The text below was written on the sixth anniversary of the Hidalgo Trading Company, the site I…
The text below was written on the sixth anniversary of the Hidalgo Trading Company, the site I started in September 1996. It’s now almost 13 years of running a Doc Savage site. Some years were lean as Catherine and I spent more time raising the next generation Doc fan, but I’m looking forward to continuing the tradition of the HTC here on DocSavage.org…
From September 2002….
What is the Hidalgo Trading Company?
In the Doc Savage novels it was the name of an imaginary concern. A warehouse on a pier in the Hudson River Harbor. The home of many of Doc’s autogyros, submarines, and other wonderful modes of transportation.
In September 1996 the Hidalgo Trading Company opened on the Internet. From the beginning I wanted one thing for the HTC: fan participation. In the past six years we’ve had fan artwork, articles, and fiction. We sponsored the first complete Doc Savage fan novel on the Internet: Bleeding Sun. We also had a hand in the creation of that shananigan.
A few months after opening the HTC I met a French speaking Doc Savage fan — Catherine. When we married she moved her Doc Savage website, L’homme de Bronze under the HTC banner.
Our next addition to the HTC wasn’t a website. We were fed up with all the spam we had to wade through on the Doc Savage discussion group. We could have followed many Doc fans and dropped the newsgroup. Instead we started the Flearun — a spam and flame free newsgroup for Doc fans.
On the HTC’s fifth aniversary (Sep. 2001) I wanted a permanent home for the HTC. It was about the time the .INFO domain opened. What better place for information about Doc Savage than DocSavage.Info? In April 2002 DocSavage.Org was made available. I added that domain and started building an online Doc Savage Encyclopedia.
During all the growth of the HTC there has been a single constant: reader participation. This is especially true today. Every page of DocSavage.Info and DocSavage.Org is coded to easily allow fans to add their thoughts.
We encourage you to wander through the many pages of DSI, DSO, and L’homme de Bronze. Don’t forget to add your voice to the many Doc fans before you.
By the way, Chris Kalb of the 86th Floor, created that Hidalgo Trading Company logo for me many, many years ago. Thanks again Chris!
Congratulations on the birthday!
But Doc’s is in late May.
Well I’ll be superamalgamated! Great work, guys (and gals?)
What a flash from the past!! Can’t wait to read more!
Thanks
It’s great to see this site and running again. I’ve been waiting for this resource to be available. I’m reading the Doc Savage novels, most for the first time, as they are issued by Anthony Tollin and it’s great to come to a well-researched site like this to follow up on a story after I’ve finished it. Seeing how a story fits into the chronology and reading other opinions on it is great.
Thanks for all the great work here.