A century ago, in January 1924, Weird Tales was still in its first year of publication. The magazine had begun in March 1923. There were issues published in almost every month following that one, from April 1923 to May/June/July 1924. There were two exceptions: one, a bimonthly issue of July/August 1923, the other, no issue at all in December 1923. That makes thirteen issues in all in the first year and more of "The Unique Magazine." Unlucky thirteen.
Those thirteen issues can be taken together because all were published by The Rural Publishing Corporation of Chicago and Indianapolis under its two founders, J.C. Henneberger (1890-1969) and John M. Lansinger (1892-1963). Twelve of the first thirteen were without a doubt edited by Edwin Baird (1886-1954). The last, the jumbo-sized triple issue of May/June/July 1924, was edited by Baird or some combination of Baird, Henneberger, Farnsworth Wright (1888-1940), and/or Otis Adelbert Kline (1891-1946). (See the comments below.)
By the end of that first year and more, Weird Tales and The Rural Publishing Corporation were in trouble. That's a story for another day. Suffice it to say, Henneberger gave up Detective Tales after its issue of April 1924 but kept his Weird Tales property. The editor Baird went with Detective Tales, which became Real Detective Tales in April 1924. From May 1924 onward, that magazine was published by Real Detective Tales, Inc., of Chicago. Baird's departure explains the now uncertain editorship of that first-anniversary issue. (Thanks to The FictionMags Index for pertinent facts on Detective Tales/Real Detective Tales.)
The first year and more of Weird Tales was also characterized by the employment of just three cover artists, Richard R. Epperly (1891-1973) for the first issue, William F. Heitman (1878-1945) for the issues of May and June 1923, and R.M. Mally (dates unknown) for all the rest. The November 1923 issue is attributed to an artist supposedly named Washburn. We now know that Mally was the cover artist for that issue, too. I plan to write about the case of the misattributed cover within the next few weeks.
After a gap of three months, from August to October 1924, Weird Tales returned in November 1924 with a new editor, Farnsworth Wright, and a new cover artist, Andrew Brosnatch (1896-1965). Both would serve for some time to come, Brosnatch until 1926, Wright until 1940. Three other changes: first, Weird Tales became (I'm pretty sure) a standard pulp-sized magazine; second, the non-fiction fillers of previous issues, probably provided by Otis Adelbert Kline, came to an end; and, third, Weird Tales was now published by the Popular Fiction Publishing Company, again of Chicago and Indianapolis.
Next: The Issues.
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| Weird Tales, January 1924, with cover art by R.M. Mally. |
Revised on January 6, 2024, following a comment by Phil Stephensen-Payne. (See below.)
Text copyright 2024 Terence E. Hanley
Very timely for me. I just started reading the enhanced edition of Weinberg's The Weird Tales Story. Haven't gotten to your essay yet. Also ordered The Art of Matt Fox from TwoMorrows. Stock is low so I wanted to get one before the second-hand prices go sky high. He was quite an artist and his style fit WT very well, I think.
ReplyDeleteI was interested to see your comment that "the jumbo-sized triple issue of May/June/July 1924, was edited by an uncredited Otis Adelbert Kline" particularly as you followed it soon after with "Thanks to The FictionMags Index for pertinent facts" given that that the Fictionmags Index lists the editor as Edwin Baird. The most reliable source of information I have is Mike Ashley's article in SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY, AND WEIRD FICTION MAGAZINES where he says that issue was "assembled by Jacob Henneberger and Otis A. Kline from dummies assembled by Baird" which I would interpret as meaning it was edited by Baird, though I guess a case could be made for saying it was jointly edited by Henneberger, Kline & Baird. Do you think otherwise?
ReplyDeleteHi, Phil,
DeleteI guess I didn't go far enough in looking at your website. I also didn't know about and have never read Mike Ashley's article. So I have missed two pieces of information. I apologize for the ambiguity. My citing your website above is in regards to Detective Tales/Real Detective Tales, not to Weird Tales.
In The Weird Tales Story (1977), author Robert Weinberg wrote, without citation: "Otis Adelbert Kline and Farnsworth Wright put together one gigantic issue," i.e., the first-year anniversary issue. (p. 4)
In The Thing's Incredible! The Secret Origins of Weird Tales (2018), author John Locke went into more detail, quoting Kline (who claimed editorship of the issue in a letter to Robert E. Howard's father, dated 1941), also quoting Henneberger (who wrote in 1924 that Baird was the editor until the last issue, i.e., the first-anniversary issue).
According to Mr. Locke, Wright had also served as an uncredited editor since April 1924. He wrote: "Wright was the actual editor of the issue in its early stages of preparation [. . .] ." Wright quit the company in anger, though, at which point, "Kline was recruited as temporary editor [. . .] ." (p. 168)
John Locke's conclusion: "all three individuals [Baird, Wright, and Kline] edited the issue!" (p. 168)
What's missing in all of this is Mike Ashley's very specific detail, as you quoted, that the issue was "assembled by Jacob Henneberger and Otis A. Kline from dummies assembled by Baird." That sounds like it's based on real, hard evidence. If it's true, then maybe we should say, like you have said, that the editors were Henneberger, Kline, and Baird, with Wright left out. One problem here is the meaning in this context of the word "assembled," which is used twice in the quote, apparently (or maybe not) in two different ways.
As soon as I'm done posting this comment, I'm going to revise what I wrote above. Thank you for bringing all of this to my attention and forcing me to do more careful research.
TH
Thanks for the detailed response. I'll have a word with Mike & John and see what they say, though I note on closer inspection that the piece in SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY, AND WEIRD FICTION MAGAZINES was actually written by Robert Weinberg, which complicates things. Do you have a working e-mail address these days - if so I'll send you a copy of the whole article.
ReplyDeleteHi, Phil,
DeleteYou can write to me at the following:
hanleyart
at
yahoo
dot
com.
Thank you. I look forward to hearing from you.
TH
I've heard back from Mike and John and the bottom line (from John) is "The short version is that Baird initiated work on the Ann Issue in the midst of the "reorganization," which was editorial until the financial axe fell. Mid-course, Baird was pulled off of WT to devote his exclusive time to Detective Tales. Wright came in as a part-time interim editor for WT (while JCH unsuccessfully tried to recruit Lovecraft). Wright found out about the many debts to contributors, couldn't get any resolution from JCH, and stormed out in protest with the Ann Issue unfinished. JCH got Kline to get it out the door. It's fair to say that the issue was edited by Baird, Wright, and Kline, in that order. I don't think it follows that any two of them worked together as co-editors."
ReplyDeleteHi, Phil,
DeleteThank you for the clarification.
I based my original statement on Otis Adelbert Kline's claim that he was the editor, plus on the fact that he wrote "Why Weird Tales?" essentially from an editor's point of view. Would that essay have been in the magazine if he hadn't placed it there in his capacity as editor? I can't say.
Maybe I should write a whole entry on who was the editor of the first-anniversary issue based on the sources you and I have cited so far.
Thanks again.
TH