Frederick Charles Painton was a World War I veteran, a newspaper journalist, a high-ranking member of the American Legion, a prolific pulp-fiction author in the 1920s and 1930s, and a World War II correspondent who covered action in North Africa, Italy, and the South Pacific.
Background George Painton (1847–1917) and his son, George Painton (1871–1921), came to Elmira, New York in 1871. The elder Painton founded an Elmira institution, Painton’s Bakery, which his son took over in due course. They were Frederick C. Painton’s grandfather and father. Frederick’s mother was Georgia Abigail Bailey Painton (1876–1966). Frederick was born and raised in Elmira. He had two younger siblings, Norman Shaw Painton (1903–66) and Edith E. (1907–2001).
Fred Painton described his youth as a “boyhood that was devoted to many things other than study.”“With the Authors: Meet Mr. Painton,” Battle Stories, September 1927. At age 12, he wrote a novel, Blood and Glory, which he read aloud in a barn to ten “cronies”.“Introducing Fred Kaye”, in Air Adventurers (column), Wings, October 1928. “Fred Kaye’s” only known story was the lead novelette in this issue, “The Winged Master”. The brief autobiography matches Painton’s in every respect but name: birth date/place, youth, newspaper background, WWI experience, etc. He began a journalism career in 1916, starting as a $7 a week proofreader.“Pompano Scene of Story Plot,” Fort Lauderdale News, March 28, 1930. With a population nearing 40,000, Elmira had several newspapers. At various times, Painton worked for the Advertiser, the Telegram, and the Herald.Elmira newspapers. The Herald may have been the Sunday New York Herald; if so, Painton likely delivered it rather than wrote for it. He referred to himself as a “chauffer” during this time, synonymous in the era with “deliveryman.” For the Advertiser, he was “the police reporter, sports editor, and general star reporter,” at $9 a week.
World War I In August 1917, as the U.S. geared up for war, Frederick was deemed physically fit by his local Draft Selection Board.Elmira Star-Gazette, August 28, 1917.
At Camp Dix, New Jersey, he was rejected for combat duty “because of a slight heart affliction.”“Serg. Painton Ordered Home Suffering From Gas Effects,” Elmira Star-Gazette, February 18, 1919. He went from Camp Dix to San Antonio, Texas, to train for an aviation support role. He became an automobile driver. In January, Private 1st Class Painton embarked from Hoboken, New Jersey on the S.S. Carpathia as a member of the 229th Aero Supply Squadron, and landed in Glasgow. By the end of the month, owing to the shortage of men, he’d made sergeant, at $40 per month.“Tin Fish,” Elmira Star-Gazette, March 2, 1918. He wrote home frequently, letters which were reprinted in the Elmira Star-Gazette. In one, he described the horrors inflicted upon the Belgians by the “Hun.”“Tells Horrors Done By ‘Huns’ Within Belgium,” Elmira Star-Gazette, May 13, 1918.
In September 1918, Frederick was exposed to gas in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel. In another incident during the battle, he was “thrown by the concussion of a shell.” He was unable to sleep without opiates. Nevertheless, he persevered in his duties.
In a letter of October 1, 1918, he described taking his first flight in an airplane, a 14-minute “joyhop” in the rear cockpit of a two-seater which reached an altitude of 1,200 feet. He called it a “most wonderful experience.”“Fred Painton Writes Home of His First Airplane Trip,” Elmira Star-Gazette, October 23, 1918.
He was in Paris when the Armistice was signed on November 11. He described how “the Parisiens . . . went mad, simply mad, with joy . . . we were violently assaulted by vivacious French girls and strenuously kissed.”“Elmiran Gives an Account of Celebration in Paris When Armistice Is Signed,” Elmira Star-Gazette, November 30, 1918.
By the end of November, he had joined the staff of the Stars and Stripes, the official publication of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF).“Sergeant Fred Painton Learns It Costs to Eat in Luxemburg,” Elmira Star-Gazette, December 24, 1918. In December, as a reporter, he entered Germany with the Army of Occupation.“Sergeant Painton Tells of Treves,” Elmira Star-Gazette, January 3, 1919.
His injuries finally caught up with him. In late October, he had been hospitalized for a week.“Elmira Yankee in Hospital,” Elmira Star-Gazette, November 25, 1918. In early 1919, he “suddenly collapsed and was forced to give up his work.” He wrote home, “my stomach is gone, my nerves are gone, and, as you know, I already had a bad heart.” After spending more time in a New York hospital, by April he finally made it back to Elmira, returning to work on the Advertiser staff.
American Legion In March 1919, in Paris, members of the AEF founded the American Legion, a veterans’ organization. In May, with 50 former servicemen present, Painton was elected permanent secretary of the Harry B. Bentley Post, his local Legion branch.“American Legion Branch Organized,” Elmira Star-Gazette, May 20, 1919. Soon, he was presiding over their meetings. In September, he was named to the publicity committee for a nationwide Legion membership drive.“Elmira Post Participates in American Legion Drive,” Elmira Star-Gazette, September 19, 1919. In October, he joined the Elmira delegation at the state convention in Rochester.“Elmira Delegates Return From Legion Convention,” Elmira Star-Gazette, October 13, 1919.
Journalism In late October 1919, Painton resigned his Legion position to take a job on the reportorial staff of the Jamestown Post, western New York.“Frederick Painton Goes on Jamestown Post,” Elmira Star-Gazette, November 10, 1919. On January 15, 1920, using a government benefit, he entered the Columbia University Pulitzer School of Journalism, in Manhattan.“Fred Painton Will Study Journalism,” Elmira Star-Gazette, December 29, 1919. He soon distinguished himself in another arena by making the varsity golf team.“Painton on Team,” Elmira Star-Gazette, April 26, 1920.
Painton worked nights as a “rewrite man” for the New York Telegram and the New York Tribune.ANS, “Frederick Painton, War Correspondent, Gets Military Burial,” April 3, 1945. In his free time, he took on journalism jobs, for instance, as a sports reporter for the Associated Press Boston Bureau during the summer of 1921. His first known bylined piece was an article about stray dog rescue in the November 25, 1921 New York Post.Frederick C. Painton, “A Port of Good Luck for Sick Stray Dogs,” New York Post, November 25, 1921. Two months later, he landed a bylined piece in the American Legion Weekly, the official magazine of the Legion. His article, a defense of veterans accused of a crime wave, began a lifelong association with the magazine.Frederick C. Painton, “Extra!! 'War Hero Loots Bank!',” American Legion Weekly, January 27, 1922.
On July 3, 1922, he married Kathryn (Kay) Phykitt (1904–83) in Manhattan.
American Legion Publicity Director After finishing at Columbia, Class of '23, Painton worked for the Tribune. In late 1923, he and Kay moved to Indianapolis, the Legion headquarters, where he became the assistant director of the American Legion Weekly.“Fred Painton Made Director,” Elmira Star-Gazette, December 20, 1923. At the first American Legion convention, Minneapolis, November 1919, members voted to move the headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Indianapolis. He soon became the Legion’s publicity director. The job entailed frequent travel: accompanying the national commander on trips, meeting with local bureaus; and promoting conventions, veterans’ issues, and the Legion’s charitable activities. In June 1924, following a resignation, Painton was appointed director of the Legion’s national news bureau.Claire Palmer Thurston, “American Legion Auxiliary Notes,” Indianapolis Star, June 4, 1924. He continued to write for the weekly.
On July 6, 1926, Frederick C. Painton Jr. (1926–2021), destined to be an only child, was born in Indianapolis.
In 1926, Painton was involved in the planning for thousands of Legionnaires to convene in Paris in September 1927 for the 9th annual convention of the Legion. In April 1927, he made a preparatory trip to France. In August, he returned with the Legion leadership. On August 26, they were hosted by France’s president Gaston Doumergue. After the rousing success of the convention, Painton finally made it back to Indianapolis in October.
Pulp writer In the late 1920s, the pulp magazine market was booming. New titles regularly showed up on newsstands. A hot new genre was Great War fiction, ignited by Dell’s War Stories which debuted with a November 1926 cover date. About April 1927, Fawcett Publications announced a rival, Battle Stories. Editor Jack Smalley wrote that “tales of warfare in all its branches are wanted, and particularly stories of fighting in France. . . . A war-story serial is needed at once.”“Literary Market Tips,” The Author & Journalist, May 1927. The first issue hit the stands on August 10 with a September cover date.
According to Painton, Fawcett engaged him to write a 40,000-word serial. It's unknown who made the overture, but as an eyewitness to the war, and a seasoned journalist, he was a promising prospect for writing war fiction. During the visit for the Legion convention, Painton wrote: “I’m searching France for war stories, and finding plenty.” His short novel, The Spy Trap, played out through the first four issues of Battle Stories (Sep–Dec).
Enamored of his success, and swamped by continuing requests for stories, Painton resigned his position with the Legion.“Painton to Drop Legion Publicity,” Indianapolis Star, January 22, 1928. His stories appeared in Battle Stories regularly. He became one of the star writers alongside Arthur Guy Empey, author of the bestselling Great War novel Over the Top. Over the next 15 years, Painton was primarily a successful pulp writer who occasionally appeared in the American Legion Monthly/Magazine, or in mainstream magazines like Liberty and Collier's. The FMI contains a lengthy index of Painton’s magazine fiction.
Through 1930, Painton’s published work appeared predominantly in two Fawcett magazines, Battle Stories, and Triple-X Magazine to which he contributed a handful of genre-hybrid western-aviation stories. In stories like “Cowboy, Get That Zep!” (April 1929), a cowpuncher gives the Germans a lesson in toughness. In 1931, he claimed to Air Trails magazine that he'd been a flier in the war: “My training was at the Second [Air Instruction Center] at Tours, France, where we cracked up with singular regularity . . . Aside from practice landings and take-offs, our main object in life was to go 'châteauing' down the Loirs [sic] River. This consisted of hedge-hopping the crate at an altitude of some sixty to a hundred feet.”The Landing Field (column), Air Trails, October 1931. These accounts are not supported by the contemporaneous record, but, rather, were typical of the ways pulp writers marketed themselves to readers.
As the Great War trenches lost favor with readers, Painton diversified his markets, selling to Street & Smith, Dell, the Thrilling pulps, and others. He also diversified his genres, selling detective and adventure stories to a variety of publishers. His peak year may have been 1936 when 34 of his stories appeared in pulp magazines. He appeared well over 300 times in pulp magazines, which includes short stories, short novels, and serial installments. Ultimately, his output spread about equally among three genres: war/military aviation, detective/crime, and adventure. He was a perfectionist. His agent Ed Bodin recalled him throwing down a just-completed manuscript, saying, “This makes me sick; what would it do to an editor?”Ed Bodin, “These Sensitive Writers,” Author & Journalist, May 1945.