 Cover of first issue (October/November 1930) | |
| Editor | Farnsworth Wright |
|---|---|
| First issue | October 1930 |
| Final issue | January 1934 |
| Company | Popular Fiction |
| Country | United States |
Oriental Stories, later retitledThe Magic Carpet Magazine, was an Americanpulp magazine published by Popular Fiction and edited byFarnsworth Wright. It was launched in 1930 under the titleOriental Stories as a companion to Popular Fiction'sWeird Tales, and carriedstories with far eastern settings, including somefantasy. Contributors includedRobert E. Howard,Frank Owen, andE. Hoffmann Price. In 1932 publication was paused after the Summer issue; it was relaunched in 1933 under the titleThe Magic Carpet Magazine, with an expanded editorial policy that now included any story set in an exotic location, including other planets.
Somescience fiction began to appear alongside the fantasy and adventure material as a result, including work byEdmond Hamilton. Wright obtained stories fromH. Bedford Jones, who was a popular pulp writer, andSeabury Quinn. Most of thecovers ofThe Magic Carpet Magazine were byMargaret Brundage, including her first sale; Brundage later became well-known as a cover artist forWeird Tales. Competition from established pulps in the same niche, such asAdventure, was too strong, and after five issues under the new title the magazine ceased publication.
In 1923 J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger's Rural Publishing Corporation launchedWeird Tales as a companion to their existing magazines,College Humor,The Magazine of Fun, andDetective Tales.[1]Weird Tales soon ran into financial trouble, and in late 1924 Henneberger and Lansinger split control of their stable of magazines: Hennebergerformed a new company, Popular Fiction, tookWeird Tales, and gave up the other titles to Lansinger.[2][3] Henneberger hiredFarnsworth Wright as editor;[2][3] Wright liked adventure and fantasy fiction withoriental settings, and printed some inWeird Tales, by writers such asFrank Owen.[4] In 1930 Henneberger and Wright decided to launch a companion magazine that specialized in oriental fiction.[4] According to Henneberger's later recollection, the idea came fromWeird Tales's printer, who was looking to fill unused slots in his printing schedule, but Wright later claimed that the magazine's launch was inspired by PresidentHerbert Hoover'soptimism about the economy.[5]
The plans for the new magazine were in place by June 1930, when Wright wrote toRobert E. Howard, telling him about the new magazine, and asking him to submit stories.[6] Howard complied, and his "The Voice of El-Lil", about a lost city inMesopotamia, appeared in the first issue, along with two stories by Frank Owen, and "The Man Who Limped" byOtis Adelbert Kline, the first in a series about adragoman (interpreter) named Hamad the Attar. Other contributors includedE. Hoffmann Price,Frank Belknap Long,August Derleth, andDavid H. Keller. These were all known for fantasy, butOriental Stories also published work by writers of non-fantasy adventures, including S. B. H. Hurst, James W. Bennett, and Warren Hastings. Frank Owen followed his stories in the first issue with seven more over the next three years, including "Della Wu, Chinese Courtesan", in the third issue, described by the magazine historianMike Ashley as one of his best-known tales.[7]
The schedule was initially bimonthly (every two months), with a date of October/November 1930 on the cover of the first issue, but this only lasted for three issues before changing to quarterly.[7] The Spring 1932 issue containedDorothy Quick's first sale to Wright, "Scented Gardens";[7] Quick sold one more story toOriental Stories and many more toWeird Tales over the next two decades.[7][8] The cover of the Spring 1932 issue wasMargaret Brundage's first sale to a pulp.[7] Wright used Brundage's artwork on the cover of every remaining issue of the magazine except for July 1933, which was byJ. Allen St. John, a popular pulp artist.[9][10] Brundage went on to become one ofWeird Tales' best-known cover artists of the 1930s.[7]
After the Summer 1932 issue there was a break in publication, while Wright planned to relaunch it. The next issue was dated January 1933 (though the schedule remained quarterly), and the title was nowThe Magic Carpet Magazine. Wright had decided to broaden the editorial policy to include stories from any faraway places, including other planets; this meant the magazine was now a market for science fiction as well as fantasy and adventure stories. The second issue under the new title includedEdmond Hamilton's "Kaldar, World of Antares", the first in a series similar toEdgar Rice Burroughs'sBarsoom stories which wereset on Mars.[7] Howard, a regular inOriental Stories, continued to appear, with three more contributions; the last, "The Shadow of the Vulture", was the first story of his to featureRed Sonya, a female barbarian heroine who became the basis for theRed Sonja character in comics and films.[11][12]
More regulars fromWeird Tales began to appear, includingSeabury Quinn. The January 1933 issue includedH. Bedford Jones's "Master of Dragons". Jones was a very popular writer who wrote for higher-paying pulps, and Wright would have been delighted to secure a story from him, though Ashley suggests that sinceThe Magic Carpet Magazine's rates were lower than Jones' usual markets, this was probably a story that had already been rejected by other magazines. Jones sold two more stories to Wright over the next year, but the magazine was not doing well financially. The "exotic adventure story" niche was already occupied by successful pulp magazines such asAdventure, andThe Magic Carpet Magazine did not have the resources to compete. The January 1934 issue was the last one. Material bought for the magazine by Wright was published inWeird Tales instead, including another Kaldar story by Edmond Hamilton.[7]
The magazine, under both titles, fetches high prices from collectors. Ed Hulse, a historian of pulp magazines, considers the January 1934 issue likely to be the most expensive because it includes Howard's "Red Sonya" story, but a 2001 price guide to pulp collecting lists all issues at between $150 and $200 (equivalent to $270 to $360 in 2024), except for the first issue, October/November 1930, which is listed at $300.[11][13]
| Winter | Spring | Summer | Autumn | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
| 1930 | 1/1 | 1/2 | ||||||||||
| 1931 | 1/2 | 1/3 | 1/4 | 1/5 | 1/6 | |||||||
| 1932 | 2/1 | 2/2 | 2/3 | |||||||||
| 1933 | 3/1 | 3/2 | 3/3 | 3/4 | ||||||||
| 1934 | 4/1 | |||||||||||
| Issues ofOriental Stories, showing volume/issue number. Underlining indicates that an issue was titled as a quarterly (e.g. "Summer 1931") rather than as a monthly. From the January 1933 issue the title was changed toMagic Carpet. Farnsworth Wright was editor throughout.[14][7] | ||||||||||||
The magazine, under both titles, was published by Popular Fiction Co. of Chicago, and edited by Farnsworth Wright.[7][15] It was in small pulp format (6.5 by 9 inches (17 by 23 cm)).[7][16] Each issue ofOriental Stories was 144 pages, and priced at 25 cents (equivalent to $4.70 in 2024). The page count dropped to 128 pages when the title changed toThe Magic Carpet Magazine, and the price dropped to 15 cents; with the October 1933 issue the price went back up to 25 cents. The volume numbering was irregular; the first three volumes had six, three, and four issues, and there was a final volume of one issue.Oriental Stories maintained a bimonthly schedule for three issues, and then switched to quarterly: the fourth issue was dated "April–May–June 1931" internally, and labelled "Spring issue" on the cover. There was a three-month hiatus when the title changed, and thenThe Magic Carpet Magazine stayed on a quarterly schedule throughout its run.[7][15]
Two anthologies collected fiction fromOriental Stories andThe Magic Carpet Magazine:[7]
Media related toOriental Stories at Wikimedia Commons
Works related toOriental Stories at Wikisource