THERE GOES THAT MAN AGAIN

Just when you think you’ve seen the last of this guy, he turns up yet again.

Well, here we go again with The National Police Gazette and der Führer. This July 1953 issue brings us to eleven covers we’ve shared of one of history’s biggest monsters. We have seven more in our archive, and there are certainly others out there in the world to be unearthed. It makes a sort of sense, we suppose, that a person who irreparably warped the course of the twentieth century also warped the Gazette’s editorial content.

In this case, Gazette purports to have located his secret hideout. Where is it? Would you believe Antarctica? No, seriously. They claim that, as of 1953, Hitler was chilling with penguins on an ice shelf. Oooo—march-off! Penguins win! Anyway, this from the Gazette’s text: “Hitler is alive! Hitler is plotting to return! These are facts Police Gazette has investigated and fearlessly revealed during recent months. [snip] Why doesn’t the United States government take immediate action on our information—track down Hitler, arrest him, and bring him to trial? The answer is this. Our government’s hands are tied. We are a democratic nation and we cannot trespass upon, invade, or interfere with the territorial integrity of another country.”

Is it not revealing that the Gazette—a rightwing scandal sheet—informs its readers that a murderer of millions must be captured and brought to trial? And that bit about the United States being a democratic nation that cannot simply invade another country? That’s really something, isn’t it? Oh, how times change. But we digress. We’re wondering if Hitler possibly appeared on more Police Gazette covers than any other person. No way to research that, so we’ll just speculate—yes, he did. But in Gazette’s defense, it never presented him as anything other than an object of fear or ridicule. At least, not that we’ve seen. We’ll have more Gazette later, and you can get Antarctic scoop below. 

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1978—Son of Sam Goes to Prison

David Berkowitz, the New York City serial killer known as Son of Sam, is sentenced to 365 years in prison for six killings. Berkowitz had acquired his nickname from letters addressed to the NYPD and columnist Jimmy Breslin. He is eventually caught when a chain of events beginning with a parking ticket leads to his car being searched and police discovering ammunition and maps of crime scenes.

1963—Buddhist Monk Immolates Himself

In South Vietnam, Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức burns to death after dousing himself with gasoline and lighting a match. He does it to protest the persecution of Buddhists by the Ngô Đình Diệm led government, choosing a busy Saigon intersection for his protest. An image of the monk being consumed by flames as he sits crosslegged on the pavement, shot by Malcolm Browne, wins a Pulitzer Prize and becomes one of the most shocking and recognizable photos ever published.

1935—AA Founded

In New York City, Dr. Robert Smith and William Griffith Wilson, who were both recovering alcoholics, establish the organization Alcoholics Anonymous, which pioneers a 12-step rehabilitation program that is so helpful and popular it eventually spreads to every corner of the globe.

1973—John Paul Getty III Is Kidnapped

John Paul Getty III, grandson of billionaire oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, is kidnapped in Rome, Italy. The elder Getty ignores a ransom demand for $17 million, thinking it is a joke. When John Paul’s ear later arrives in the mail along with a note promising further mutilation, he negotiates the ransom down to $2.9 million, which he pays only on the condition that John Paul repay him at four percent interest. Getty’s kidnappers are never caught.

1973—Secretariat Wins Triple Crown

Thoroughbred racehorse Secretariat becomes the first U.S. Triple Crown champion in twenty-five years when he wins the Belmont Stakes. During his triple crown campaign, he sets new records in two of the three events (times that still stand today), and wins the Belmont in an astonishing thirty-one lengths.

Swapping literature was a major subset of midcentury publishing. Ten years ago we shared a good-sized collection of swapping paperbacks from assorted authors.
Photo illustration art from Brazilian publisher Edições de Ouro for Bruno Fischer's A Bela Assassina.
Cover art by Italian illustrator Giovanni Benvenuti for the James Bond novel Vivi e lascia morire, better known as Live and Let Die.
Uncredited cover art in comic book style for Harry Whittington's You'll Die Next!

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