Stories from Red Book (US)

 

Here are the four Wodehouse stories from the 1910s in Red Book, presented with the original magazine illustrations where possible, and three from 1923, newly available in 2019. Items with annotations are flagged with the symbol ✎ below. Some of the early illustrations are from microfilm and thus are not up to our usual standards. Enjoy the stories!

 

A Black Cat for Luck — July 1915

✎ The Romance of Mac’s — May 1916

A Very Shy Gentleman — June 1916

Breaking into Society — July 1916

✎ The Plus Fours — January 1923

✎ Rollo Podmarsh Comes To — March 1923

✎ The Heart of a Goof — September 1923

 

Red Book, US

The magazine was first published in May 1903 as The Red Book Illustrated by a Chicago retail firm. In its early years, the magazine published short fiction by well-known authors, along with photographs of popular actresses and other women of note. It quickly became a success and was soon promoted as “the largest illustrated fiction magazine in the world,” raising its price from 10 to 15 cents to 25 cents by the 1920s. In 1929 the magazine was bought by McCall Corporation, which changed the name to Redbook. Editor Edwin Balmer made it a general-interest magazine for men and women, with short stories, nonfiction pieces, and serialized novels by noted authors. (adapted from Wikipedia)

Wodehouse contributed four stories in the 1910s and three golf stories in 1923. He returned to Redbook in the 1930s with three more stories and the shorter version of The Luck of the Bodkins.

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