BEYOND THE SHELF is the umbrella heading for commentaries written by PULP AND MYSTERY SHELF site administrator Shannon Muir. No promotional consideration is given in regard to profiling people or products here unless expressly specified. This information given by requirements of the Federal Trade Commission.

My husband, Kevin Paul Shaw Broden, and I attended our first vintage paperback show on April 3rd, 2016. The LA Vintage Paperback show, held in the city of Glendale, California, offered not only vintage paperback pulp novels but also copies of some of the issues of pulp magazines in various degrees of condition.  This latter was a new experience for me, as I’ve only seen the covers of most pulp magazines in research books or on the Internet. The sales floor wasn’t very big, but such an amazing treasure trove of items were packed into one place. They’d also utilized the room’s stage area for signings by authors whose works fit in with the genre themes being offered at the event.

A lot of the magazines, and their authors, were ones I were familiar with. Yet, as I said, it’s one thing to hear about these historic publications and the authors that graced their pages and actually seeing a copy. Personally, I really found this cover art for an issue featuring Leigh Brackett to be very memorable.

For my first time attending, I feel like I got a good taste of what was available and the price ranges involved. We definitely weren’t in the market to be buying this year, even if we knew the prices. However, we now have a sense of how to buy for future events. I’d certainly love to own a piece or two of pulp fiction history. I definitely recommend anyone who has even a passing interest in pulp fiction and its history to modern genre fiction stop in and take a look at an event like this, should it pop up in your area.