IMPRESSIVE IMPRINTS - Armchair Mystery

David McKay Company, another publisher based in Philadelphia (see previous Main Line Mystery and Lippincott Masked Man posts), joined the post-World War Two era mystery imprint mania around the mid 1940s. They seemed to have copied their line of crime fiction imprints along Doubleday's Crime Club 1940s model which used a set of cartoon drawings to denote the subgenre of each of the books being sold ranging from a magnifying glass to signify "Favorite Detective" to a grinning skull for "Comic Crime". McKay Company also chose to broaden the definition of detective fiction to include spy novels and adventure thrillers that supposedly also include detective novel elements. On the rear panel of each book included in the imprint there was a key to help the buyer determine what kind of crime novel they were holding in their hands. But while Crime Club used distinctive icons McKay used a subtle system of color coding employed in the imprint's very clever logo of man reading in an armchair. And if you couldn't figure it out for yourself they just told you as shown in the example below.

The "Armchair Mystery" dust jackets began with a uniformly designed dust jacket at the start in 1945. The entire DJ had a yellow background with full color art work on the front panel, an ad for another Title on the rear panel, and the logo key explained on the rear flap along with another ad for the upcoming book in the series. The imprint logo or title was placed on the front board and spine of the book and on all panels of the DJ: front, both flaps, rear panel and spine panel. In the years after 1945 this formula was dropped and DJ art no longer used the yellow background and the logo key was eventually eliminated as well.

The leading writers in the "Armchair Mystery" imprint were Bruno Fischer, W. T. Ballard, and "Edward Ronns" who writing under his own name, Edward S. Aarons, became one of the bestselling writers for Gold Medal when he created the "Assignment" series featuring Sam Durrell, a CIA agent.

The imprint, however, was extremely short lived and ran from 1945 to 1948. I can find no sign of any of David McKay's detective, crime or espionage fiction after 1948 published as part of the "Armchair Mystery" imprint. If anyone knows that this one lasted longer, I'd appreciate knowing of some or all of the later titles.

IMPRESSIVE IMPRINTS: Holt Mystery, 1939-1941

Henry Holt & Company had an unofficial mystery imprint throughout the 1930s. Around 1939 and for about three years afterward they created Holt Mystery imprint adapting their usual wise old owl colophon to a more sinister looking owl. For two years during wartime they decided to forgo paper dust jackets, presumably to save on paper as all publishers were doing, in favor of pictorial boards with a textured surface.

Sometime in the 1950s the owl logo transformed into an owl wearing a deerstalker and smoking a pipe. Did some Cockney punning artist decide to come up with Sherlock Owlmes? Unfortunately, I found only one example of this logo in 1952 and nothing afterward. I'm guessing it was just as short-lived as the first owl logo.

Below are examples of dust jacket art and illustrated boards from 1932 to 1952, the only years I can verify when a Holt Mystery imprint existed.

1939 - "A Holt Mystery" appears on spine

1939 - Owl logo not yet created

DJ with the Holt Mystery Logo

1940-first year with no DJs and use of pictorial boards instead

Pictorial boards continue in 1940

Pictorial boards - 1940

Pictorial boards and for some odd reason the author name is absent
The book is by Donald Clough Cameron in case you're wondering

Brief return to using a DJ in 1941 Author is actually Frank Gruber using a pseudonym

Pictorial boards - 1941

1952 -  new "Sherlock Owlmes" logo
Appears on a few books in 1952 and 1953, then discarded

IMPRESSIVE IMPRINTS - Dutton Clue Mysteries

The first of E. P. Dutton's mystery and detective fiction imprints was relatively short-lived. Begun in 1930 it lasted a mere six years. Like all mystery imprints competing with one another Dutton developed a gimmick along the lines of the Harper Sealed Mystery novels. They included a two color insert that was affixed to the top of a page late in the book challenging the reader to come up with the solution to the mystery. Below is one of the inserts found in my copy of The Matilda Hunter Murder (1931) by Harry Stephen Keeler.

Very few of these still exist since the inserts were loosely glued to the very top edge of the page allowing the reader to either remove it or flip it up to read the text on the page beneath. I own one book were the insert was still attached to the top edge when I bought it but very shortly afterward became loose and fell off. Many of the still existing inserts were laid into the book at the page where it was originally glued or placed in the front or back of the book. In my collection I have only three of these inserts still in the book.

The inserts were soon abandoned in favor of a page that was bound as part of the book (see an example below). The ghoul in the robe still appeared as did the large typeface command "Stop!" These pages appeared between 1932 and 1935 until they too were abandoned. The last few Dutton Clue Mysteries were noted as such only on the front flap of the DJ and the title page with the signature of the imprint -- the handprint logo.

I have very few Dutton Clue DJs in my collection, though I have many books without them.  The majority of the DJs shown in the photos below are taken from online bookselling sites. I did find one DJ (The Perjured Alibi by Walter S Masterman) that was in the best condition and show both front and back panels of that one.

Mystery of the East Wind (1930)

Rear panel used in 1930 only

Murder in the News Room (1931)

An End to Mirth (1931)

Ben Ames Williams is best known for Leave Her To Heaven which was adapted for the movies starring Gene Tierney as the murderous protagonist.

The Murder of a Midget (1931)

Cakes to Kill (1932)

The Flying Beast (1932)

The Man with the Paper Skull (1932)

Murder by Magic (1932)

The Sword in the Pool (1932)

The Face of the Man from Saturn (1933)

Murder in the Opera House (1934)

Still Dead (1934)

Death of a First Mate (1935) Logo & imprint not used on DJ front panel

Use of logo appears on front board only by 1935 Still appears on the DJ flaps & rear panel

The Perjured Alibi (1935) Logo present but imprint name missing

Example of rear panel from 1932-1935

One last bit of trivia: Dutton emulated the Harper Sealed Mystery in at least one title. The final pages of The Marceau Case (1936) by Harry Stephen Keeler were sealed (photo on right below). In my copy not only are those pages sealed but also the previous eight and the four following blank pages were uncut proving that the previous owner either never read the book or gave up on its mammoth length of 472 pages just before the end. I've been able to sneak a peek at the final pages and they really are just an advertisement for Keeler's next book X. Jones - Of Scotland Yard (1936) which continues the Marceau Case saga and comes up with an entirely different solution to the mystery of killed mystery writer Andre Marceau.