 I’m gonna make it! I’m gonna make it! I’m... shit!—not gonna make it! 
Above, a July 1940 issue of Argosy with a Rudolph Belarski cover and fiction from Eric North, Stookie Allen, Jim Kjelgaard and Frank Richardson Pierce. Find this and other issues of Argosy here.
 Just follow the bouncing ball.  
Above we have a couple of sports-themed Argosy covers, which we’ve posted today because once again it’s the most wonderful time of the year over in the U.S.—NFL playoff time. Thanks to the wonders of satellite technology we don’t have to forgo watching the games, however we do have to watch them at the most wack hours imaginable, which throws the whole “have some friends over and drink a few beers” concept into serious doubt. Not that our friends actually appreciate American football. Anyway, these examples of Argosy hail from 1938 and 1939, and the covers are by Rudolph Belarski. Inside, you get fiction from Eustace L. Adams, William Du Bois and, in the second issue, part one of a novel length football adventure from Judson P. Philips. Okay, so after we nailed last year’s predictions, we know you’re positively atwitter with anticipation for this year’s. We’ve taken all of this weekend’s favorites. That’s Colts –3, Ravens –3, Eagles –3, and Saints –11. Bank it. You can see more vintage magazines at National Road Books here. Update: One for four this weekend. Oh, the pain...
 Dancing girl of the golden west.
Above is a cover of Frank A. Munsey’s Argosy from June 18, 1938, with a famous painting by Rudolph Belarski for Max Brand’s western adventure story “Señor Coyote”. Even though Argosy was the first real pulp magazine, we haven’t featured it often here because issues in good condition can be difficult to find. With this one we got lucky—the highly regarded antiquarian and collectible website National Road Books, who we’ve bought other magazines from, sent us an e-mail letting us know they’ve uncovered a trove of more than a hundred issues of Argosy, and included the scan. So thanks for the assist, guys. It’s always needed. And speaking of assists, we want to remind everyone that our reader pulp feature, in the sidebar at right, is available to anyone who wants to share pulp treasures. How’s about we all make that a resolution for 2011? Agreed? Great.
 Please no! It was all her idea, I swear! 
On the cover of this 1945 pulp written by Octavus Roy Cohen and illustrated by Rudolph Belarski, a cowardly man cleverly improvises a human shield out of what used to be his girlfriend. MacGyver would be proud.
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The headlines that mattered yesteryear.
1974—Police Raid SLA Headquarters
In the U.S., Los Angeles police raid the headquarters of the revolutionary group the Symbionese Liberation Army, resulting in the deaths of six members. The SLA had gained international notoriety by kidnapping nineteen-year old media heiress Patty Hearst from her Berkeley, California apartment, an act which precipitated her participation in an armed bank robbery. 1978—Charlie Chaplin's Missing Body Is Found
Eleven weeks after it was disinterred and stolen from a grave in Corsier near Lausanne, Switzerland, Charlie Chaplin's corpse is found by police. Two men—Roman Wardas, a 24-year-old Pole, and Gantscho Ganev, a 38-year-old Bulgarian—are convicted in December of stealing the coffin and trying to extort £400,000 from the Chaplin family. 1918—U.S. Congress Passes the Sedition Act
In the U.S., Congress passes a set of amendments to the Espionage Act called the Sedition Act, which makes "disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language" about the United States government, its flag, or its armed forces, as well as language that causes foreigners to view the American government or its institutions with contempt, an imprisonable offense. The Act specifically applies only during times of war, but later is pushed by politicians as a possible peacetime law, specifically to prevent political uprisings in African-American communities. But the Act is never extended and is repealed entirely in 1920. 1905—Las Vegas Is Founded
Las Vegas, Nevada is founded when 110 acres of barren desert land in what had once been part of Mexico are auctioned off to various buyers. The area sold is located in what later would become the downtown section of the city. From these humble beginnings Vegas becomes the most populous city in Nevada, an internationally renowned resort for gambling, shopping, fine dining and sporting events, as well as a symbol of American excess. Today Las Vegas remains one of the fastest growing municipalities in the United States. 1928—Mickey Mouse Premieres
The animated character Mickey Mouse, along with the female mouse Minnie, premiere in the cartoon Plane Crazy, a short co-directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. This first cartoon was poorly received, however Mickey would eventually go on to become a smash success, as well as the most recognized symbol of the Disney empire.
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