''Detective Story Magazine'' was an American magazine published by

Street & Smith Street & Smith or Street & Smith Publications, Inc., was a New York City publisher specializing in inexpensive paperbacks and magazines referred to as dime novels and pulp magazine, pulp fiction. They also published comic books and sporting year ...

from October 15, 1915, to summer 1949 (1,057 issues). It was one of the first

pulp magazine Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 until around 1955. The term "pulp" derives from the Pulp (paper), wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed, due to their ...

s devoted to

detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an criminal investigation, investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around ...

and consisted of short stories and serials. While the publication was the publishing house's first detective-fiction pulp magazine in a format resembling a modern

paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, ...

(a "thick book" in dime-novel parlance), Street & Smith had only recently ceased publication of the dime-novel series '' Nick Carter Weekly'', which concerned the adventures of a young detective. From February 21, 1931, to its demise, the magazine was titled ''Street & Smith's Detective Story Magazine''. During half of its 34-year life, the magazine was popular enough to support ''weekly'' issues.

Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. From 1929 to 1947, Witt ...

, the eminent philosopher, was among the magazine's readership.Hard-boiled Wit: Ludwig Wittgenstein and Norbert Davis
Retrieved December 27, 2011.

Radio

Stories from the magazine were first heard on the radio on July 31, 1930. The Street and Smith radio program ''Detective Story Hour'' was narrated by a mysterious character named "

The Shadow The Shadow is a fictional character created by American magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by Gibs ...

." Confused listeners would ask for copies of "The Shadow" magazine. As a result, Street & Smith debuted ''The Shadow Magazine'' on April 1, 1931, a pulp series created and primarily written by the prolific

Walter B. Gibson Walter Brown Gibson (September 12, 1897 – December 6, 1985) was an Americans, American writer and professional magic (illusion), magician, best known for his work on the pulp magazine, pulp fiction character The Shadow, and as a ghost-writer ...

. The success of ''

'' and ''

Doc Savage Doc Savage is a fictional character of the competent man hero type, who first appeared in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. Real name Clark Savage Jr., he is a polymathic scientist, explorer, detective, and warrior who "right ...

'' also prompted Street & Smith to revive Nick Carter as a hero pulp that ran from 1933 to 1936. A popular radio show, ''

Nick Carter, Master Detective ''Nick Carter, Master Detective'' is a Mutual radio crime drama based on tales of the fictional private detective Nick Carter from Street & Smith's dime novels and pulp magazines. Nick Carter first came to radio as ''The Return of Nick Carter ...

'', aired on the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Golden Age of Radio, ...

network from 1943 to 1955.{{Citation needed, date=February 2023

Authors

Authors published in ''Detective Story'' include: * A. E. Apple *

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...

Carroll John Daly Carroll John Daly (1889–1958) was a writer of crime fiction. One of the earliest writers of hard-boiled fiction, he is best known for his detective character Race Williams, who appeared in a number of stories for '' Black Mask'' magazine in the ...

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

* H. Irving Hancock *

Johnston McCulley John William Johnston McCulley (February 2, 1883 – November 23, 1958) was an American writer of hundreds of stories, fifty novels and numerous screenplays for film and television, and the creator of the character Zorro. Biography Born i ...

Fulton Oursler Charles Fulton Oursler Sr. (January 22, 1893 – May 24, 1952) was an American journalist, playwright, editor and writer. Writing as Anthony Abbot, he was an author of mysteries and detective fiction. His son was the journalist and author Wi ...

Arthur B. Reeve Arthur Benjamin Reeve (October 15, 1880 – August 9, 1936) was an American mystery writer. He is known best for creating the series character Professor Craig Kennedy, sometimes called "The American Sherlock Holmes", and Kennedy's Dr. Watson-like ...

Sax Rohmer Arthur Henry "Sarsfield" Ward (15 February 1883 – 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was an English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Fu Manchu."Rohmer, Sax" by Jack Adrian in David ...

Thomas Thursday Thomas Thursday (1894–1974) was a lesser-known pulp writer who had one of the longest careers writing for the pulp magazines. His first published short story, "A Stroke of Genius," appeared in '' Top-Notch'' (April 1, 1918). He submitted the ...

Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer of crime and adventure fiction. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was ...

Editors

* Frank E. Blackwell (1915–1938) *

Anthony M. Rud Anthony Melville Rud (11 January 1893 – 30 November 1942) was an American writer and pulp magazine editor. Some of his works were published under the pen names R. Anthony, Ray McGillivary, and Anson Piper. Biography Anthony Melville Rud was ...

(1938) * Hazlett Kessler (1939–1940) * R.B. Miller (1941) * Ronald Oliphant (1942) *

Daisy Bacon Daisy Sarah Bacon (May 23, 1898 – March 1, 1986) was an American Pulp magazine, pulp fiction magazine editor and writer who was best known as the editor of ''Love Story Magazine'' from 1928 to 1947. She moved to New York in 1917, working at ...

(May 1942–Summer 1949)

References

External links

Collecting ''Detective Story Magazine''
by Walker Martin. Detective fiction Mystery fiction magazines Magazines established in 1915 Magazines disestablished in 1949 Pulp magazines Defunct magazines published in the United States

Radio

Authors

Editors

References

See also

External links