THE HISTORY HALL
 

Step back in time and revisit an era when the Stories from the Golden Age were originally published—in the heyday of the pulp fiction magazines of the 1930s and 1940s.

Each segment of the Pulp Corner will take you on a fascinating journey into the past, offering items such as historical notes, letters to the editor, reviews, anecdotes and personal remembrances from L. Ron Hubbard himself.

Grand Landmarks: Grand Central Station

Grand Central Station is a monumental gateway that was built in New York in the heyday of railway transportation. The railway station was constructed in 1903-1913 for the New York and Harlem Railroad company. It serves as a transportation hub connecting train, metro, car and pedestrian traffic in an efficient way. It has 67 train tracks on two different levels.

The project included not just the new railway station, but a whole complex with office buildings and apartments, which became known as “Terminal City.” This was a “city in the city” complex.

The building’s facade on 42nd Street has a true beaux-arts design. Large arches flanked by Corinthian columns are topped by a large sculpture group designed by Jules-Alexis Coutain. The 50’ high group depicts Mercury (the god of commerce) supported by Minerva and Hercules (representing mental and moral strength).

Inside, the main concourse is 470’ long, 160’ wide and 150’ high. The ceiling is painted by the French artist Paul Helleu. The design with zodiac constellations was taken from a medieval manuscript and light enters the main concourse through three 75’ arched windows. 

The Origins of the French Foreign Legion

In the story, Hostage to Death, American Bill Reilly is enlisted in the French Foreign Legion and guarding a railroad station carrying Spanish supplies in Morocco. How the Legion came into being is also an intriguing story.  

The king also used the Legion to remove disruptive elements, putting them to use fighting France’s enemies. With so many failed revolutionaries from the rest of Europe, soldiers remaining  from the disbanded foreign regiments and troublemakers in general, the Legion found no difficulty swelling its ranks.After the July Revolution in 1830, the last king of France, Louis-Philippe, needed to resolve what to do with foreigners who were forbidden to serve in the French Army. His solution: The French Foreign Legion.

The Legion is composed of volunteers between the ages of 18 and 40; recruits have been allowed to enlist under a pseudonym, and be of any nationality, as long as they passed physical and medical tests and had no criminal convictions.  

While its formation may have been questionable, its growth has been strong and the Foreign Legion has established an honorable history of defending France and its allies with engagements throughout the globe including Morocco, Tunisia, Indochina, Tahiti and French Guiana.  

Pufferfish & Zombies: A Deadly Mix

Detective Terry Lane, the hero in the mystery tale, Dead Men Kill, is trying to solve a series of murders caused by what appear to be zombies—and getting to the bottom of making a zombie proves to be even more peculiar when you throw a pufferfish into the mix.

While there appears to be no definitive evidence of zombies within the halls of science—with research and proof constantly challenged—the fact remains that zombies, or something close to zombism, must have some shred of truth to have catapulted the concept to such high levels of fame within popular culture. Witness George A. Romero’s 1968 film, Night of the Living Dead, and even Michael Jackson’s tribute to the undead in his unforgettable zombie video, Thriller.

 

Now a zombie, by definition, is a reanimated human body devoid of consciousness; in voodoo, it is a dead person who has been revived by a voodoo priest, and remains under control of the priest, since a zombie has no will of its own. 

 

While opinions differ as to how you make a zombie, or what causes a person to become one, or why one should even become a zombie for that matter, a common element that seems to be agreed upon is that the key ingredient for a zombie is a fish—the pufferfish, to be exact. 

 

Supposedly one of the ingredients a voodoo priest uses to create a zombie is found in the pufferfish, also known as a blowfish (and they do strike an uncanny resemblance to some zombies). Because of its slow, clumsy swimming style, the pufferfish developed two forms of defense. The first is its elastic stomach, which it can hugely inflate with water (and air if need be) to transform itself into a giant inedible ball. The second line of defense that almost all pufferfish have is the poison tetrodotoxin, which is lethal to most other fish, and up to 1,200 times more poisonous than cyanide. One pufferfish contains enough toxin to kill thirty adult humans, and unfortunately no known antidote exists. One of the side effects of this poison is paralysis. Cases have been documented of people ingesting it and appearing dead, but making a full recovery. 

 

While one would think it smart to stay clear of “Mr. Puffer,” strangely, some of the meat of the pufferfish is considered a delicacy. It is called fugu in Japan, very expensive, and must be served by a licensed and trained chef who knows that a bad cut will mean almost certain death—and many such deaths do occur every year. The fugu, served raw, contains just enough tetrodotoxin to cause tingling and lightheadedness, making for no doubt what would be considered a very exciting, if not stressful, evening out.

 

Click here for more information on Dead Men Kill. 

Origins of the Legendary Mountie

Canadian Tommy McKenna is hunting a killer in the depths of the Yukon. His seemingly impossible mission is not so peculiar when you glimpse the history of the legendary Mountie.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have a long and respected history that, exploited in literature and in Hollywood, has made them legend. The origin of this rough and ready group is not as well known, however. 

Originally called the Northwest Mounted Police Force, it was created in 1873 to bring law and order to the Northwest Territories.

At the time there were roughly 5,000 “toughs” running loose over an area greater than Europe. This group included outlaws and whisky traders, wolf and buffalo hunters, who were often at war with the Indian nations, including the Blackfoot, Sioux, Cree, Blood and Assiniboine. With their numbers already dwindling from the deadly smallpox disease and the fiery whisky brought by renegade white settlers, these natives had asked the few British representatives they could find at the time to tell the Great Grandmother (Queen Victoria) to send back the red-coated soldiers to protect them. 

The problem, though, was that the British soldiers who had patrolled the area (to protect the interests of the British Hudson’s Bay Company) had been withdrawn because the Territories were now part of a new nation called the Dominion of Canada.

In 1873, prompted by the massacre of a number of Assiniboines by drunken “toughs,” the Canadian Prime Minister at the time, one John A. Macdonald, was forced to rapidly organize a force of 275 men to ride west and establish the Queen’s Law, which they did—smashing the illegal whisky trade and greatly reducing the lawlessness in the area. 

This is also why the tunics the mounties wore were red and similar to the red British military coats—to identify and associate the RCMP as being with the Crown. 

The RCMP rode on to fame—from battling rebels to guarding the gold fields of the Yukon, this police force which asserted sovereignty over Canada was a powerful influence for peace.

Click here for more information on Yukon Madness.