subject: Pirates, Pulps And Pirate Flags [print this page] With their adventuresome lives it's easy to see why pirates made for popular stories during the golden age of pulps. Of course, the best known pirate story remains Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, originally serialized in the magazine Young Folks in 1881/82 and published in book form in 1883. With Long John Silver as the peg-legged quartermaster, Treasure Island continues to thrill readers with its ripe action and strong characters. Jim Hawkins, who narrates the tale, is now a much-loved literary character.
By the 1930s pirate stories had become a staple of the publishing industry. The swashbuckling books of Colonel Prentiss Ingraham sold briskly at the onset of the Great Depression. Swiftly produced titles like The Brand of the Red Anchor (1930), Montezuma, the Merciless (1930) and LaFitte, the Pirate of the Gulf (1931) catered to the imaginations of the youthful and impressionable audience targeted by the publishers. While Ingraham's florid prose helped meet the demand, he could never compete with Rafael Sabatini, whose Captain Blood (1922) is perhaps the best known pirate tale next to Treasure Island.
Sabatini's adventure novels were far superior to those of Prentiss Ingraham. Naturally, Hollywood was quick to capitalize on Sabatini's success, and Captain Blood was first filmed in 1924-but it's the classic 1935 version starring Errol Flynn that has stood the test of time. Sabatini wisely wrote other stories featuring his most famous creation, starting with Captain Blood Returns (1931) and The Fortunes of Captain Blood (1936). Pirates were all the rage and the 1926 silent epic The Black Pirate, starring Douglas Fairbanks, was clearly inspired by both Treasure Island and Captain Blood.
Pulp fiction publisher Hugo Gernsback recognized the pirates' potential, and published the first issue of Pirate Stories magazine in 1934 and High Seas in 1935. Remarkably, Pirate Stories only lasted six issues and High Seas only four. Taken together, these ten issues are now highly sought-after collectibles among pulp fiction fans. Although Gernsback's faith in pirate stories didn't pay off, the genre was by no means dead. Compilation pulps such as Five-Novels Monthly would publish swashbuckling tales, such as L. Ron Hubbard's classic Under the Black Ensign in 1935. Many pulp writers tackled seafaring tales during the golden age.
Perhaps the most famous image associated with pirates is the flag, a skull-and-crossbones design known as the Jolly Roger, a generic term first quoted in Charles Johnson's book A General History of Pyrates published in 1724. There were as many different types of pirate flags as there were pirates, but the image of a skull or skeleton was a common theme employed to strike fear into the heart of their enemies. The buccaneers Jack Rackam, Henry Every, Emanuel Wynne, and Richard Worley all used customized versions of the skull-and-crossbones Jolly Roger as their personal flag.
Although pirates and the act of piracy date back to earliest recorded history, the best known are those who sailed Caribbean waters. Among these the most famous is Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard for the long, dark facial hair he reportedly sported. Teach settled on New Providence Island, which became the base of operations for his ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge. He was much feared in the Caribbean.
The public's interest in pirates has not abated since the golden age of pulp fiction. In recent years a traveling exhibition was mounted about the slave ship Whydah, which was captured and turned into a pirate vessel by the notorious Sam Bellamy. Wrecked in a storm off Cape Cod in 1717, the ship's remains-the first pirate ship ever discovered in North America-were discovered by underwater explorer Barry Clifford. The nationwide tour of Whydah artifacts, titled "Real Pirates" and launched under the sponsorship of The National Geographic Society, began in 2007 and introduces visitors to the tools of a pirate's trade-from clothing actually worn by members of the crew to the ship's bell and cannon. The exhibit enjoys positive reviews and is extraordinarily popular among pirate aficionados of all ages. Also among the artifacts displayed from the Whydah are silver and gold coins, belt buckles, neck chains and rings.
For every real-life adventure experienced by actual pirates of the Caribbean, there were just as many action-packed stories published during the golden age of pulps, and even more that came from Hollywood film studios. The age of pirates and seafaring buccaneers may be long past, but their stories never go out of style.
