Black Mask.

The terms "pulp magazine" and "dime novel" have become interchangeable, but the two types of magazines had separate histories. The dime novels were paper-covered thin books that resembled magazines and usually had one long story. They became popular during the Civil War, and the contents were mostly adventure or western stories. Ned Buntline's Buffalo Bill stories were widely read in this format. Publisher Frank Munsey created the first pulp magazine, Argosy, in 1896: a 7" x 10" collection of fiction, printed on wood-pulp paper. Later, pulps featured lurid or exciting covers. Each issue included stories and novelettes; some pulps serialized novels. Most sold for ten cents or fifteen cents. Not all magazines printed on pulp paper were regarded as pulp magazines; the term also indicated content or editorial rationale. The authentic pulps were almost always restricted to a particular subject or setting (the...