applied to the publisher, but it also proved a hit. Sex sells!
Before long, Donenfeld and Armer began working on other titles along the same line. As Trojan Publishing Corporation, they quickly produced a pair of 12-page “ashcan” issues of Spicy Adventure Stories and Spicy Mystery Stories, along with a trio of “Snappy” books — Snappy Adventure Stories, Snappy Detective Stories, and Snappy Mystery Stories. Never intended to reach the market, the books were produced for trademark and copyright purposes.
Although the “Snappy” titles never got beyond the pamphlet stage, both Spicy Adventure Stories and Spicy Mystery Stories would become popular and long-running titles in the Culture line of pulp magazines. Spicy-Adventure Stories would launch with its November 1934 number, while Spicy Mystery Stories would wait until June of 1935 for its debut. A fourth “Spicy” title — Spicy Western Stories — came later, premiering with an issue dated November 1936.
You’ll be able to learn more about Donenfeld’s and Armer’s ashcans in our forthcoming issue of The Pulpster. Check out journalist and pop-culture historian Ed Hulse’s “A Taste of Forbidden Fruit to Come” in the 33rd number of PulpFest’s award-winning program book.
We’ll be celebrating the 90th anniversary of the “Spicy” pulps and a whole lot more at PulpFest 2024. We hope you’ll join us in Mars, Pennsylvania in just a few days for “Spice, Spies, Shaw, and More!”
After the introduction of Spicy Detective Stories with its April 1934 number proved an instant hit, Culture Publications made it a monthly. The June 1934 issue — with cover art by H. L. Parkhurst — would be its first monthly issue. Afterward, Harry Donenfeld and Frank Armer quickly produced “ashcan” versions of Spicy Adventure Stories and Spicy Mystery Stories to gain trademarks and copyrights with the United States government. Their covers are pictured above, with art by Adolphe Barreaux, the art director of Donenfeld Magazines and Culture Publications.
Our featured image is H. J. Ward’s cover art for the April 1938 issue of Spicy Western Stories, the last of the “Spicy” pulps to be introduced by Culture Publications.
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