Existing comment:
"Dime Novels"
The first dime novels were initially published around the start of the American Civil War. These sensational stories were full of romance and adventure, typically telling the dramatic adventure stories of a single hero or heroine. The books were simple in appearance, bound in cheap paper with brightly illustrated covers and they averaged about 100 pages.
They became wildly popular in both the United States and in England, where they were known as "penny dreadfuls." Named for their cheap prices, dime novels were sold at newsstands and dry goods stores for a dime or a nickel apiece.
The mechanization of printing, cheaper types of paper, a greater rate of distribution, updated shipping methods and a significant rise in literacy rates, all allowed for the mass production and consumption of the works. In addition, the shift in the home from the use of candles to oil lamps made it easier for readers to continue reading late into the night.
Dime novels evolved into story papers, children's series books, and the popular genre of pulp fiction magazines. As with the pulps, many acclaimed writers of the time period wrote for the dime novels, including Louise May Alcott, Robert Louis Stevenson, Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Jack London. |