March 24, 2006

Women's dime novels are the subject of Felicia L. Carr's site, based on her dissertation. Women's stories were one of the main kinds of dime (never 'dime-store'!) novels, though more typical were tales of derring-do.

There are more dime novels featured here. Stanford also has a site devoted to them, though the image gallery does not appear to be working. One that does. There are a couple of essays about the dime novel here and here. Some of the cover art is quite interesting. this has a bit of a sixties look to me, while this is clearly inspired by Beardsley.

  • At the liberry they have a table of items for sale ($1 each!) and about 1/5 of them are 'dime novels' or at least what I associate as being 'dime novels' - paperback, drugstore, airport novels. I can't even bear to skim the titles. Dunno why, it just aggravates me. IT IS NOT THE CAFFIENE, SHUT UP YOU JERKFACE PINHEAD! *shllrrrppp*
  • The Blue Has a similar thread. From that list: † Beedle Dime usted to sell a dime novel for $.10 cents which was pretty cheep for a dime novel i tell you. they was bully stories about filing indians and killing bears and wolfs and cutting a notch in your gun when you had killed a nother indian, a feller can read one of them all day and sumbody is killed on every page and it is terrible xciting. Beedle dime died very ritch and they dont sell enny of his novels now. it is too bad for they was the best I have ever seen."—Richard E. Shute, Success Magazine, November, 1907,
  • Yeah, a dime is pretty cheap for a dime novel...
  • This one caught my fancy -- for the shark-like critter has strangely up-flipped fins (which almost resemble horns).
  • swimming lessens a shark seems nothing but a grin fenced round with teeth to make holes in the likes of me and boating friends -- we dive, we fear we'll get the bends each lady must remove her bustle when deep below she needs to hustle each gent must out with his sword-cane and whack those hungry sharks again