Real Detective Tales (and Mystery Stories)
Total Issues: 16+7+61+34?=112?
Real Detective Tales is one of the most elusive of the early detective pulps.
It began in late 1922 under the name Detective Tales as a quarto magazine and
published indifferent mystery and detective stories. In 1923 it acquired a
companion magazine concentrating on the fantastic - the famous Weird Tales -
and both magazines ran in parallel until mid-1924 when the publisher, Rural
Publications, ran into difficulty.
At that point Detective Tales was sold to Real Detective Tales, Inc.
and changed its name, first to Real Detective Tales and then to Real
Detective Tales and Mystery Stories. By this point it had shifted to a
large (quarto) format and had acquired an interesting stable of authors
including Seabury Quinn, George Allan England and Miriam Allen deFord.
It ran for six years under this latter title (mainly on a monthly basis)
but gradually during 1931 transformed into a non-fiction magazine called
Real Detective, although fiction continued to appear into 1934 at least.
It is not currently known exactly when the last issue containing any
fiction appeared.
In the 1920s a handful of short stories were reprinted as standalone pamphlets
possibly to help advertise the magazine.
Issues & Index Sources
| May-1924 – Dec-1924, as Real Detective Tales: | Crime Fiction Index | (Missing Jul-1924, Aug-1924, Sep/Oct-1924, Dec-1924) |
| May-1931 – ?, as Real Detective: | Crime Fiction Index | (Missing: Jul-1934; Nov-1934; any issues after Dec-1934 containing fiction) |
Publishers
1-Oct-1922 – Apr-1924: The Rural Publishing Corp., 854 N. Clark Street, Chicago, IL
May-1924 – mid 1940s: Real Detective Tales Inc., 4600 Diversey Ave., Chicago, IL, then 1050 N. LaSalle St., Chicago, IL, from early 1940s
in 1940s: Macfadden Publishing, Washington and South Avenues, Dunellen, NJ
in 1970s: The Type Shack, P.O. Box 48, Rockville Center, NY
Editors
Edwin Baird
Formats
1922 – 1924: quarto
1925 – 1931: large pulp
Pagecounts
96pp
Frequency
irregular
Sources: The Adventure House Guide to the Pulps, Ultimate Guide to the Pulps, Mystery, Detective, and Espionage Magazines
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