I mostly collect vintage men’s adventure magazines, MAMs for short. But over the years I’ve also bought many classic pulp magazines.
Some in my collection are rare, like the March 1954 issue of SEA STORIES.
It’s the second of only two issues of that short-lived, digest-sized magazine.
Although the title is the same, this is not the SEA STORIES pulp magazine published by Street & Smith from 1922 to 1930.
This 1953-54 magazine was published by Future Publications, publisher of a small number of other lesser-known, short-lived pulps in the ’50s, including SCIENCE FICTION ADVENTURES (1952–1954) and FANTASY FICTION (1953).
Both issues of Future Publications’ SEA STORIES are relatively hard to find.
Both have cover art by the prolific pulp, MAM and paperback artist Clarence Doore.
As the title suggests, both feature stories involving the ocean, naval history, ships or sailors.
And the Editor of both issues was Harry Harrison.
Yes! The very same Harry Harrison who became famous as the science-fiction author who wrote the STAINLESS STEEL RAT novels, MAKE ROOM! MAKE ROOM!, the 1966 novel that inspired the movie SOYLENT GREEN, and many other sci-fi novels and short stories.
As we show in the forthcoming MEN’S ADVENTURE QUARTERLY #15, the Science Fiction Issue, Harrison was one of many top sci-fi authors whose stories appeared in MAMs.
The story touted in a red banner on the cover of SEA STORIES, March 1954 was written by Sir Winston Churchill. Reprinted from Churchill’s 1932 collection of essays and reminiscences AMID THESE STORMS, it’s a humorous account of his involvement in a suspected espionage incident during World War I, titled “My Spy Story.”
Another reprint in this issue is by Edgar Allan Poe. It’s “A Descent into the Maelstrom,” a lesser-known Poe story first published in GRAHAM’S MAGAZINE in May 1841.
It’s a tale of maritime terror about a Norwegian fisherman who survives a monstrous whirlpool after losing both his brothers during the ordeal. It’s illustrated with a striking full-page black-and-white drawing by the magazine’s art director, Milton Berwin.
There’s also an excerpt from THE LIFE OF NELSON, the classic biography of Britain’s greatest naval hero, Admiral Horatio Nelson written by Robert Southey. It recounts the admiral’s final victory and death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, illustrated with a beautiful historic wood engraving.
Editor Harry Harrison didn’t simply fill the March 1954 issue of SEA STORIES with older material. The issue opens with the novelette “Marine in the Tops” by Steve Frazee, a prolific Western and adventure writer whose stories appeared in many magazines and were adapted for movies and television. That story is beautifully illustrated by Roy G. Krenkel, who later became renowned for his fantasy and science-fiction artwork.
Another notable fiction story in this issue is “Make a Fair Wind” by Garland Roark. Roark was known for his nautical adventure fiction. His first novel, WAKE OF THE RED WITCH, was adapted into a movie starring John Wayne in 1948.
As a fan of cryptid monster lore (and co-editor of THE CRYPTOZOOLOGY ANTHOLOGY and MEN’S ADVENTURE QUARTERLY #14, the Bigfoot Issue), one of my favorite discoveries in this SEA STORIES is an article titled “Genuine Hand-Made Sea Monsters” by Ken Sellers.
It describes the centuries-old trade in manufactured monsters created by cutting, reshaping, combining and drying fish, skates and rays, then selling the resulting objects as exotic mummified specimens. Some of these fake creatures, called Jenny Hanivers, were made to resemble dragons, basilisks and other fantastic creatures.
The contents of the first SEA STORIES issue, published in November 1953 issue, is listed in the FictionMags Index —the indispensable resource created by William G. Contento and edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne, on the Galactic Central website (www.philsp.com).
That debut issue includes an equally interesting mixture of contributors, including C. S. Forester, Jack London and Fletcher Pratt. And, in addition to being editor, Harry Harrison contributed illustrations to it.
I recently found a copy of that one on the website of DTA Collectibles, one of the world’s best sources for pulps, MAMs and other vintage magazines. It cost me a lot more than the 35 cents the magazine cost in 1953. But I was glad to find a copy and will post about it after I receive it.
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