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Comet, v. 1, issue 2, March-April 1941

Page 10

THE COMET           PAGE 10

THE FIRST GERNSBACK COVER-CONTEST

by Jim S. Avery

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

Cover contests on stf. mags such as those being conducted at present by TWS are nothing new in the field of fantasy fiction. One of the first earliest, the first, I believe, was run by the old Gernsback SCIENCE WONDER STORIES in November, 1929. Its success was nothing short of phenomenal. Over 800 mss. were received in response to this contest which revolved around a magnificent cover by Paul depicting a scene in space with two huge disk-like vessels carrying away the Woolworth Building and the Eifel tower.

And what of the winners? Have the progressed in stf. or have they dropped it for other fields? The winner of the first prize of $150.00, which you'll have to admit is a pretty fair return for a 1500 word story, was Charles R. Tanner of Cinncinati, who has since become an author of some fame. Sine that he has written, "Tumithak of the Corridors", " The Flight of the Mercury", and has appeared in the pages of AMAZING and SCIENTI-SNIAPS. At last reports, he was contemplating a comeback in stf. Winner of the second prize of $75.00 was John Pierce, then a student at the California Institute of technology. Evidentally that was his first and last try at stf., for no one has heard of him since. The third prize went to one of the three professional authors, Frank J. Brueckel, Jr. who had appeared previously in Gernaback magazines. The fourth and last prize went to Harold A. Lewer, another author who has recently returned to stf., but not as a fiction author. Lewer had an article on astronomy in the October, 1939 issue of ASTOUNDING. In the blurb accompanying his story in SWS, it was pointed out that one of his hobbies was astronomy, which was the subject of his article ten years later. Bob Olsen, well known to all old-time fans, as a master of humerous fiction yarns, took      the first Honerable Mention. Although he has not been writing of late, like Tanner, there were rumors that he intends to return soon. Victor A. Endersby, winner of the second [[?]] evidentally did not turn is talents to writing, for I can find no stories by him in later-day issues, although it is possible that there were some by him in magazines I have not seen. The name, at least strikes a familiar chord. Another professional author to receive an HONerable Mention was Arthur G. Strangland who has appeared in SWS once before that date with the "Ancient Brain". He, like several of the others did not continue to write. It is interesting to note that with the exception of Pierce and Strangland, all of the prize winners were adults over thirty years old.

The success of this contest paved the way for others in AIR WONDER which then ran as a sister magazine to SWS, and another one, the last for Gernsback, in the July, 1934 issue of WONDER.

Following is a synopsis of the foure cash winners with comments which I hope prove interesting.

THE COLOR OF SPACE by Charles R. Tanner. This was definitely an O. Henry type of story, meaning of course, a surprise ending, but one which fitted in with the cover-portrait amasingly. Tanner, out of the 800-odd contestants was the only one who noticedthe error incoloring of Paul's sky. It was blue-black, rather than the conventional get black of space and had very few stars showing. Noting this error and making use of it in his
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THE COMET PAGE 10 THE FIRST GERNSBACK COVER-CONTEST by Jim S. Avery $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ Cover contests on stf. mags such as those being conducted at present by TWS are nothing new in the field of fantasy fiction. One of the first earliest, the first, I believe, was run by the old Gernsback SCIENCE WONDER STORIES in November, 1929. Its success was nothing short of phenomenal. Over 800 mss. were received in response to this contest which revolved around a magnificent cover by Paul depicting a scene in space with two huge disk-like vessels carrying away the Woolworth Building and the Eifel tower. And what of the winners? Have the progressed in stf. or have they dropped it for other fields? The winner of the first prize of $150.00, which you'll have to admit is a pretty fair return for a 1500 word story, was Charles R. Tanner of Cinncinati, who has since become an author of some fame. Sine that he has written, "Tumithak of the Corridors", " The Flight of the Mercury", and has appeared in the pages of AMAZING and SCIENTI-SNIAPS. At last reports, he was contemplating a comeback in stf. Winner of the second prize of $75.00 was John Pierce, then a student at the California Institute of technology. Evidentally that was his first and last try at stf., for no one has heard of him since. The third prize went to one of the three professional authors, Frank J. Brueckel, Jr. who had appeared previously in Gernaback magazines. The fourth and last prize went to Harold A. Lewer, another author who has recently returned to stf., but not as a fiction author. Lewer had an article on astronomy in the October, 1939 issue of ASTOUNDING. In the blurb accompanying his story in SWS, it was pointed out that one of his hobbies was astronomy, which was the subject of his article ten years later. Bob Olsen, well known to all old-time fans, as a master of humerous fiction yarns, took the first Honerable Mention. Although he has not been writing of late, like Tanner, there were rumors that he intends to return soon. Victor A. Endersby, winner of the second [[?]] evidentally did not turn is talents to writing, for I can find no stories by him in later-day issues, although it is possible that there were some by him in magazines I have not seen. The name, at least strikes a familiar chord. Another professional author to receive an HONerable Mention was Arthur G. Strangland who has appeared in SWS once before that date with the "Ancient Brain". He, like several of the others did not continue to write. It is interesting to note that with the exception of Pierce and Strangland, all of the prize winners were adults over thirty years old. The success of this contest paved the way for others in AIR WONDER which then ran as a sister magazine to SWS, and another one, the last for Gernsback, in the July, 1934 issue of WONDER. Following is a synopsis of the foure cash winners with comments which I hope prove interesting. THE COLOR OF SPACE by Charles R. Tanner. This was definitely an O. Henry type of story, meaning of course, a surprise ending, but one which fitted in with the cover-portrait amasingly. Tanner, out of the 800-odd contestants was the only one who noticedthe error incoloring of Paul's sky. It was blue-black, rather than the conventional get black of space and had very few stars showing. Noting this error and making use of it in his (cn't on next page.)