Tag Archives: Dime Novels

August 3, 2023 · 2:32 am

THE DENVER DOLL: DIME NOVEL HEROINE (1882-1883)

denver dollTHE DENVER DOLL – The annual Frontierado Holiday will be tomorrow, Friday August 4th. Here is yet another seasonal post while there is still time.

The Denver Doll was one of the many Dime Novel heroines created by author Edward L. Wheeler. Previously, Balladeer’s Blog examined his very first gun-toting Wild West woman, Hurricane Nell. Next, I reviewed Wheeler’s books that featured Baltimore Bess and Cinnamon Chip, two other western heroines who fought the forces of evil in the old west.

This time around my subject is the Denver Doll, whose adventures were published in 1882 and 1883. Her four Dime Novels were:

denver doll detec queenDENVER DOLL, THE DETECTIVE QUEEN; or YANKEE EISLER’S BIG SURROUND (November 14th, 1882) – In this debut appearance, the Denver Doll’s two fisted, gunslinging, card playing, crimefighting nature is established, along with her mysterious past. The heroine’s secrets aren’t revealed until her fourth and final tale.

To start off Denver Doll’s saga, she takes on Road Agents in Colorado and the evil Mademoiselle Zoe. Alongside the Doll are her sidekicks Yakie Strauss the Dutchman, a “warm-hearted and brave” African American named Fitzwalter August “Walt” Christie and a hard-drinking, roguish Chinese man called Chug. Continue reading →

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July 24, 2023 · 8:42 pm

DIME NOVEL CHARACTERS: ROSEBUD ROB, BALTIMORE BESS AND CINNAMON CHIP

smaller of rrROSEBUD ROB, BALTIMORE BESS AND CINNAMON CHIP – Here’s another seasonal post for the upcoming Frontierado holiday on Friday August 4th. As always, Frontierado is about the myth of the old west, not the grinding reality.

Recently, here at Balladeer’s Blog, I examined Edward L. Wheeler’s 1877 Dime Novel heroine Hurricane Nell, one of his gun-toting ladies of the old west. You can find that blog post HERE. This time I’m looking at three more of Wheeler’s Dime Novel characters from four of his works.

rosebud robROSEBUD ROB … the KNIGHT OF THE GULCH (February 1879) – Rosebud Rob was a Wild West detective, like the real-life Charley Siringo (covered HERE). Rob received his nickname in a bit of action he referred to as his “Black Hills Baptism” as the Black Hills Gold Rush raged.

Rosebud Rob’s hat and boots may look like the kind worn by pirates, but he was all-cowboy and all-tough. He called himself “A man to suit all circumstances.” On four of his cases, he crossed paths with gunslinging, two-fisted female detectives – Baltimore Bess in three of them, and Cinnamon Chip in a fourth.

In this debut story, Rob returns home to investigate the suspicious death of his father and how it is linked to the sinister mine owner Munro Malvern. Rosebud Rob meets and works with female detective Baltimore Bess, the former Pauline Grey.

This fiery young lady was abandoned by her abusive lover when she was 18, then trained herself at gunplay and fighting. Next, she abandoned her “girlie” clothing and headed west to track down the man who mistreated her. Continue reading →

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July 16, 2023 · 11:16 pm

HURRICANE NELL: DIME NOVEL HEROINE

hurricane nellHURRICANE NELL, THE GIRL DEAD-SHOT (1877) – Written by Edward L. Wheeler. This blog post is dedicated to the prolific author and fellow blogger Jacqui Murray from WordDreams here at WP. Her blog is ideal for blogging tips, information on her latest book releases and much more. Jacqui had expressed interest in Dime Novel heroes and heroines for my Frontierado Holiday coverage this year, so here is the first of many more posts I will make about these often forgotten characters.

In general, the Dime Novel period of westerns, detective, science fiction and horror tales lasted from 1860 to around 1919 or the early 1920s. Pulp magazines took over from there. Many Dime Novels were very loosely based on real-life figures like Buffalo Bill, Calamity Jane and others. Many more were purely fictional.

bob woolf titleThat brings us back to Hurricane Nell, the Girl Dead-Shot, also known as Hurricane Nell, the Queen of the Saddle and Lasso, and, in a misleading re-titling, as Bob Woolf, the Border Ruffian. (NOT three separate books.) Though published in May of 1877, Nell’s adventures were set earlier in the 1800s than most of the other big-name heroines of Dime Novels, so I am starting with her and will move on to the others in the next few weeks.

Hurricane Nell started life as Nelly Allen, and was around 13 years old when Bob Woolf and his gang of Missouri outlaws set fire to her family’s home in Kansas intent on murdering her parents (who were already dead of small pox anyway). In typical pulp fiction fashion, Nelly vowed to get revenge on the men who burned her home. Continue reading →

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