Munsey's Magazine, September 1915

Munsey's Magazine, founded in 1889, pioneered the pulp magazine format—cheap wood-pulp periodicals sold at newsstands for ten cents. This cover features Vienna's Rathaus (City Hall), introducing Svetozar Tonjoroff's feature on Austria-Hungary's political structure and ethnic divisions within the Dual Monarchy. The photographic image, credited to Underwood & Underwood, reflects Munsey's mix of serious journalism and sensational storytelling. By 1915, such magazines had established narrative conventions—exotic locales, historical drama, detailed exposition—that would directly influence the emerging comic book industry's approach to adventure tales and world-building.