Edgar Daniel Kramer (1887-1966)

Poet, Author, Teacher

Born October 9, 1887, Baltimore, Maryland

Died July 27, 1966, Baltimore, Maryland

Edgar Daniel Kramer was a prolific author of short stories and poems, publishing dozens of pieces in magazines and newspapers, everything from Breezy Stories to the New York Times. Born on October 9, 1887, in Baltimore, Maryland, he was the oldest of Henry and Margaret Kramer's dozen children. He spent a good deal of his life teaching and caring for children.

In 1910, Kramer graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. That would have put him three years ahead of Jacob Clark Henneberger (1890-1969), later the co-founder of Weird Tales magazine. I don't see any reason why the two would not have known each other.

As a young man, Kramer taught at the Stone School in Cornwall Heights, New York (now known as the Storm King School). In all, he taught high school and college for ten years. After the death of his parents, Kramer returned to Baltimore, where he assumed the role of head of the household of eight of his siblings, some of whom were adults, some still minors. Through it all, he wrote, beginning as early as 1919 with a poem, "Ulysses of Ithaca," in Munsey's magazine, then with increasing frequency in every manner of pulp magazine from the 1920s onward. Girl Stories and Man Stories, Pep Stories and Two-Gun Western Stories, Top Notch and Ace-High Magazine--Kramer's work knew no bounds. He wrote just one story for Weird Tales. Entitled "Murder Mask," it appeared in the June 1937 issue. Between the January 1935 and June/July 1939 issues of "The Unique Magazine," he also published seventeen poems, from "Wharf Watchman" to "Circe." He is also the first author I have discussed so far to have had work published in The Magic Carpet Magazine, a short-lived companion to Weird Tales. Finally, his poem, "The Dying Tramp," was published in the magazine Unknown Fantasy Fiction in June 1940.

Kramer continued seeing his work in print even late in life. His "Hell's Acre Hurler" appeared in Ten-Story Sports (January 1957) as the pulps were fading. The New York Times published his verse occasionally from 1924 until 1959. According to his obituary, Kramer had "close ties to the Christian Church." Late in life, he wrote two books about Christ, A Tribute to Jesus (1955) and Your Christ and Mine (1965).

Edgar Daniel Kramer was born on October 9, 1887, in Baltimore, thirty-eight years and two days after Edgar Allan Poe died in that same city. The two poets shared a Cristian name. Kramer died on July 27, 1966, at Mercy Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. He was seventy-eight years old.

Edgar Daniel Kramer's Story & Poems in The Magic Carpet Magazine and Weird Tales

All below are from Weird Tales unless otherwise designated. All below are also poems unless otherwise designated.

• "Furlough" in The Magic Carpet Magazine (1933)
• "Wharf Watchman" (Jan. 1935)
• "Old Salt" (Aug. 1935)
• "Bride of Baal" (May 1936)
• "Hagar" (July 1936)
• "The Black Gang" (Nov. 1936)
• "Vespers" (Dec. 1936)
• "Murder Mask" (short story) (June 1937)
• "City in the Sea" (Jan. 1937)
• "Dead Singer" (Feb. 1937)
• "Rescued" (Mar. 1937)
• "Ultimate" (May 1937)
• "Grave-Stones" (Nov. 1937)
• "Microcosms" (July 1938)
• "The Jolly Hangman" (Sept. 1938)
• "Crazy Nell" (Feb. 1939)
• "Trinities" (Apr. 1939)
• "Dust" (May 1939)
• "Circe" (June/July 1939)

In addition, Kramer had a poem, "Dying Tramp," in Unknown Fantasy Fiction in June 1940. 

Further Reading

• "Edgar Kramer, 78, Poet; Service Set Saturday" in the Baltimore Evening Sun, July 28, 1966, page 40.
• "Murder Mask" in 100 Wild Little Weird Tales, edited by Robert Weinberg, et al. (Barnes and Noble, 1994)
• Some of Kramer's poetry is available on the Internet and no doubt in other places where popular poetry is published.

Edgar Daniel Kramer's poem "Furlough" appeared in The Magic Carpet Magazine in April 1933. The cover is by Margaret Brundage.

Kramer was so prolific as a poet, his verse is likely to show up anywhere. This poem was printed in a school yearbook.

This one is from an unknown source, but it has the look of books published by Ideal Publishing Company.

Edgar Daniel Kramer (1887-1966), a yearbook photo from 1910, presumably from Franklin and Marshall College.

Updated March 15, 2023.

Thanks to Randal A. Everts for the photograph of Edgar Daniel Kramer.
Text and captions copyright 2011, 2023 Terence E. Hanley