Introduction

Downtown Wichita Falls, Texas, in the mid 1940’s was a bustling metropolis for a boy of 7 just away from the farm and ranch community where he was born. My father, a cook and cowboy by trade, had just started as one of the first cooks for the Casa Manana restaurant in 1947. He moved us to an apartment on Ohio Street, right across from the Gem Theater, between 7th and 8th Streets. It’s here that we would stay for the next three years. The Gem Theater became a magic palace for a young mind. But it had to share that distinction with the rest of the magic that was Wichita Falls. I attended San Jacinto and Carrigan elementary schools, as well as Reagan Junior High, and belonged to the Boys Club on 6th Street. Please join, and share your stories and pictures through a Guest Blog, of early Wichita Falls - or your home town. Contact me at fadingshadows40@gmail.com or leave a comment. We could use old pictures of movie houses, drive-in theaters, and other nostalgic pictures related to our youths.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

The Romance Pulps


Romance Pulps

There were numerous romance pulp magazines. Early pulps included romance stories, but by the 1920’s they were given their own magazines. Many of them lasted into the early 1970’s, so they were around for a long time. Pulps were called such for the cheap pulpwood paper used to print the magazines. The slicks also published romance stories, but not to the extent the pulps did. Pulp magazines were the literature of the masses.  The following titles are just a few of the magazines available.

Ranch Romances published 884 issues from December 1924 to November 1971, possibly the longest running romance magazine during its time.

Rangeland Romances also published quite a few issues, coming in at 218 numbers, between June 1935 and December 1955.


Rangeland Love was another popular title for the ladies, coming in with 83 issues, between November 1928 and July 1934.


Some titles, like Red Star Love only came in with a few numbers, publishing 18 issues, between February 1941 and March 1942. Other titles may have surpassed Red Star Love and Rangeland Love, but some have said that the love pulps sold enough copies to support many of the magazines other titles. They were hugely popular during the pulp magazine period.

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