A Dime Western is a modern term for Western-themed dime novels, which spanned the era of the 1860s–1900s. Most would hardly be recognizable as a modern western, having more in common with James Fennimore Cooper's Leatherstocking saga, but many of the standard elements originated here: a cool detached hero, a frontiersman (later a cowboy), a fragile heroine in danger of the despicable outlaw, savage Indians, violence and gunplay, and the final outcome where Truth and Light wins over all. Often real characters — such as Buffalo Bill or the famous Kit Carson — were fictionalized, as were the exploits of notorious outlaws such as Billy the Kid and Jesse James. Buffalo Bill's literary incarnation provides the transition from the frontier tales to the cowboy story, as he straddles both of the genres.
There were several different formats. From 1860 to roughly 1880, the stories appeared in small pamphlets, generally about 100 pages each, and sold for ten to fifteen cents. These books were issued at irregular intervals, and they were kept in print for years, as well as being reprinted under different titles. Later, the weekly magazine format came to predominate. These libraries were 32 pages, and sold for a nickel or a dime. Both formats were printed on cheap acidic paper, and relatively few have survived the years, despite circulation measured in the tens of millions.
In 1919, Street & Smith canceled the last of their five-cent weeklies (New Buffalo Bill Weekly) and replaced it with the pulp Western Story Magazine, which brought the western into its modern form. The genre continued to evolve as new media came along, and mass market paperbacks and comic books maintained the western story's popularity well into the late twentieth century. Its popularity has waned in the 21st century.
The Western Dime Novel
Background
The first profitable mass literature in America was the dime novel, which emerged in 1860. The dime novel focused on the West because of America’s increasing fascination and curiosity with expansion, Native Americans, and pioneers. This curiosity, combined with new technologies in publishing and distribution, made the western dime novel increasingly popular reading material until 1900. Dime novels were written on pulp paper and featured black and white and/or color pictures. Some of the most popular dime novelists between 1860 and 1900 were Ned Buntline, Edward Ellis, Prentiss Ingraham, and Edward Wheeler. Dime novelists began writing as part of a greater push for profits and mass production. The novelists had a low level of autonomy in publishing houses and felt an urgent pressure to publish fast. The dime novel was introduced by Irwin and Erastus Beadle, and was a cheaper form of reading than the previous fifteen- or twenty-cent readings seen in the 1830s and 1840s. From 1860-1898, the Beadles operated the first dime novel publishing house. The first successful Beadle dime novels published were Seth Jones and The Captives of the Frontier. Beadle dime novels focused on adventures in the Wild West, and targeted their novels successfully toward young boys. While young boys were statistically the largest demographic of dime novel western readers, the stories reached a nationwide audience.
During the 1830s America was approaching 20 million people, most of whom were literate. Western dime novels provided a cheap, tangible form of literature that the common person could understand and enjoy. The first Beadles-Adams dime novel, Malaeska: The Indian Wife of the White Hunter, was based on white hunters and native "savages". This dime novel sold 65,000 copies in just a few months. A dime novel was intended to be read for pleasure. In the later half of the nineteenth century, men and women worked tirelessly caring for children and livestock or working in industry. Dime novel western readers read to escape daily urban life in exchange for some Wild West action and adventure. Dime novels provided colorful scenes of cowboys, Indians, horses, and gunpowder and were originally intended for middle class audiences, but upper and lower classes alike purchased and read the stories. Bootblacks, scholars, and businessmen found excitement in western fiction.