Edwige Fenech was born Edwige Sfenek in French-controlled Algeria to Maltese and Italian parents, and went on to become one of the most inspiring sex symbols of the late ’60s and early ’70s, acting in giallos, comedies, and horror films, hosting a chat show in the 1980s, and recently appearing in Hostel: Part II. The striking image above is from the West German magazine Sexy, and it dates from 1971 or 1972. The caption tells us Fenech is the “Traum-Girl der Woche,” or Dream-Girl of the Week. 

We’ve now posted eighteen issues of the great Australian men’s magazine Adam. But there was an American Adam too, unaffiliated with the Aussie mag (as far as we know) that published identical content during the same period. There were three major differences, though—the American Adam did not have painted pulp-style covers like Aussie Adam, it had access to more widely known actors and authors, and it showcased nude photography years earlier. For example, the above American Adam, from August 1966, has rising star Raquel Welch, famous glamour babe June Wilkinson, fiction from John Steinbeck and Harlan Ellison, and an extensive and revealing feature on burlesque. It also has a centerfold of Vicky Kennedy, aka Margaret Nolan, who appeared in Goldfinger, among numerous other films, and was one of the more popular nude models of the 1960s. We have thirty scans of all this below. 

From 1957, Tomcat magazine is a prime if slightly obscure example of mid-century porn in all its non-fully revealing glory. We think they’re trying a little too hard to be cute here—referring to the models as “cheesegals”? That’s just dumb. But mixed in amongst the anonymous smut were some striking images of famous burlesque performers of the day, which we thought were worth sharing. Enjoy, and please check out our comprehensive burlesque post from last year here. 

Continuing with the French pulp, below are a few images from the pages of the erotic magazine Evocations, a low rent monthly published during the 1950s and 1960s. Of course, even low rent French smut is done with style and restraint. At least during this period. And they used foreign models sometimes, in this case, Brit hottie Sally Dogulas, who graces the cover. The issue, number 60, doesn’t have a date, but we’re going to guess 1962. 

We managed to locate another issue of Paris Magazine today, this one from May 1935 with a bright-eyed photo-illustration of American movie star Jean Parker, née Lois Greene, on the cover. Inside, you get art by Julien Tavernier, and photographs of yesteryear’s showgirls, models and society women by Braig, Albin, and others. In the last two panels you get possibly the last photographs ever taken of the German actress and singer Edith Mera, who had died a few months earlier at age thirty of septicemia (a blood infection) caused by poor treatment of an abscess in her mouth. It’s a bittersweet footnote, but then when you’re looking at magazines this old it’s always bittersweet because everyone you’re seeing at the height of beauty and youth is now dead. Or as Shakespeare so eloquently wrote: Golden lads and all girls must, as chimney-sweepers come to dust. Now there’s a cheery thought for Friday! But hopefully it inspires you to really enjoy this spring weekend—you only get so many. Anyway, bittersweet or not, we love Paris Magazine and recently acquired about a dozen, so you’ll be seeing more soon. Check out our other issue, with its excellent Man Ray art here. 

Today we have another issue of the post-pulp magazine Adam, filled with its usual offerings—adventure fiction, ads for dubious products and services, assorted cartoons with racist tropes, and of course a selection of nude and semi-nude models. Also, of special note is the final page, which features a nice handout shot of Austrian actress Marisa Mell. Of the ninety pages in this issue we’ve shared about thirty. We’d post more but then the website would take forever to load, and that’s no fun for anybody. One of these days, though, perhaps we’ll go back and mine these magazines for more imagery. In the meantime enjoy the pages below. It was all published this month in 1973.

For your enjoyment today we have eighteen images from Australia's Adam, published May 1963, with an unusual cover of a guy going berserk on the cups and saucers. For boxing fans, we also have shots of Mickey MacDonald, Mike Rhuman, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Jack Dempsey. Oh, and that’s Playboy model Virginia Gordon in panel two, just below. You can see many more issues of Adam magazine by clicking keyword “Adam” at the bottom of the post. 

Paris-Hollywood #130, from 1952, with a cover photoillustration of a woman out for a nude jaunt on her motorboat. Inside is one of Roger Brard’s famous pin-ups déshabillable, and just above you see the back cover. You can see two more examples of Brard's work here and here. 

Above is the cover and several interior pages from Paris Magazine, an erotic and art publication from France. This one was published in January 1935 and features the work of the legendary photographer Man Ray in panels three, four and five. Man Ray spent most of his adult life in Paris, specifically the Montparnasse district where he had a home, but he was actually American, born Emmanuel Radnitzky in the U.S. in 1890. He moved overseas when he was thirty-one, relocated to L.A. when World War II broke out, but returned to Paris in 1951 and lived there until his death in 1976.