#1930s — Public Fediverse posts

Anthony Powell -- Afternoon Men

One might think of Anthony Powell as a quintessentially British novelist, so the importance of the USA in his first novel, the 1931 "Afternoon Men", might come as a surprise.

The USA makes itself felt both in the novel's content and in its style. The publisher Scheigan is the stereotyped American abroad, while the USA itself is mentioned continually throughout the novel as a place where people can go to either make or hunt fortunes. Making up the bulk of the text, the clipped dialogue of the novel seems indebted both to Hemingway and the new American popular culture form, the talkie.

I also noted Powell's depiction of Jews in the novel. Although "Afternoon Men" does not promote antisemitism as a central theme, a current of unfriendly suspicion is nevertheless detectable.

Although the novel was published in 1931, the social, romantic, and occupational misadventures of the mostly youthful characters smacks of the decade preceding the great depression. Comparing it to Waugh's "Decline and Fall" and "Vile Bodies", I found the comedy less broad but more perceptive about British society and individual ambition and romantic aspiration.

Decades have passed since I last read "A Dance to the Music of Time". I wonder how that cycle would strike me now that I am acquainted with Powell's 1931 novel of comedy and class.

#Books #AfternoonMen #AnthonyPowell #Novel #BritishLiterature #LiteratureInEnglish #20thCenturyLiterature #1930s #1920s #Antisemitism

Anthony Powell -- Afternoon Men

One might think of Anthony Powell as a quintessentially British novelist, so the importance of the USA in his first novel, the 1931 "Afternoon Men", might come as a surprise.

The USA makes itself felt both in the novel's content and in its style. The publisher Scheigan is the stereotyped American abroad, while the USA itself is mentioned continually throughout the novel as a place where people can go to either make or hunt fortunes. Making up the bulk of the text, the clipped dialogue of the novel seems indebted both to Hemingway and the new American popular culture form, the talkie.

I also noted Powell's depiction of Jews in the novel. Although "Afternoon Men" does not promote antisemitism as a central theme, a current of unfriendly suspicion is nevertheless detectable.

Although the novel was published in 1931, the social, romantic, and occupational misadventures of the mostly youthful characters smacks of the decade preceding the great depression. Comparing it to Waugh's "Decline and Fall" and "Vile Bodies", I found the comedy less broad but more perceptive about British society and individual ambition and romantic aspiration.

Decades have passed since I last read "A Dance to the Music of Time". I wonder how that cycle would strike me now that I am acquainted with Powell's 1931 novel of comedy and class.

#Books #AfternoonMen #AnthonyPowell #Novel #BritishLiterature #LiteratureInEnglish #20thCenturyLiterature #1930s #1920s #Antisemitism

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33972802

I want to read Ambler's 1939 "The Mask of Dimitrios" not only as part of my contuing quest to make sense of the twenties and thirties but also because of its reputation as a first rate novel of espionage.

#Books #EricAmbler #TheMaskOfDimitrios #LiteratureInEnglish #BritishLiterature #Espionage #Thriller #1930s

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33972802

I want to read Ambler's 1939 "The Mask of Dimitrios" not only as part of my contuing quest to make sense of the twenties and thirties but also because of its reputation as a first rate novel of espionage.

#Books #EricAmbler #TheMaskOfDimitrios #LiteratureInEnglish #BritishLiterature #Espionage #Thriller #1930s

https://tcupress.tcu.edu/9780875659695/

I'm very much looking forward to the reissue of this hard to find novel of 1940.

#Books #TheInheritors #Novel #Texas #AmericanLiterature #1930s #FortWorth #LiteratureInEnglish #PhilipAtlee #JamesYoungPhillips

https://tcupress.tcu.edu/9780875659695/

I'm very much looking forward to the reissue of this hard to find novel of 1940.

#Books #TheInheritors #Novel #Texas #AmericanLiterature #1930s #FortWorth #LiteratureInEnglish #PhilipAtlee #JamesYoungPhillips

Natalie Paley in evening dress and three quarter length coat by Lucien Lelong -- Studio Dorvyne -- 1934

I love those giant fur sleeves.

#Fashion #HistoryOfDress #LucienLelong #NataliePaley #1930s

Natalie Paley in evening dress and three quarter length coat by Lucien Lelong -- Studio Dorvyne -- 1934

I love those giant fur sleeves.

#Fashion #HistoryOfDress #LucienLelong #NataliePaley #1930s

🧵 1/3

The Forty Days of Musa Dagh -- Franz Werfel

I read this 1933 novel a little while ago. It's a long, one might almost say sprawling, fiction of an Armenian community's 1915 resistance to the genocide enacted by the.Young Turks.

The narrative of a community under siege is gripping, but the novel also deals with complex themes of identity, community, and nationality. As one might expect from a German speaking Jew who grew up in the capital of the Czech lands of Austria-Hungary, Werfel's treatment of the themes of nationalism and cosmopolitanism are, thankfully, never simplistic.

Obviously , much of the book's significance rests on it being an early literary response to the Armenian genocide. I'm sure that a horrified desire to learn about this campaign of persecution, exile, and killing accounts for much of the success that this book achieved in the US market on its publication in 1934. A readiness to learn about a gruesome episode in the "war to end all wars" probably played a part too in boosting sales.

I would also hazard a guess that for many readers in the thirties, the novel's story of a community's survival, albeit at a terrible price, could be seen as a parallel for the survival by individuals,families, and cities of the unprecedented hardships and upheavals of the Great Depression. The success of "Gone With The Wind" comes to mind.

Another parallel that now seems eerily prescient is that of...

#Books #Fiction #Novels #FortyDaysOfMusaDagh #FranzWerfel #LiteratureInGerman #ArmenianGenocide #20thCenturyLiterature #1930s #GreatDepression

🧵 1/3

The Forty Days of Musa Dagh -- Franz Werfel

I read this 1933 novel a little while ago. It's a long, one might almost say sprawling, fiction of an Armenian community's 1915 resistance to the genocide enacted by the.Young Turks.

The narrative of a community under siege is gripping, but the novel also deals with complex themes of identity, community, and nationality. As one might expect from a German speaking Jew who grew up in the capital of the Czech lands of Austria-Hungary, Werfel's treatment of the themes of nationalism and cosmopolitanism are, thankfully, never simplistic.

Obviously , much of the book's significance rests on it being an early literary response to the Armenian genocide. I'm sure that a horrified desire to learn about this campaign of persecution, exile, and killing accounts for much of the success that this book achieved in the US market on its publication in 1934. A readiness to learn about a gruesome episode in the "war to end all wars" probably played a part too in boosting sales.

I would also hazard a guess that for many readers in the thirties, the novel's story of a community's survival, albeit at a terrible price, could be seen as a parallel for the survival by individuals,families, and cities of the unprecedented hardships and upheavals of the Great Depression. The success of "Gone With The Wind" comes to mind.

Another parallel that now seems eerily prescient is that of...

#Books #Fiction #Novels #FortyDaysOfMusaDagh #FranzWerfel #LiteratureInGerman #ArmenianGenocide #20thCenturyLiterature #1930s #GreatDepression

Kangaroo Jumps Rebound Shoes From the 1930s.
Kangaroo jumps (or rebound/jumping shoes, also called “moon shoes” or spring-heel shoes) from the 1930s era refer to early spring-loaded footwear toys or devices, precursors to modern rebound boots like Kangaroo Jumps.
https://www.vintag.es/2026/07/kangaroo-jumps-rebound-shoes.html #globalmuseum #shoes #footwear #Fashion #1930s

Kangaroo Jumps Rebound Shoes From the 1930s.
Kangaroo jumps (or rebound/jumping shoes, also called “moon shoes” or spring-heel shoes) from the 1930s era refer to early spring-loaded footwear toys or devices, precursors to modern rebound boots like Kangaroo Jumps.
https://www.vintag.es/2026/07/kangaroo-jumps-rebound-shoes.html #globalmuseum #shoes #footwear #Fashion #1930s

July 20, 1931 and a City Woman Has A Strange Experience On City Streets at Vintage Edmonton:

http://www.vintageedmonton.com/2026/07/july-20-1931.html

#yeg #alberta #edmonton #1930s

July 20, 1931 and a City Woman Has A Strange Experience On City Streets at Vintage Edmonton:

http://www.vintageedmonton.com/2026/07/july-20-1931.html

#yeg #alberta #edmonton #1930s

Horst P. Horst -- Still Life --1937

#Photography #Art #HorstPHorst #StillLife #TwentiethCentury #1930s

Horst P. Horst -- Still Life --1937

#Photography #Art #HorstPHorst #StillLife #TwentiethCentury #1930s

https://www.counterfire.org/article/the-spanish-civil-war-britains-part-in-its-downfall/

Motivated in large part by hostility to the left, the British government's "non-intervention" policy ensured the victory of Franco and his fellow right wing insurgents over the Spanish Republic.

#History #SpanishCivilWar #UKHistory #Spain #NonIntervention #1930s

https://www.counterfire.org/article/the-spanish-civil-war-britains-part-in-its-downfall/

Motivated in large part by hostility to the left, the British government's "non-intervention" policy ensured the victory of Franco and his fellow right wing insurgents over the Spanish Republic.

#History #SpanishCivilWar #UKHistory #Spain #NonIntervention #1930s

Die üblichen Bildungslücken vor 1960:
Heardle 1950s #1229

🔇⬛️⬛️⬛️🟥⬛️⬛️

#Heardle #1950s #Music

https://50s.heardledecades.com

Nie gehört
Heardle 30s & 40s #982

🔇⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️

#Heardle #1930s #1940s #Music

https://40s.heardledecades.com

Und Lücken nach 2000 :)
Heardle 2000s #1434

🔇⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️🟥

#Heardle #2000s #Music

https://00s.heardledecades.com

DAS hab ich sofort erkannt aber mir fielen weder Titel noch Künstler ein:
Heardle 2010s #1228

🔇⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️

#Heardle #2010s #Music

https://10s.heardledecades.com

2020 ersparen wir uns :)

Rare Color Photographs Reveal 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition's Art Deco Splendor

📰 Original title: Rare Color Slides of the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco

🤖 IA: It's not clickbait ✅
👥 Users: It's not clickbait ✅

View full AI summary https://en.killbait.com/rare-color-photographs-reveal-1939-golden-gate-international-exposition-s-art-deco-splendor.html?utm_source=mastodon_world&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=killbait.mastodon_world

#history #1930s ...

“The story of how Marion & Kate Corbaley tricked the studio executives into paying Lorna Moon $7,500, while reviving Marie Dressler’s career, should be a legend in the history of female networking in the motion picture business”

—from the Women Film Pioneers Project

https://wfpp.columbia.edu/pioneer/ccp-lorna-moon/

#Scottish #literature #screenwriting #Hollywood #cinemahistory #filmhistory #womenwriters #20thcentury #1920s #1930s

“The story of how Marion & Kate Corbaley tricked the studio executives into paying Lorna Moon $7,500, while reviving Marie Dressler’s career, should be a legend in the history of female networking in the motion picture business”

—from the Women Film Pioneers Project

https://wfpp.columbia.edu/pioneer/ccp-lorna-moon/

#Scottish #literature #screenwriting #Hollywood #cinemahistory #filmhistory #womenwriters #20thcentury #1920s #1930s

July 10, 1936 and Local Girl Makes Good At Olympic Tryout at Vintage Edmonton:

http://www.vintageedmonton.com/2026/07/july-10-1936.html

#yeg #alberta #edmonton #1930s

July 10, 1936 and Local Girl Makes Good At Olympic Tryout at Vintage Edmonton:

http://www.vintageedmonton.com/2026/07/july-10-1936.html

#yeg #alberta #edmonton #1930s

Newsstand on an SF Bay ferry (the Piedmont, specifically), 1930s. Grab your beer and your copy of “Spicy Mystery Stories” on the way home from work (or maybe the reverse trip?). #1930s #Ephemera #PulpFiction

Taken from the "Rails to San Francisco Bay" by Harre W. Demoro & Vernon J. Sappers (Quadrant Press, New York, 1991), this here photo depicts commuters browsing through pulp magazines available on the newsstand aboard the Piedmont (bay ferry long-since scuppered). Dates from the mid-1930s, apparently - I could pinpoint it by sourcing all the individual magazine issues, but don’t have the time or energy. We used to have bad things, but also nice things - I'll take this over smartphone hypnosis any day of the week. #1930s #PulpFiction #SanFrancisco #SFBayArea

July 9, 1932 and it's One Whole Week Of Entertainment at Vintage Edmonton:

http://www.vintageedmonton.com/2026/07/july-9-1932.html

#yeg #alberta #edmonton #1930s

July 9, 1932 and it's One Whole Week Of Entertainment at Vintage Edmonton:

http://www.vintageedmonton.com/2026/07/july-9-1932.html

#yeg #alberta #edmonton #1930s

Photograph, Jones-McIntosh Wedding

This is a studio photograph of the wedding of Mary Jones and James McIntosh, which took place in 1931. At the time, Mary was 22 and James 26. Mary was the daughter of Barbara and Henry Jones. Henry died in 1910, when Mary was only a baby, in a steeplechase accident whilst following the hounds at a Hunt Club Meeting. James grew up on his family farm at Brighton, just out of Dunedin. The couple had three children together. We believe they lived on Pine Hill Road, Dunedin, and James worked as a storeman. Mary died in 1979 aged 70 years. Her ashes were scattered. James died in 1994 aged 88. He is buried in the Green Island Cemetery with his parents, brother George and his grandmother, Christina. Cemetery records show that James mother, Elizabeth, was living with Mary and James at the time of her death. We have been unable to establish how this family connects to our area. Perhaps one of their children later lived in the Lower Mataura Valley.
Wyndham & Districts Historical Museum via DigitalNZ

http://api.digitalnz.org/records/48093475/source

#PeopleAndFamilies #1930s #Organic #H212MmXW160Mm #Museums #Wyndham&DistrictsHistoricalMuseum

Photograph, Jones-McIntosh Wedding

This is a studio photograph of the wedding of Mary Jones and James McIntosh, which took place in 1931. At the time, Mary was 22 and James 26. Mary was the daughter of Barbara and Henry Jones. Henry died in 1910, when Mary was only a baby, in a steeplechase accident whilst following the hounds at a Hunt Club Meeting. James grew up on his family farm at Brighton, just out of Dunedin. The couple had three children together. We believe they lived on Pine Hill Road, Dunedin, and James worked as a storeman. Mary died in 1979 aged 70 years. Her ashes were scattered. James died in 1994 aged 88. He is buried in the Green Island Cemetery with his parents, brother George and his grandmother, Christina. Cemetery records show that James mother, Elizabeth, was living with Mary and James at the time of her death. We have been unable to establish how this family connects to our area. Perhaps one of their children later lived in the Lower Mataura Valley.
Wyndham & Districts Historical Museum via DigitalNZ

http://api.digitalnz.org/records/48093475/source

#PeopleAndFamilies #1930s #Organic #H212MmXW160Mm #Museums #Wyndham&DistrictsHistoricalMuseum

Vilhelm Lundstrøm -- Still Life with White Jar, Orange and Book --1932 -1933 -- Oil on canvas

#Painting #VilhelmLundstrøm #StillLife #Denmark #DanishArt #Modernism #20thCenturyArt #1930s

Vilhelm Lundstrøm -- Still Life with White Jar, Orange and Book --1932 -1933 -- Oil on canvas

#Painting #VilhelmLundstrøm #StillLife #Denmark #DanishArt #Modernism #20thCenturyArt #1930s

Exploration Log 15: Clifford D. Simak’s fanzine article “The Future of Science Fiction” (1941)

• Cover image from The FANAC Fan History Project. Clifford D. Simak is the second from the left in the back

Clifford D. Simak’s “The Future of Science Fiction” appeared in the fanzine Fantasite, No. 2, ed. Phil Bronson (February 1941). You can read it online here. As the quality of the scan at the link is quite poor and close to unreadable in spots, I’ve transcribed the entire article below. In a few instances I have guessed based on vague letter shapes. If you spot an error, let me know!

The fanzine Fantasite, comprised of twelve issues between 1940 and 1944, was the official organ of the Minneapolis Fantasy Society. For more on the fanzine and its creator, consult the Fancyclopedia entries. The MFS was formed when when Simak arrived in Minneapolis and joined with the old Minneapolis Science Fiction League (Hugo Gernsback’s SF clubs). The second meeting happened at Simak’s house. As members went off to WWII, the became less formal and eventually dissipated. Simak helped briefly resurrect the club after WWII, joined by Poul Anderson and others. Other SF authors who were members included Theodore R. Cogswell, Noel Loomis, Oliver Saari, and Gordon R. Dickson.

This is a fascinating, if a bit vague and imprecise, look at Simak’s early views on the evolution and potentiality of science fiction. Unfortunately, as his professional life as a newspaper reporter ramped up he paired back his fan activities. These three points stood out: 1) Simak believes that the science fiction of the 1930s (in particular 1933 and 1934) transformed the genre by departing from “wooden men” who stalk through “wooden plots.” 2) he speculates that science fiction will diversify even further with “new ideas and new ways of presenting them” 3) he emphasizes the importance of “careful delineation in character” with “superb plotting.” Even from Simak’s earliest fannish writings, he shows an interest in a genre without clear boundaries — a genre that grows and expands and explores new things. For a more overt statement on his toleration for a diverse genre, check out his 1971 Worldcon Guest of Honor Speech given in the middle of the New Wave movement.

Of the handful of stories Simak lists, I’ve only read Stanley G. Weinbaum’s “A Martian Odyssey” (1934). Nat Schachner’s wrote “Ancestral Voices” (1934) comes up frequently in SF scholarship as an original early SF story with a rather radical (for the era) implication. I should give it a go!1

Let me know your thoughts.

Clifford D. Simak’s “The Future of Science Fiction” (1941)

For a long time science fiction was formula. Then, suddenly, something happened. Stanley Weinbaum wrote “[A] Martian Odyssey.” Jack Williamson wrote “Born of the Sun.” Nat Schachner wrote “Ancestral Voices.” Murray Leinster wrote “Sidewise in Time.” 2 Don Wandrei strolled onto the scene.3

• Frank R. Paul’s cover for Wonder Stories, ed. Hugo Gernsback (July 1934) — the publication location of Weinbaum’s “A Martian Odyssey”

Other things happened, too. But those few examples give you an idea.

Science fiction shook off the old beliefs that the saga of a man going to another planet and making the acquaintance of the three-legged, seven-eyed, 18-fingered resident of that planet constituted a story. Science fiction started to go places. It’s been going places since.

Just where it is going is hard, perhaps impossible, to say.

I know that after reading the first paragraph of this article a bunch of you fellows are going to rear up on your hind legs and let ouf a few bellows: “What about the early Skylark stories? What about Wade and Morey? What about some of Lovecraft’s first work? What, above all, about Hawk Carso?”

I’ll admit you have something there. I would be the first to deny that all of the pre-Weinbaum stories were lousy. I wasn’t even trying to say that. What was meant is that they all followed pretty much the same pattern… and that doesn’t mean they weren’t good. But they were pretty much the same.

But in trying to trace the trends of any type of literature, one must generalize. Comparisons and deductions must be made of a broad basis, ignoring the occasional exceptions which arise in almost every phase under consideration.

From necessarily crude beginnings, when the pioneers of science fiction were laying what has proven to be a firm and solid basis for a new type of literature. We have advanced up to the present day of science fiction story which is well rounded in almost every respect. We have achieved realism, an elusive sort of modern-day fantasy, humor, characterization, in some cases satire, and when satire arrived one may be fairly certain that type of literature is out of its swaddling clothes. We have even come to regard psychology as a legitimate field upon which a science fictioneer may base a thrilling, thought-provocative story.

No more do wooden men stalk through wooden plots. Your typical science fictioneer character of today seems to be alive. Plot is given equal consideration with the scientific basis of the story. Some stories are frankly (and actually) humorous. In many of the tales the science does not arise unshriven and smack you in the face… you have to sit and think about it. Seldom do heroes gallop around the red sands of Mars without oxygen helmets or protective armor… seldom do they rescue Martian princesses. Because science fiction writers now know that Mars is mighty cold and has little atmosphere and that a Martian princess probably would look like something that skittered out from under a rock only more so.

Just what science fiction is going to do next is harder to say today than it would have been so a few months ago. The advent of new magazines, all of which show heartening promise of making real contributions to science fiction, and a radiant flurry of story types, serve to confuse any analysis of the situation.

A few months ago I would have guesses the trend would be toward ever increasing realism. Now is appears there may be a decided swing back to the modern-day fantasy. The best solution to the whole problem is to say one doesn’t know.

• Howard V. Brown’s cover for Astounding Stories, ed. F. Orlin Tremaine (March 1934) — the publication location of Jack Williamson’s “Born of the Sun”

The editors themselves probably don’t worry a great deal about trends. They are in the market for good stories. A sudden outpouring of certain types of stories perhaps is the unconscious imitation of one or more highly successful stories, the writers following, for the moments, the dictates of the fans. As the fans tire of one kind of story, the writers gradually forsake it, turn to something else. One or two of them hit a jackpot and bingo! a new trend has started.

With more magazines in the field, the trend is going to be increasingly harder to follow. One of the magazines at the moment is publishing stories which are almost impossible to define as to type, all of them realistic, many of them based on concepts which a few years ago would not have been regarded as scientific. Another magazine has returned to the simpler type of story, calling for substantial science, swift action, good characterization. Still another relies upon the old popular romantics (not a love story) with science added to provide motive, throwing in some real humor as a pace breaker. And yet another seems to be re-setting the stage for the “big idea” yarn of a few short years ago.

We may be sure of this, however all literature follows certain broad trends and science fiction will be no exception. The direction in which science fiction is moving may be obscured by the number of magazines and the correspondingly large number of writers in the field, but the direction will be there, although it probably will spread over wider ground. Henceforward we probably will get more of every kind of story and the development of any particular type will be slower as a result.

Most of us can remember the time when the hero invariably carried a ray [gun]. More of us can remember when an author who didn’t bust a solar system or two wide open was a panty-waist, too. There was the time when the future was the future and not a future. And Venus was always a jungle and the only thing the asteroids were good for were to hunt gems on or harbor outlaws. The hero usually was a scientists.

Today few ray guns are packet, mighty few solar systems are busted up. Characters are now rampant through many futures instead of a single future. Venus needn’t be a jungle (probably isn’t) and asteroids can be used for lots of things. As well as scientists, heroes can be handy men, newspapermen, farmers, football players, old soldiers, deep-sea divers, historians, librarians… almost anything.

But we’ll come back to them because we liked them and don’t want to get along without them. the ray gun probably won’t come back because, as a weapon, it was a sort of silly think to lug around.

And in the meantime we’ll go ahead to new ideas and new ways of presenting them. We’ll eventually have so many different types of stories that we can afford to wee out the ones we don’t like, keep the ones we do. The fans will take care of that.

• Howard V. Brown’s cover for Astounding Stories, ed. F. Orlin Tremaine (December 1933) — the publication location for Nat Schachner’s “Ancestral Voices”

Unquestionably science fiction has developed. Throughout this article I have referred to it as a literature, which probably isn’t correct, but seemed a handy term to use. Excellence in writing, careful delineation in character, superb plotting and definite story value, however, have put some of the science fiction yarns of the last few years very close to literature. Probably no accredited critic would recognize them as such… but what do we care for critics.

I think that we can expect it to continue its development. it seems to have won a secure place with the American reader. It is no longer on the totary [tertiary?] basis which almost enabled the Depression of the early 30’s to virtually knock it out. each year that goes will see itself winning itself even a more secure place.

Many great stories have been written, but I believe the greatest still are to be written. The horizon grows broader as time goes on. Each new idea is a springboard for a dozen other ideas, all derivatives of the first, but each a separate theme in its own right. If this be true, how can we help but have the greatest stories yet to come?

Notes

1. For example in Mike Ashley’s The Time Machines: The Story of the Science-Fiction Pulp Magazines from the beginning to 1950 (2000), 84: “With the December 1933 issue Tremaine announced his new policy for stories of total originality and scope. He called them ‘thought variants’, and the first example was “Ancestral Voices” by none other than Wonder Stories’ leading writer Nathan Schachner. […] The twist Schachner added was that these people were amongst every race and creed. The story is not among Schachner’s best, and did not create the stir that Tremaine expected but it had some degree of originality.” ↩︎
2. Stanley Weinbaum’s “A Martian Odyssey” first appeared in Wonder Stories, ed. Hugo Gernsback (July 1934). You can read it online here. Jack Williamson’s “Born of the Sun” first appeared in Astounding Stories, ed. F. Orlin Tremaine (March 1934). You can read it online here. Nat Schachner’s “Ancestral Voices” first appeared in Astounding Stories, ed. F. Orlin Tremaine (December 1933). You can read it online here. Murray Leinster’s “Sidewise in Time” first appeared in Astounding Stories, ed. F. Orlin Tremaine (June 1934). You can read it online here. ↩︎
3. Donald Wandrei also published a few stories in Astounding Stories, although he might be best known for his work in Weird Tales, etc. As all the stories Simak lists appeared in Astounding and Wonder Stories in late 1933 and 1934, he might be referencing any of the following Wandrei tales: “A Race Through Time” (October 1933), “Farewell to Earth” (December 1933), “Colossus” (January 1934), “The Man Who Never Lived” (March 1934), “The Atom-Smasher” (April 1934), “The Blinding Shadows” (May 1934), “The Nerveless Man” (July 1934), “A Scientist Divides” (September 1934), and “Colossus Eternal” (December 1934). I have not read any of his work. ↩︎

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For cover art posts consult the INDEX

For TV and film reviews consult the INDEX

Exploration Log 15: Clifford D. Simak’s fanzine article “The Future of Science Fiction” (1941)

• Cover image from The FANAC Fan History Project. Clifford D. Simak is the second from the left in the back

Clifford D. Simak’s “The Future of Science Fiction” appeared in the fanzine Fantasite, No. 2, ed. Phil Bronson (February 1941). You can read it online here. As the quality of the scan at the link is quite poor and close to unreadable in spots, I’ve transcribed the entire article below. In a few instances I have guessed based on vague letter shapes. If you spot an error, let me know!

The fanzine Fantasite, comprised of twelve issues between 1940 and 1944, was the official organ of the Minneapolis Fantasy Society. For more on the fanzine and its creator, consult the Fancyclopedia entries. The MFS was formed when when Simak arrived in Minneapolis and joined with the old Minneapolis Science Fiction League (Hugo Gernsback’s SF clubs). The second meeting happened at Simak’s house. As members went off to WWII, the became less formal and eventually dissipated. Simak helped briefly resurrect the club after WWII, joined by Poul Anderson and others. Other SF authors who were members included Theodore R. Cogswell, Noel Loomis, Oliver Saari, and Gordon R. Dickson.

This is a fascinating, if a bit vague and imprecise, look at Simak’s early views on the evolution and potentiality of science fiction. Unfortunately, as his professional life as a newspaper reporter ramped up he paired back his fan activities. These three points stood out: 1) Simak believes that the science fiction of the 1930s (in particular 1933 and 1934) transformed the genre by departing from “wooden men” who stalk through “wooden plots.” 2) he speculates that science fiction will diversify even further with “new ideas and new ways of presenting them” 3) he emphasizes the importance of “careful delineation in character” with “superb plotting.” Even from Simak’s earliest fannish writings, he shows an interest in a genre without clear boundaries — a genre that grows and expands and explores new things. For a more overt statement on his toleration for a diverse genre, check out his 1971 Worldcon Guest of Honor Speech given in the middle of the New Wave movement.

Of the handful of stories Simak lists, I’ve only read Stanley G. Weinbaum’s “A Martian Odyssey” (1934). Nat Schachner’s wrote “Ancestral Voices” (1934) comes up frequently in SF scholarship as an original early SF story with a rather radical (for the era) implication. I should give it a go!1

Let me know your thoughts.

Clifford D. Simak’s “The Future of Science Fiction” (1941)

For a long time science fiction was formula. Then, suddenly, something happened. Stanley Weinbaum wrote “[A] Martian Odyssey.” Jack Williamson wrote “Born of the Sun.” Nat Schachner wrote “Ancestral Voices.” Murray Leinster wrote “Sidewise in Time.” 2 Don Wandrei strolled onto the scene.3

• Frank R. Paul’s cover for Wonder Stories, ed. Hugo Gernsback (July 1934) — the publication location of Weinbaum’s “A Martian Odyssey”

Other things happened, too. But those few examples give you an idea.

Science fiction shook off the old beliefs that the saga of a man going to another planet and making the acquaintance of the three-legged, seven-eyed, 18-fingered resident of that planet constituted a story. Science fiction started to go places. It’s been going places since.

Just where it is going is hard, perhaps impossible, to say.

I know that after reading the first paragraph of this article a bunch of you fellows are going to rear up on your hind legs and let ouf a few bellows: “What about the early Skylark stories? What about Wade and Morey? What about some of Lovecraft’s first work? What, above all, about Hawk Carso?”

I’ll admit you have something there. I would be the first to deny that all of the pre-Weinbaum stories were lousy. I wasn’t even trying to say that. What was meant is that they all followed pretty much the same pattern… and that doesn’t mean they weren’t good. But they were pretty much the same.

But in trying to trace the trends of any type of literature, one must generalize. Comparisons and deductions must be made of a broad basis, ignoring the occasional exceptions which arise in almost every phase under consideration.

From necessarily crude beginnings, when the pioneers of science fiction were laying what has proven to be a firm and solid basis for a new type of literature. We have advanced up to the present day of science fiction story which is well rounded in almost every respect. We have achieved realism, an elusive sort of modern-day fantasy, humor, characterization, in some cases satire, and when satire arrived one may be fairly certain that type of literature is out of its swaddling clothes. We have even come to regard psychology as a legitimate field upon which a science fictioneer may base a thrilling, thought-provocative story.

No more do wooden men stalk through wooden plots. Your typical science fictioneer character of today seems to be alive. Plot is given equal consideration with the scientific basis of the story. Some stories are frankly (and actually) humorous. In many of the tales the science does not arise unshriven and smack you in the face… you have to sit and think about it. Seldom do heroes gallop around the red sands of Mars without oxygen helmets or protective armor… seldom do they rescue Martian princesses. Because science fiction writers now know that Mars is mighty cold and has little atmosphere and that a Martian princess probably would look like something that skittered out from under a rock only more so.

Just what science fiction is going to do next is harder to say today than it would have been so a few months ago. The advent of new magazines, all of which show heartening promise of making real contributions to science fiction, and a radiant flurry of story types, serve to confuse any analysis of the situation.

A few months ago I would have guesses the trend would be toward ever increasing realism. Now is appears there may be a decided swing back to the modern-day fantasy. The best solution to the whole problem is to say one doesn’t know.

• Howard V. Brown’s cover for Astounding Stories, ed. F. Orlin Tremaine (March 1934) — the publication location of Jack Williamson’s “Born of the Sun”

The editors themselves probably don’t worry a great deal about trends. They are in the market for good stories. A sudden outpouring of certain types of stories perhaps is the unconscious imitation of one or more highly successful stories, the writers following, for the moments, the dictates of the fans. As the fans tire of one kind of story, the writers gradually forsake it, turn to something else. One or two of them hit a jackpot and bingo! a new trend has started.

With more magazines in the field, the trend is going to be increasingly harder to follow. One of the magazines at the moment is publishing stories which are almost impossible to define as to type, all of them realistic, many of them based on concepts which a few years ago would not have been regarded as scientific. Another magazine has returned to the simpler type of story, calling for substantial science, swift action, good characterization. Still another relies upon the old popular romantics (not a love story) with science added to provide motive, throwing in some real humor as a pace breaker. And yet another seems to be re-setting the stage for the “big idea” yarn of a few short years ago.

We may be sure of this, however all literature follows certain broad trends and science fiction will be no exception. The direction in which science fiction is moving may be obscured by the number of magazines and the correspondingly large number of writers in the field, but the direction will be there, although it probably will spread over wider ground. Henceforward we probably will get more of every kind of story and the development of any particular type will be slower as a result.

Most of us can remember the time when the hero invariably carried a ray [gun]. More of us can remember when an author who didn’t bust a solar system or two wide open was a panty-waist, too. There was the time when the future was the future and not a future. And Venus was always a jungle and the only thing the asteroids were good for were to hunt gems on or harbor outlaws. The hero usually was a scientists.

Today few ray guns are packet, mighty few solar systems are busted up. Characters are now rampant through many futures instead of a single future. Venus needn’t be a jungle (probably isn’t) and asteroids can be used for lots of things. As well as scientists, heroes can be handy men, newspapermen, farmers, football players, old soldiers, deep-sea divers, historians, librarians… almost anything.

But we’ll come back to them because we liked them and don’t want to get along without them. the ray gun probably won’t come back because, as a weapon, it was a sort of silly think to lug around.

And in the meantime we’ll go ahead to new ideas and new ways of presenting them. We’ll eventually have so many different types of stories that we can afford to wee out the ones we don’t like, keep the ones we do. The fans will take care of that.

• Howard V. Brown’s cover for Astounding Stories, ed. F. Orlin Tremaine (December 1933) — the publication location for Nat Schachner’s “Ancestral Voices”

Unquestionably science fiction has developed. Throughout this article I have referred to it as a literature, which probably isn’t correct, but seemed a handy term to use. Excellence in writing, careful delineation in character, superb plotting and definite story value, however, have put some of the science fiction yarns of the last few years very close to literature. Probably no accredited critic would recognize them as such… but what do we care for critics.

I think that we can expect it to continue its development. it seems to have won a secure place with the American reader. It is no longer on the totary [tertiary?] basis which almost enabled the Depression of the early 30’s to virtually knock it out. each year that goes will see itself winning itself even a more secure place.

Many great stories have been written, but I believe the greatest still are to be written. The horizon grows broader as time goes on. Each new idea is a springboard for a dozen other ideas, all derivatives of the first, but each a separate theme in its own right. If this be true, how can we help but have the greatest stories yet to come?

Notes

1. For example in Mike Ashley’s The Time Machines: The Story of the Science-Fiction Pulp Magazines from the beginning to 1950 (2000), 84: “With the December 1933 issue Tremaine announced his new policy for stories of total originality and scope. He called them ‘thought variants’, and the first example was “Ancestral Voices” by none other than Wonder Stories’ leading writer Nathan Schachner. […] The twist Schachner added was that these people were amongst every race and creed. The story is not among Schachner’s best, and did not create the stir that Tremaine expected but it had some degree of originality.” ↩︎
2. Stanley Weinbaum’s “A Martian Odyssey” first appeared in Wonder Stories, ed. Hugo Gernsback (July 1934). You can read it online here. Jack Williamson’s “Born of the Sun” first appeared in Astounding Stories, ed. F. Orlin Tremaine (March 1934). You can read it online here. Nat Schachner’s “Ancestral Voices” first appeared in Astounding Stories, ed. F. Orlin Tremaine (December 1933). You can read it online here. Murray Leinster’s “Sidewise in Time” first appeared in Astounding Stories, ed. F. Orlin Tremaine (June 1934). You can read it online here. ↩︎
3. Donald Wandrei also published a few stories in Astounding Stories, although he might be best known for his work in Weird Tales, etc. As all the stories Simak lists appeared in Astounding and Wonder Stories in late 1933 and 1934, he might be referencing any of the following Wandrei tales: “A Race Through Time” (October 1933), “Farewell to Earth” (December 1933), “Colossus” (January 1934), “The Man Who Never Lived” (March 1934), “The Atom-Smasher” (April 1934), “The Blinding Shadows” (May 1934), “The Nerveless Man” (July 1934), “A Scientist Divides” (September 1934), and “Colossus Eternal” (December 1934). I have not read any of his work. ↩︎

For book reviews consult the INDEX

For cover art posts consult the INDEX

For TV and film reviews consult the INDEX

@itssmalcolm
Video Credit 🎥 : vintagestories on YouTube

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June 27, 1930 and it's The Lakeview on Saturday and Tuesday at Vintage Edmonton:

http://www.vintageedmonton.com/2026/06/june-27-1930.html

#yeg #alberta #edmonton #1930s

June 27, 1930 and it's The Lakeview on Saturday and Tuesday at Vintage Edmonton:

http://www.vintageedmonton.com/2026/06/june-27-1930.html

#yeg #alberta #edmonton #1930s

Spotted in my Calishat Snaps but I’m not sure when it launched. I think recently. Anyway, it’s 1000 Songs. From the About: “This 100-year music timeline is my curated ear-crafted sonic archive. It follows a strict 10 songs per year rule. You could say it’s a folk art celebration of human discovery and experience of music. Or you could not. But it’s much more fun to measure time in songs than […]

Spotted in my Calishat Snaps but I’m not sure when it launched. I think recently. Anyway, it’s 1000 Songs. From the About: “This 100-year music timeline is my curated ear-crafted sonic archive. It follows a strict 10 songs per year rule. You could say it’s a folk art celebration of human discovery and experience of music. Or you could not. But it’s much more fun to measure time in songs than […]

What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading? + Update No. XXIX

What pre-1985 science fiction adventures have you started this summer? Any great reads? Disappointing ones? Intriguing discoveries? Here’s the April installment of this column.

• A selection of read volumes from my shelves

In a conversation on Blueksy, someone asked for my history of science fiction recommendations (including a few general surveys). I scoured my shelves and came up with an all-too-large pile (with some notable volumes I wanted to include but could not find) of favorite histories of science fiction. See photo below. I tried to include monographs that were not studies of single authors.

As I am a historian by training and trade who holds on to some of my disciplinary ticks and hangups, I also included works by trained academics with two major exceptions 1) Mike Ashley’s multi-volume study of science fiction magazines (but no other recent works exist and they’re really good for the nuts and bolts of genre magazines) and 2) Alec Nevala-Lee’s approachable and well-researched group biography  Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction (2018). Both should be read.

• A photo of a few of my history of science fiction recommendations

I deliberately avoided works by science fiction authors like Damon Knight, Brian W. Aldiss, and Frederik Pohl. They’re great sources and I own and have read many of them but…. they are not histories by trained scholars. I do not mean for this to come off as elitist. Rather, my personal remit for my list—I needed to winnow down the hundreds and hundreds I own–was deliberately narrow! I read and use sources widely. Remember, these are my favorites — they might not be the best but they got me thinking and reading and writing. And that’s what we all should be doing, reading what makes us happy.

Before we get to the the curated birthdays and brief thoughts on the science fiction volumes above, let me know what pre-1985 SF you’re currently reading or planning to read! You’re also welcome to list your favorite histories of the genre.

The Photograph (with links to reviews and brief thoughts)

1. Samuel R. Delany and Howard V. Chaykin’s Empire (1978). I love the art! The story? One of Delany’s weakest outings. It’s a shame.
2. Robert Holdstock’s Eye Among the Blind (1976). His anthropologically inclined first novel contains “kerns of his later genius” according to my 2014. Most details have faded. That can’t be said to his far superior Where Time Winds Blow (1981). If you only know Holdstock for Mythago Wood (1984), definitely check out his earlier more overt science fictional works. That said, I really need to read Mythago Wood!
3. Kate Wilhelm’s Abyss (1971) is a underrated outing (two novellas) by a master near the top of her game. I particularly enjoyed “The Plastic Abyss” (1971): As the human drama (the entrenched patterns and fritctions of society’s expected social roles) swirls at the forefront, the SF premise generates the unease—in this case an attempt to secure funding for an experimental absorptive material onto which life-like images can be projected. 
4. Philip K. Dick’s Our Friends From Frolix 8 (1970). One of many PKD novels that have clumped together into a terrifying indistinguishable distillation of his unease and what makes him great. This is too say, I read a lot of PKD early in my SF reading career and can’t remember which details relate to which books!

What am I writing about?

The merciful appearance of summer break early this month — and a summer with little planned travel — has allowed me to get back into the flow of writing reviews and working on larger projects. Since the April installment of this series, I’ve read reviewed and written about the following: Exploration Log 14: Anti-Racism in Chandler Davis’ “Stereotypes Are Dangerous” (1950), two posts on Clifford D. Simak: “Madness from Mars” (1939) and “Hermit of Mars” (1939) and his collection The Worlds of Clifford Simak (1960), Polly Toynbee’s Leftovers (1966) and Lewis Gibbs’ Late Final (1951), Richard Wilson’s “Strike” (1953), and Knut Faldbakken’s Sweetwater (1976, trans. Joan Tate, 1994), which appeared originally in the first issue of Rachel S. Cordasco’s magazine Small Planet: The SF in Translation Magazine.

The summer has allowed me to return to my article (and accompanying historical research) on Edward A. Johnson’s Light Ahead for the Negro (1904). First major summer step? I finished Richard A. Paschal’s Jim Crow in North Carolina: The Legislative Program from 1865-1920 (2021) to integrate into my article! I will spend as much as the afternoon as possible at my favorite coffee shop trying to eek out a few more pages or to reacquaint myself with my 200+ electronic newspaper clippings I’ve collected.

I’m also working on my review of SF in translation for the second issue of Small Planet: The SF in Translation Magazine. I’ll keep the author and book secret until it appears in the first few weeks of August. As for non fiction for the site, I’m working on a few early Clifford D. Simak fanzine articles for my Exploration Log series.

What am I reading?

This is a rare moment for reasons connected to my before-mentioned article that I do not have a science fiction work already lined up to read. It’s a radically attempt to FINISH writing projects that have acted as anchors to other writing and reading. That said, no worries blog friends — I have plenty of half-finished reviews waiting in the wings. Stay tuned.

• Photo of Steve Batterson’s The Prosecution of Professor Chandler Davis: McCarthyism, Communism, and the Myth of Academic Freedom (2023) on my history shelf with other books

On the non-fiction front: I have been eying Steve Batterson’s The Prosecution of Professor Chandler Davis: McCarthyism, Communism, and the Myth of Academic Freedom (2023) after writing about Chandler Davis’ amazing fanzine article “Stereotypes Are Dangerous” (1950) for my Exploration Log series.

A Curated List of SF Birthdays from the Last Two Weeks [names link to The Internet Speculative Fiction Database for bibliographical info]

June 10th: Artist Don Maitz (1953-).

June 11th: Josephine Saxton (1935-2023). I recommend The Hieros Gamos of Sam and An Smith (1969). She was a unique and underrated voice of the New Wave. I also covered her first three published short stories.

June 12th: Frank K. Kelly (1914-2010). I wrote about an example of his dark 30s pulp here: “Famine on Mars” (1934).

June 12th: Henry Slesar (1927-2002).

June 13th: Artist Ralph McQuarrie (1929-2012). Best known for his Star Wars art. He also created SF covers.

• James Gurney’s cover for William Greenleaf’s The Tartarus Incident (1983)

June 14th: Artist James Gurney (1958-). Best known for Dinotopia (1992) (and the sequels). Another very influential book in my childhood. He also created a SF covers.

June 14th: Stephen Tall (1908-1981).

June 14th: Ruthven Todd (1914-1978). I recently acquired his marginally SF work The Lost Traveller (1943). I’ll feature it in a purchase post eventually.

June 14th: Laurence Yep (1948-). A complete unknown to me. I acquired one of his novels recently: Seademons (1977) .

June 14th: Artist Peter Goodfellow (1950-2022). One of my favorite British SF artists.

• Mitchell Hooks’ cover for the 1962 1st edition

June 15th: J. F. Bone (1916-2006). Best known for his novel The Lani People (1962). One of many novels with humanoid cat women. Blargh.

June 15th: Artist Neal Adams (1941-2022). Best known for his Tarzan covers.

June 15th: Brian Jacques (1939-2011). I’ve mentioned my love his Jacques’ Redwall sequence in previous year installments of the birthday list. If there’s a single author responsible for my adoration for reading and maps, it’s him.

June 17th: Wallace Wood (1927-1981).

June 17th: John Hersey (1914-1993). Best known for his non-fiction work Hiroshima (1946), Hersey also wrote three SFF volumes. I read and enjoyed his overpopulation themed novel My Petition for More Space (1974). I acquired his satire of the National Defense Education Act (1968) novel The Child Buyer (1960).

June 17th: Garen Drussaï (1916-2009). She wrote five science fiction stories in the mid-50s, including her “consumer hell” story “Woman’s Work” (1956) that I must finally get around to reading.

June 17th: Dean Ing (1931-2020).

• The Brothers Quay cover for the 1st edition of Philip K. Dick’s A Scanner Darkly (1977)

June 17th: Tim and Steve Quay (1947-) (The Brothers Quay). Before their brilliant short films, they created a handful of covers early in their career! I found their 1st edition cover of PKD’s A Scanner Darkly (1977) the best.

June 18th: Artist Jody A. Lee (1958-).

June 18th: Roger Ebert (1942-2013). Ebert, a famous film-reviewer, also published two science fiction short stories in 1972.

June 19th: Mark Adlard (1932-). I reviewed the first volume–Interface (1971)–in his Tcity trilogy back in 2015.

June 19th: Brian Ball (1932-2020). A slick pulp-SF author, if that is your thing. I reviewed Singularity Station (1973) in 2013.

• Peter Goodfellow’s cover for the 1977 UK edition of Grimus (1975)

June 19th: Salman Rushdie (1947-). I have my eyes on his first SF novel Grimus (1975) (above).

June 20th: Pamela Zoline (1941-). I love the rightly celebrated “The Heat Death of the Universe” (1967) and wish she wrote more than the handful of short stories.

June 21st: Cleve Cartmill (1908-1964). Best known for the controversy over “Deadline” (1944) “which described an atomic bomb a year before one was ever dropped, which the government attempted to suppress.” Should I read it? I imagine it is historically important but a poor story. Did he write anything else worth reading?

June 21st: David J. Skal (1952-2024). I’ve only read Skal’s short story “Chains” (1971).

June 22nd: Lima de Freitas (1927-1998). One of my top 5 science fiction artists — I love his line work. For a few examples I gathered, see this thread on Bluesky. I also posted about his work on my site: The Futuristic Cities of Lima de Freitas.

June 22nd: Octavia E. Butler (1947-2006). I’ve reviewed Clay’s Ark (1984),  Dawn (1987) and Mind of My Mind (1977). Clay’s Ark (1984) is really really good. Covered it last year.

June 23rd: Michael Shaara (1928-1988). His collection Soldier Boy (1982) judges me from the shelf. I’ve been meaning to read it since 2015!

• Paul Orban’s interior art for A. J. Deutsch’s “A Subway Named Mobius” (1950) in Astounding Science Fiction, ed. John W. Campbell, Jr. (December 1950)

June 23rd: Artist Paul Orban (1896-1974). I enjoy his style of interior art — the variety of lines and shading.

June 23rd: Artist Alan Craddock (1956-). I do not enjoy his style of cover art!

• Alan Craddock’s cover art for the 1985 Orbit edition of David Gerrold’s A Day for Damnation (1984)

For book reviews consult the INDEX

For cover art posts consult the INDEX

For TV and film reviews consult the INDEX

What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading? + Update No. XXIX

What pre-1985 science fiction adventures have you started this summer? Any great reads? Disappointing ones? Intriguing discoveries? Here’s the April installment of this column.

• A selection of read volumes from my shelves

In a conversation on Blueksy, someone asked for my history of science fiction recommendations (including a few general surveys). I scoured my shelves and came up with an all-too-large pile (with some notable volumes I wanted to include but could not find) of favorite histories of science fiction. See photo below. I tried to include monographs that were not studies of single authors.

As I am a historian by training and trade who holds on to some of my disciplinary ticks and hangups, I also included works by trained academics with two major exceptions 1) Mike Ashley’s multi-volume study of science fiction magazines (but no other recent works exist and they’re really good for the nuts and bolts of genre magazines) and 2) Alec Nevala-Lee’s approachable and well-researched group biography  Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction (2018). Both should be read.

• A photo of a few of my history of science fiction recommendations

I deliberately avoided works by science fiction authors like Damon Knight, Brian W. Aldiss, and Frederik Pohl. They’re great sources and I own and have read many of them but…. they are not histories by trained scholars. I do not mean for this to come off as elitist. Rather, my personal remit for my list—I needed to winnow down the hundreds and hundreds I own–was deliberately narrow! I read and use sources widely. Remember, these are my favorites — they might not be the best but they got me thinking and reading and writing. And that’s what we all should be doing, reading what makes us happy.

Before we get to the the curated birthdays and brief thoughts on the science fiction volumes above, let me know what pre-1985 SF you’re currently reading or planning to read! You’re also welcome to list your favorite histories of the genre.

The Photograph (with links to reviews and brief thoughts)

1. Samuel R. Delany and Howard V. Chaykin’s Empire (1978). I love the art! The story? One of Delany’s weakest outings. It’s a shame.
2. Robert Holdstock’s Eye Among the Blind (1976). His anthropologically inclined first novel contains “kerns of his later genius” according to my 2014. Most details have faded. That can’t be said to his far superior Where Time Winds Blow (1981). If you only know Holdstock for Mythago Wood (1984), definitely check out his earlier more overt science fictional works. That said, I really need to read Mythago Wood!
3. Kate Wilhelm’s Abyss (1971) is a underrated outing (two novellas) by a master near the top of her game. I particularly enjoyed “The Plastic Abyss” (1971): As the human drama (the entrenched patterns and fritctions of society’s expected social roles) swirls at the forefront, the SF premise generates the unease—in this case an attempt to secure funding for an experimental absorptive material onto which life-like images can be projected. 
4. Philip K. Dick’s Our Friends From Frolix 8 (1970). One of many PKD novels that have clumped together into a terrifying indistinguishable distillation of his unease and what makes him great. This is too say, I read a lot of PKD early in my SF reading career and can’t remember which details relate to which books!

What am I writing about?

The merciful appearance of summer break early this month — and a summer with little planned travel — has allowed me to get back into the flow of writing reviews and working on larger projects. Since the April installment of this series, I’ve read reviewed and written about the following: Exploration Log 14: Anti-Racism in Chandler Davis’ “Stereotypes Are Dangerous” (1950), two posts on Clifford D. Simak: “Madness from Mars” (1939) and “Hermit of Mars” (1939) and his collection The Worlds of Clifford Simak (1960), Polly Toynbee’s Leftovers (1966) and Lewis Gibbs’ Late Final (1951), Richard Wilson’s “Strike” (1953), and Knut Faldbakken’s Sweetwater (1976, trans. Joan Tate, 1994), which appeared originally in the first issue of Rachel S. Cordasco’s magazine Small Planet: The SF in Translation Magazine.

The summer has allowed me to return to my article (and accompanying historical research) on Edward A. Johnson’s Light Ahead for the Negro (1904). First major summer step? I finished Richard A. Paschal’s Jim Crow in North Carolina: The Legislative Program from 1865-1920 (2021) to integrate into my article! I will spend as much as the afternoon as possible at my favorite coffee shop trying to eek out a few more pages or to reacquaint myself with my 200+ electronic newspaper clippings I’ve collected.

I’m also working on my review of SF in translation for the second issue of Small Planet: The SF in Translation Magazine. I’ll keep the author and book secret until it appears in the first few weeks of August. As for non fiction for the site, I’m working on a few early Clifford D. Simak fanzine articles for my Exploration Log series.

What am I reading?

This is a rare moment for reasons connected to my before-mentioned article that I do not have a science fiction work already lined up to read. It’s a radically attempt to FINISH writing projects that have acted as anchors to other writing and reading. That said, no worries blog friends — I have plenty of half-finished reviews waiting in the wings. Stay tuned.

• Photo of Steve Batterson’s The Prosecution of Professor Chandler Davis: McCarthyism, Communism, and the Myth of Academic Freedom (2023) on my history shelf with other books

On the non-fiction front: I have been eying Steve Batterson’s The Prosecution of Professor Chandler Davis: McCarthyism, Communism, and the Myth of Academic Freedom (2023) after writing about Chandler Davis’ amazing fanzine article “Stereotypes Are Dangerous” (1950) for my Exploration Log series.

A Curated List of SF Birthdays from the Last Two Weeks [names link to The Internet Speculative Fiction Database for bibliographical info]

June 10th: Artist Don Maitz (1953-).

June 11th: Josephine Saxton (1935-2023). I recommend The Hieros Gamos of Sam and An Smith (1969). She was a unique and underrated voice of the New Wave. I also covered her first three published short stories.

June 12th: Frank K. Kelly (1914-2010). I wrote about an example of his dark 30s pulp here: “Famine on Mars” (1934).

June 12th: Henry Slesar (1927-2002).

June 13th: Artist Ralph McQuarrie (1929-2012). Best known for his Star Wars art. He also created SF covers.

• James Gurney’s cover for William Greenleaf’s The Tartarus Incident (1983)

June 14th: Artist James Gurney (1958-). Best known for Dinotopia (1992) (and the sequels). Another very influential book in my childhood. He also created a SF covers.

June 14th: Stephen Tall (1908-1981).

June 14th: Ruthven Todd (1914-1978). I recently acquired his marginally SF work The Lost Traveller (1943). I’ll feature it in a purchase post eventually.

June 14th: Laurence Yep (1948-). A complete unknown to me. I acquired one of his novels recently: Seademons (1977) .

June 14th: Artist Peter Goodfellow (1950-2022). One of my favorite British SF artists.

• Mitchell Hooks’ cover for the 1962 1st edition

June 15th: J. F. Bone (1916-2006). Best known for his novel The Lani People (1962). One of many novels with humanoid cat women. Blargh.

June 15th: Artist Neal Adams (1941-2022). Best known for his Tarzan covers.

June 15th: Brian Jacques (1939-2011). I’ve mentioned my love his Jacques’ Redwall sequence in previous year installments of the birthday list. If there’s a single author responsible for my adoration for reading and maps, it’s him.

June 17th: Wallace Wood (1927-1981).

June 17th: John Hersey (1914-1993). Best known for his non-fiction work Hiroshima (1946), Hersey also wrote three SFF volumes. I read and enjoyed his overpopulation themed novel My Petition for More Space (1974). I acquired his satire of the National Defense Education Act (1968) novel The Child Buyer (1960).

June 17th: Garen Drussaï (1916-2009). She wrote five science fiction stories in the mid-50s, including her “consumer hell” story “Woman’s Work” (1956) that I must finally get around to reading.

June 17th: Dean Ing (1931-2020).

• The Brothers Quay cover for the 1st edition of Philip K. Dick’s A Scanner Darkly (1977)

June 17th: Tim and Steve Quay (1947-) (The Brothers Quay). Before their brilliant short films, they created a handful of covers early in their career! I found their 1st edition cover of PKD’s A Scanner Darkly (1977) the best.

June 18th: Artist Jody A. Lee (1958-).

June 18th: Roger Ebert (1942-2013). Ebert, a famous film-reviewer, also published two science fiction short stories in 1972.

June 19th: Mark Adlard (1932-). I reviewed the first volume–Interface (1971)–in his Tcity trilogy back in 2015.

June 19th: Brian Ball (1932-2020). A slick pulp-SF author, if that is your thing. I reviewed Singularity Station (1973) in 2013.

• Peter Goodfellow’s cover for the 1977 UK edition of Grimus (1975)

June 19th: Salman Rushdie (1947-). I have my eyes on his first SF novel Grimus (1975) (above).

June 20th: Pamela Zoline (1941-). I love the rightly celebrated “The Heat Death of the Universe” (1967) and wish she wrote more than the handful of short stories.

June 21st: Cleve Cartmill (1908-1964). Best known for the controversy over “Deadline” (1944) “which described an atomic bomb a year before one was ever dropped, which the government attempted to suppress.” Should I read it? I imagine it is historically important but a poor story. Did he write anything else worth reading?

June 21st: David J. Skal (1952-2024). I’ve only read Skal’s short story “Chains” (1971).

June 22nd: Lima de Freitas (1927-1998). One of my top 5 science fiction artists — I love his line work. For a few examples I gathered, see this thread on Bluesky. I also posted about his work on my site: The Futuristic Cities of Lima de Freitas.

June 22nd: Octavia E. Butler (1947-2006). I’ve reviewed Clay’s Ark (1984),  Dawn (1987) and Mind of My Mind (1977). Clay’s Ark (1984) is really really good. Covered it last year.

June 23rd: Michael Shaara (1928-1988). His collection Soldier Boy (1982) judges me from the shelf. I’ve been meaning to read it since 2015!

• Paul Orban’s interior art for A. J. Deutsch’s “A Subway Named Mobius” (1950) in Astounding Science Fiction, ed. John W. Campbell, Jr. (December 1950)

June 23rd: Artist Paul Orban (1896-1974). I enjoy his style of interior art — the variety of lines and shading.

June 23rd: Artist Alan Craddock (1956-). I do not enjoy his style of cover art!

• Alan Craddock’s cover art for the 1985 Orbit edition of David Gerrold’s A Day for Damnation (1984)

For book reviews consult the INDEX

For cover art posts consult the INDEX

For TV and film reviews consult the INDEX

June 23, 1938 and it's the Exhibition Diamond Jubilee at Vintage Edmonton:

http://www.vintageedmonton.com/2026/06/june-23-1938.html

#yeg #alberta #edmonton #1930s

June 23, 1938 and it's the Exhibition Diamond Jubilee at Vintage Edmonton:

http://www.vintageedmonton.com/2026/06/june-23-1938.html

#yeg #alberta #edmonton #1930s

June 15, 1931 and it's Tragedy On The River at Vintage Edmonton:

http://www.vintageedmonton.com/2026/06/june-15-1931.html

#yeg #alberta #edmonton #1930s

June 15, 1931 and it's Tragedy On The River at Vintage Edmonton:

http://www.vintageedmonton.com/2026/06/june-15-1931.html

#yeg #alberta #edmonton #1930s

Short Fiction Review: Clifford D. Simak’s “Madness from Mars” (1939) and “Hermit of Mars” (1939)

The following review is the 37th installment of my series searching for “SF short stories that are critical in some capacity of space agencies, astronauts, and the culture which produced them.” Some stories I’ll review in this series might not fit or are poor quality. And that is okay. I relish the act of literary archaeology. I’ve added an extra Simak story to round out the post.

I’m on another Clifford D. Simak binge!

Previously: John Wyndham’s “The Man From Beyond” (variant title: “The Man from Earth”) (1934)

Up Next: TBD

• Howard V. Brown’s cover for Thrilling Wonder Stories, ed. Mort Weisinger (April 1939)

3/5 (Average)

Clifford D. Simak’s “Madness from Mars” first appeared in Thrilling Wonder Stories, ed. Mort Weisinger (April 1939). You can read it online here.

In the 1941 article “The Future of Science Fiction,” Clifford D. Simak described the transformative effect of Stanley G. Weinbaum’s “A Martian Odyssey” (1934) (and a handful of other stories) on the development of science fiction.1 He uses the story to explain how SF has achieved “realism” by moving beyond “wooden plots” plot by incorporating a “scientific basis of the story.” I’d suggest “Madness from Mars” is Simak’s attempt to craft a scientifically-grounded and truly alien alien in the Weinbaum mold. I will feature Simak’s early commentary on the genre in a future Exploration Log post. 2

The rocket ship Hello Mars IV, “a tiny gnat of steel pushing itself along with twinkling blasts of flaming rocket-fuel,” approaches Earth after the first successful voyage to the Red Planet. The press christens the ship as a “shining symbol of man’s conquest of the planets” (77). The three previous ships met with disaster. Humanity assumed Hello Mars IV also met a destructive end as years transpired without contact: “man as yet had found no means of communicating over fifty million miles of space”(77).3 However, something seems to be amiss. The ship does not return hails as it approaches Earth’s atmosphere. And something screams wrong with the way the ship lands. And when the hatch opens “A man stepped out — a man who staggered jerkily forward and then stumbled and fell in a heap” (78). He dies later that night. Bloody carnage greets those who inspect the ship. The crew seems to have gone insane and either committed suicide or killed each other. And then there’s an alien, a furry looking alien, an alien that can only “see” and communicate through “ultrasonics” (83). After zoo animals suddenly turn violent, a doctor and a newsman start to connect the dots.

Even in this early story, multiple common Simak themes are on display. There’s a sense that humanity, in a new formulation of Manifest Destiny, cannot but “blindly” grope “always outward” (77). This is the fourth mission to Mars. Massive capital went into its development and launch. Even when scientists discern the nature of potential alien threats, true knowledge of what could happen must be hidden at all costs or else “there’d be no more trips to Mars for years to come” (84).

In addition, Simak criticizes the immediate capitalist urge. After they discover the furry alien on the spaceship, the first thought isn’t whether it is sentient or to pause and marvel at its profound difference but rather to speculate on its commercial value: “Maybe we’ll have fur-trappers and fur-trading posts up on Mars […] Big fur shipments to Earth and Martian wraps selling at fabulous prices” (79). Like the French fur trappers in North America exploring America’s waterways, exploration directly connects to capitalist exploitation. In parallel, the more caring and careful of Simak’s characters worry about the militaristic applications of their discovery: “You know and I know that ultrasonics of the thirty million order can turn men into insane beasts […] Think of what the warmakers of the world could do with that weapon!” (85). And here we return to the deep sense of despair at the inevitability of conquest: others in the blind quest outward will encounter the same alien and make the same discovery and they might use it for war.

As with other stories like “Masquerade” (1941) and “Tools” (1942) from this period, “Madness from Mars” contains brief hints of Simak’s critique of modern capitalism, imagines newspapermen as heroes, and deploys unusual aliens that serve to illustrate humanity’s foibles and destructive tendencies. He actively resists the pulp impulse to depict the alien as evil. While I didn’t discuss it at length in the review, Simak draws his alien with love and care. He attempts to ground the biology of the alien in the reality of Martian conditions.4 It’s a deeply sad story.

Somewhat recommended for Simak fans interested in his early literary development. I still recommend “Tools” (1942) as the most visceral and strident of his earliest works.

• Graves Gladney’s cover for Astounding Science-Fiction, ed. John W. Campbell, Jr. (June 1939)

2/5 (Bad)

Clifford D. Simak’s “Hermit of Mars” first appeared in Astounding Science-Fiction, ed. John W. Campbell, Jr. (June 1939). You can read it online here.

Kent Clark and Charley Wallace, futuristic versions of 17th-century French fur-trappers in North America’s river systems, hunt for the “Martian beaver” in Mars’ water-less desert canals (10). The pelts fetch astronomical prices back on Earth: “the most valuable fur in the entire Solar System” (10). It’s not clear if this is the same animal furry, and accidentally destructive, animal encountered in “Madness from Mars” (1939) published earlier in the year. Charley’s an old-timer, he’s explored the canals for twenty Martian years. He’s used to Mars’ strange and wondrous sights. Kent, a trapper for five Martian years, still finds fascination in Mars’ unusual differences: “Twilight was an impossible thing in the atmosphere of Mars” (9). The arrival of a spunky women with a dangerous quest interrupts their rituals of hunt and survival. She wants them to chase a myth into the depths of Mad-Man’s Canal, the deepest on Mars.

Unfortunately, “Hermit of Mars” clocks in as the least adept Simak short story I’ve read in the history of the site — it takes pole position over “Lulu” (1957). Perhaps due to the editorial oversight of Campbell, Jr., Simak resorts to a series of unfurling pulp plots, and an entire zoo of unusual fauna, that grow increasingly outlandish and slapdash. In addition, all his scene work setting up the desert canals and technologies of survival come crashing down as all challenges seem to be conquered with incredible, and narratologically lazy, ease. Problems that appear neigh insurmountable are solved in the blink of an eye. Dangers aren’t really dangers. Distances are covered in mere moments. The story unfolds at breakneck speed in a vast variety of different directions in an unsatisfying manner. Simak contributes the type of story that he critiqued in “The Future of Science Fiction” (1941).

Where does Simak succeed? “Hermit of Mars” contains a rare (at least for Simak) strong female character. Ann Smith convinces both Kent and Charley to go with her on a voyage to Mars’ most dangerous place — the depths of Mad-Man’s Canal. The story entirely revolves around her actions and desires. As mentioned above, the way the plot unfolds weakens the effect of her characterization. In addition, the extrapolation of Western myth and historical tropes on Mars provides an anchor the alien and suggest an inevitable return to historical forms of exploitation.

Regardless of the individual flaws of this vision, I did not expect to enjoy my exploration of Simak’s pre-WWII stories as much as I have! Stay tuned for more.

Notes

1. Fantasite, no. 2 (February 1941) ↩︎
2. For a list of previous Exploration Log posts, consult the INDEX. Here are the Clifford D. Simak related posts: Exploration Log 4: Six Interviews with Clifford D. Simak (1904-1988), Exploration Log 5: “We Must Start Over Again and Find Some Other Way of Life”: The Role of Organized Labor in the 1940s and ’50s Science Fiction of Clifford D. Simak, Exploration Log 6: Clifford D. Simak’s 1971 Worldcon Guest of Honor Speech, and Exploration Log 9: Three More Interviews with Clifford D. Simak (1904-1988). ↩︎
3. Mars is 140 million miles away from Earth. See footnote below. ↩︎
4. I’ll leave it up to someone more aware of (and interested in) the history of science (i.e. what was known about Mars in the 30s) to speculate on Simak’s “realism” on this count. It feels like like he read a popular science article on Mars and incorporated as much as possible into the story. ↩︎

For book reviews consult the INDEX

For cover art posts consult the INDEX

For TV and film reviews consult the INDEX

Short Fiction Review: Clifford D. Simak’s “Madness from Mars” (1939) and “Hermit of Mars” (1939)

The following review is the 37th installment of my series searching for “SF short stories that are critical in some capacity of space agencies, astronauts, and the culture which produced them.” Some stories I’ll review in this series might not fit or are poor quality. And that is okay. I relish the act of literary archaeology. I’ve added an extra Simak story to round out the post.

I’m on another Clifford D. Simak binge!

Previously: John Wyndham’s “The Man From Beyond” (variant title: “The Man from Earth”) (1934)

Up Next: TBD

• Howard V. Brown’s cover for Thrilling Wonder Stories, ed. Mort Weisinger (April 1939)

3/5 (Average)

Clifford D. Simak’s “Madness from Mars” first appeared in Thrilling Wonder Stories, ed. Mort Weisinger (April 1939). You can read it online here.

In the 1941 article “The Future of Science Fiction,” Clifford D. Simak described the transformative effect of Stanley G. Weinbaum’s “A Martian Odyssey” (1934) (and a handful of other stories) on the development of science fiction.1 He uses the story to explain how SF has achieved “realism” by moving beyond “wooden plots” plot by incorporating a “scientific basis of the story.” I’d suggest “Madness from Mars” is Simak’s attempt to craft a scientifically-grounded and truly alien alien in the Weinbaum mold. I will feature Simak’s early commentary on the genre in a future Exploration Log post. 2

The rocket ship Hello Mars IV, “a tiny gnat of steel pushing itself along with twinkling blasts of flaming rocket-fuel,” approaches Earth after the first successful voyage to the Red Planet. The press christens the ship as a “shining symbol of man’s conquest of the planets” (77). The three previous ships met with disaster. Humanity assumed Hello Mars IV also met a destructive end as years transpired without contact: “man as yet had found no means of communicating over fifty million miles of space”(77).3 However, something seems to be amiss. The ship does not return hails as it approaches Earth’s atmosphere. And something screams wrong with the way the ship lands. And when the hatch opens “A man stepped out — a man who staggered jerkily forward and then stumbled and fell in a heap” (78). He dies later that night. Bloody carnage greets those who inspect the ship. The crew seems to have gone insane and either committed suicide or killed each other. And then there’s an alien, a furry looking alien, an alien that can only “see” and communicate through “ultrasonics” (83). After zoo animals suddenly turn violent, a doctor and a newsman start to connect the dots.

Even in this early story, multiple common Simak themes are on display. There’s a sense that humanity, in a new formulation of Manifest Destiny, cannot but “blindly” grope “always outward” (77). This is the fourth mission to Mars. Massive capital went into its development and launch. Even when scientists discern the nature of potential alien threats, true knowledge of what could happen must be hidden at all costs or else “there’d be no more trips to Mars for years to come” (84).

In addition, Simak criticizes the immediate capitalist urge. After they discover the furry alien on the spaceship, the first thought isn’t whether it is sentient or to pause and marvel at its profound difference but rather to speculate on its commercial value: “Maybe we’ll have fur-trappers and fur-trading posts up on Mars […] Big fur shipments to Earth and Martian wraps selling at fabulous prices” (79). Like the French fur trappers in North America exploring America’s waterways, exploration directly connects to capitalist exploitation. In parallel, the more caring and careful of Simak’s characters worry about the militaristic applications of their discovery: “You know and I know that ultrasonics of the thirty million order can turn men into insane beasts […] Think of what the warmakers of the world could do with that weapon!” (85). And here we return to the deep sense of despair at the inevitability of conquest: others in the blind quest outward will encounter the same alien and make the same discovery and they might use it for war.

As with other stories like “Masquerade” (1941) and “Tools” (1942) from this period, “Madness from Mars” contains brief hints of Simak’s critique of modern capitalism, imagines newspapermen as heroes, and deploys unusual aliens that serve to illustrate humanity’s foibles and destructive tendencies. He actively resists the pulp impulse to depict the alien as evil. While I didn’t discuss it at length in the review, Simak draws his alien with love and care. He attempts to ground the biology of the alien in the reality of Martian conditions.4 It’s a deeply sad story.

Somewhat recommended for Simak fans interested in his early literary development. I still recommend “Tools” (1942) as the most visceral and strident of his earliest works.

• Graves Gladney’s cover for Astounding Science-Fiction, ed. John W. Campbell, Jr. (June 1939)

2/5 (Bad)

Clifford D. Simak’s “Hermit of Mars” first appeared in Astounding Science-Fiction, ed. John W. Campbell, Jr. (June 1939). You can read it online here.

Kent Clark and Charley Wallace, futuristic versions of 17th-century French fur-trappers in North America’s river systems, hunt for the “Martian beaver” in Mars’ water-less desert canals (10). The pelts fetch astronomical prices back on Earth: “the most valuable fur in the entire Solar System” (10). It’s not clear if this is the same animal furry, and accidentally destructive, animal encountered in “Madness from Mars” (1939) published earlier in the year. Charley’s an old-timer, he’s explored the canals for twenty Martian years. He’s used to Mars’ strange and wondrous sights. Kent, a trapper for five Martian years, still finds fascination in Mars’ unusual differences: “Twilight was an impossible thing in the atmosphere of Mars” (9). The arrival of a spunky women with a dangerous quest interrupts their rituals of hunt and survival. She wants them to chase a myth into the depths of Mad-Man’s Canal, the deepest on Mars.

Unfortunately, “Hermit of Mars” clocks in as the least adept Simak short story I’ve read in the history of the site — it takes pole position over “Lulu” (1957). Perhaps due to the editorial oversight of Campbell, Jr., Simak resorts to a series of unfurling pulp plots, and an entire zoo of unusual fauna, that grow increasingly outlandish and slapdash. In addition, all his scene work setting up the desert canals and technologies of survival come crashing down as all challenges seem to be conquered with incredible, and narratologically lazy, ease. Problems that appear neigh insurmountable are solved in the blink of an eye. Dangers aren’t really dangers. Distances are covered in mere moments. The story unfolds at breakneck speed in a vast variety of different directions in an unsatisfying manner. Simak contributes the type of story that he critiqued in “The Future of Science Fiction” (1941).

Where does Simak succeed? “Hermit of Mars” contains a rare (at least for Simak) strong female character. Ann Smith convinces both Kent and Charley to go with her on a voyage to Mars’ most dangerous place — the depths of Mad-Man’s Canal. The story entirely revolves around her actions and desires. As mentioned above, the way the plot unfolds weakens the effect of her characterization. In addition, the extrapolation of Western myth and historical tropes on Mars provides an anchor the alien and suggest an inevitable return to historical forms of exploitation.

Regardless of the individual flaws of this vision, I did not expect to enjoy my exploration of Simak’s pre-WWII stories as much as I have! Stay tuned for more.

Notes

1. Fantasite, no. 2 (February 1941) ↩︎
2. For a list of previous Exploration Log posts, consult the INDEX. Here are the Clifford D. Simak related posts: Exploration Log 4: Six Interviews with Clifford D. Simak (1904-1988), Exploration Log 5: “We Must Start Over Again and Find Some Other Way of Life”: The Role of Organized Labor in the 1940s and ’50s Science Fiction of Clifford D. Simak, Exploration Log 6: Clifford D. Simak’s 1971 Worldcon Guest of Honor Speech, and Exploration Log 9: Three More Interviews with Clifford D. Simak (1904-1988). ↩︎
3. Mars is 140 million miles away from Earth. See footnote below. ↩︎
4. I’ll leave it up to someone more aware of (and interested in) the history of science (i.e. what was known about Mars in the 30s) to speculate on Simak’s “realism” on this count. It feels like like he read a popular science article on Mars and incorporated as much as possible into the story. ↩︎

For book reviews consult the INDEX

For cover art posts consult the INDEX

For TV and film reviews consult the INDEX

"Cat and I" -- Wanda Wulz -- 1932

I've only just heard of Wanda Wulz. I thought from her name that she was either German or Austrian, but Wikipedia tells me she was Italian.

Nevertheless, her native city of Trieste belonged to the Austro-Hungarian empire when she was born in 1903, so my guess was not completely off.

I thought this picture might speak to the many cat lovers of the fediverse.

Found on fromthebygone.wordpress.com

#WandaWulz #Photography #ItalianPhotography #1930s #Trieste #WomenPhotographers #Cats #SelfPortrait #Caturday