Frank Tousey

Frank Tousey (1853–1902) was among the top five publishers of dime novels in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Based in New York, his sensationalism drew a large audience of youth hungry for scenes of daring and tormented heroes and damsels in distress. Of particular notice in his approach to the ‘blood and thunder’ genre were the vivid cover illustrations of his dime novels, which were consistently larger and more thrilling than previous publications. Although focused on fictional weeklies, Tousey managed a variety of materials over time, including some handbooks, gossip sheets, and even a newspaper on current events in the Spanish-American War.

Frank Tousey was born in Brooklyn, New York on May 24, 1853. Son of George G. Tousey (1825-1869) and Elizabeth Corks (1846-1903), Frank was one of six children, with two older brothers (John W. Tousey, 1847-1862; George C. Tousey, 1848-1898) and three younger (Edward F. Tousey, 1855-?; DeWitt Tousey, 1858-1858; Sinclair Tousey Jr., 1862-1915). His uncle, Sinclair Tousey, poses some significance to Frank’s later career in publishing. Sinclair Tousey is best known as the founder and president of the American News Company (1864) and as an extraordinarily powerful and rich player in the field of American publishing, based on his quasi-monopoly over text distribution in the country.

Frank began his career in publishing in 1872 by working with Norman Munro, a Canadian-born publisher with questionable principles. In 1877, Tousey split from Munro and relocated to no. 116 Nassau Street, taking with him Munro’s highly successful editor, George Small, whom Norman had originally stolen from his brother and publishing rival, George Munro., So begins yet another competitor for Norman L. Munro. Tousey and Small gained much success with their newly founded papers New York Boys Weekly (March 17, 1877) and Young Men of America (Sept. 13, 1877). Much of this success could be attributed to the large, sensational front page image, which at 7 inches deep to covering the full page, was certainly more eye-catching than the former 5 inch deep images used in Munro and other papers. The images themselves used the same technique which had earlier granted Munro’s stories superiority: a divergence from good and safe to dreadful and shocking. While Munro’s novels featured a shift to more criminal, youthful protagonists, Tousey and Small’s front page pictures exhibited terrifying scenes of aliens, monsters, torture, and overall horror.

Facing a variety of financial troubles and ultimately, bankruptcy, Munro sold his popular papers Our Boys and Boys of New York, along with 138 issues of the New York Boys’ Library to Tousey and Small in 1878. Starting with the first issue (No. 153, July 20, 1878) under management of Tousey and Small, Boys of New York incorporated New York Boys Weekly. In likewise fashion, Our Boys merged with Young Men of America for the latter’s issue No. 43, July 4, 1878. Simply put, after combining these four periodicals, only Boys of New York, originally of Munro, and Young Men of America, the brain child of Tousey and Small, continued with their published names. The new owners also renamed the New York Boys’ Library as the Wide Awake Library. Without Munro’s inspiring rivalry, and thus any substantial competition, Tousey’s sensationalism diminished slightly over the next decade.

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