Misfire- How Fifteen Dollars Changed History Or A Continued Garfield Presidency

Misfire-
How Fifteen Dollars Changed History
Or A Continued Garfield Presidency

(1881-2012: 131 Years That Shaped America and the World)
Interlude One

A Dime A Dozen
The History of the Dime Novel Pt. 1

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Frank Reade Jr. was among the most popular of the late 19th, early 20th Century Dime Novel series.


The Frank Reade Jr. series was amongst the most popular dime novel series written, with over a thousand stories written between 1876 and 1912, it was also the longest running. The series demise in 1913 due to the rise of new media and new heroes, also dealt with the changes in popular thought and social issues at the time. Inspired by Jules Verne and other writers of the fantastic, the Frank Reade Jr. series is amongst the most prolific and best known Dime Novel series to come out of the publishing houses of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Depicting a family of innovative geniuses and their world spanning adventures, the Frank Reade Jr. Library became a popular staple amongst young boys. Originally starting out with the adventures of Frank Sr. in Boys of New York in 1876, the series would later concentrate on his son Frank Reade Jr. and his family and friends.



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The October 21st, 1893 edition to the Frank Reade Jr. Library entitled "Frank Reade Jr. and His New Torpedo Boat; or, At War with the Brazilian Rebels" is an example of the political bent of the series often delved into.

By the late 1890's, the political bent of the Frank Reade Jr. series became more prominent in some of the later stories. Not only were the Reade's a family of inventive and adventurous explorers, they were also proud American patriots. While never officially selling their inventions to the government in the series, the Reade's often lent unofficial help with their fabulous machines in the pages of their stories. The Reades unofficial help not only protected American diplomatic and economic concerns abroad, but were used in story as an unofficial means of keeping the Monroe Doctrine secure. Indeed, in text the Reade's would also help define and enforce the Roosevelt Corollary.

One example is the story Frank Reade Jr. and His New Torpedo Boat; or, At War with the Brazilian Rebels. In it, Frank Reade Jr. and his trusted assistants Pompei and Barney visit Brazil during the War of Canudos. Drawn into the conflict, the three and their marvelous torpedo boat The Destroyer aid the beleaguered Brazilian troops, and manage to end the conflict with only a few loss of lives. The positive spin on events was a marked difference than the real ending, when after a few years of fighting, nearly all of the remaining Conudos settlers were either killed or captured in the final battle of the war. The message sent to the young readers, however, was obvious. American ingenuity and pluck were what was needed to assist their south and central American neighbors.

The stories hidden message was simply put, was the that "Might Was Right" when wielded in defense of the nation and her interests. Though not all Frank Reade Jr. tales were those involved with government service or ensuring the Monroe Doctrine was upheld, the later stories show many hints of political bias. Through other tales, it is merely the adventure and excitement of traveling to new and foreign lands, with fantastic images of flying machines, iron-clad land cars, and so forth.

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Roosevelt's Corollary asserted that while Europeans themselves could not enforce their claims in Central and South America, that the U.S. would. The Frank Reade Jr. series often depicted the United States and her allies as being in the right in their dealings like this.


Indeed, with the turn of the century, and the spread of American Imperialism, the Reade books became more politically motivated at times. The Reades adventures would draw them into several conflicts and issues in the America's, often covertly aiding American interests. From Cuba to Guatemala, people could read at home about the daring exploits of the Reades aiding their nation. The political ramifications that would have really come from their exploits, were safely ignored for the sake of storytelling. Indeed, as with many popular dime novels at the time, the worlds problems were often times glossed over for the adventure and excitement involved with the fabulous machines and locales seen in them.

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Not all was pushing the New Diplomacy of the Roosevelt Administration. Some stories continued to promote stereotypes and tall tales, such as Africa being home to various sub-human races, like "The Dog-Faced Men".

However, not every Frank Reade Jr. story was one where politics of the American sort were dealt with. A series of short dime-novel adventures in the Reade Series, dealt with the effects of the Belgian Exploitation of the Congo. In several of these stories, the Reades and their allies adventured through the Congo and inner Africa, seeking adventure. However, a few stories dealt not with discovery and exploration, but the issue of what amounted to slavery and forced labor in the Belgian zones. While never actually identified as Belgian, the story "Fighting the Slavehunters in Central Africa" left little doubt to more knowing readers about who the main villains were. While the Reades were in their stories, arguably somewhat period in their mentality towards Africans and other races and ethnic groups a times, they showed progressive behaviors as well at times.

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Frank Reade Jr. and his crew assist native African tribesmen in several adventures dealing with slave hunters and dealers in Central Africa. While never explicitly named, the location in the story hints at the Reades interference against the Belgian Congo and its rather horrific treatment of the natives.


The Frank Read Jr. series ended in 1913, though it would continue on with several other characters from the original dime novels, the most famous being the long lived Kate Reade series, popular from 1918 to 1943, mainly done as a mixture of Girls Own Adventure Magazines and pulp novels, and a short-lived radio play series between 1927 and 1930. However, changing tastes and social mores meant that the formerly exciting series, was old hat and outdated. Few remember such stories now.

Excerpt from "Frank Reade Jr: Dime Novel Hero And The Politics Behind The Stories" by Daniel Haroldson. Published in Science Fiction American, 2012.
 
Very interesting chapter. How much of that is OTL with regards to the Frank Reade Jr books? (I've never read them)
Some of the stuff is OTL in terms of basic story content, though a lot of the political messages are seen through the political views of the time. I haven't read any myself (considering most copies are in either private collections or read only in-library only collections). It is true that the Frank Reade series lasted a long time, though not as long as my dating puts it. Also, the Kate Reade series stuff at the end is mainly fictional.
 
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