(wood-)pulp literature (1928-29)

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Fri, 6 May 2005 20:10:03 -0400, Douglas G. Wilson <douglas at NB.NET> wrote:

>But "wood pulp literature"/"wood-pulp literature" is much older. It
>appears in the "Washington Post" in 1908.

Ah, I missed that one somehow.

-----
1908 _Washington Post_ 26 Jan. R8/3 There appear in the magazines three or
four stories each month which, years ago, would have attracted wide
attention. In those days, when there was not so much writing they would
have been considered almost as marking an era in literature. But now they
are hidden -- buried nearly -- by the great mass of material which is
produced -- wood pulp literature I call it.
[quoting Edmund Clarence Stedman]
-----

Even if Stedman coined the term "wood pulp literature", I would still
conjecture that the shortening to "pulp" and the proliferation of
combining forms can be ascribed to the popularity of Robinson's 1928
_Bookman_ article.


--Ben Zimmer