DENTALLY CHALLENGED

Grrrr! Grrrr! Is it just me or—grrrr!—is this not nearly as—grrrr!—macho as either of us expected?

We haven’t read Curt Carroll’s 1952 western The Golden Herd and have no plans to, but this scene on the cover is irresistible for comment. It’s obviously a duel, and we’re going to guess that if one of the combatants unclenches his teeth and just stabs the shit out of the other he’ll have lost the fight, and his honor. Guess we aren’t terribly honorable—we’d unclench and start stabbing d-block style, as fast as we could, everywhere we could. But maybe afterward a bunch of outraged cowpokes would break out a noose. Maybe that’s what happened to this guy. Well, then we’d not fight and be shunned. Shunning we can handle. We’re a little shunned now anyway.

This idea may have originated in Max Kruger’s 1930 autobiography Pioneer Life in Texas, in which he says men were tied together by their left wrists. We’re not sure there are any corroborating accounts, but it’s certainly possible, since the realm of stupid shit men did is a virtual bottomless pit. We presume Carroll wanted to make the idea even more macho for his novel, except in the realm of stupid shit men did, this seems impossible. We feel like these guys’ half-rotten frontier teeth would be snatched out mere instants into this ill-considered duel. What we like, though, is the thought that the man more diligent about oral care had an advantage. Brush often. The art here is by George Mayers.

Femme Fatale Image

ABOUT

SEARCH PULP INTERNATIONAL

PULP INTL.
HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1954—First Church of Scientology Established

The first Scientology church, based on the writings of science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, is established in Los Angeles, California. Since then, the city has become home to the largest concentration of Scientologists in the world, and its ranks include high-profile adherents such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta.

1933—Blaine Act Passes

The Blaine Act, a congressional bill sponsored by Wisconsin senator John J. Blaine, is passed by the U.S. Senate and officially repeals the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution, aka the Volstead Act, aka Prohibition. The repeal is formally adopted as the 21st Amendment to the Constitution on December 5, 1933.

1947—Voice of America Begins Broadcasting into U.S.S.R.

The state radio channel known as Voice of America and controlled by the U.S. State Department, begins broadcasting into the Soviet Union in Russian with the intent of countering Soviet radio programming directed against American leaders and policies. The Soviet Union responds by initiating electronic jamming of VOA broadcasts.

1937—Carothers Patents Nylon

Wallace H. Carothers, an American chemist, inventor and the leader of organic chemistry at DuPont Corporation, receives a patent for a silk substitute fabric called nylon. Carothers was a depressive who for years carried a cyanide capsule on a watch chain in case he wanted to commit suicide, but his genius helped produce other polymers such as neoprene and polyester. He eventually did take cyanide—not in pill form, but dissolved in lemon juice—resulting in his death in late 1937.

1933—Franklin Roosevelt Survives Assassination Attempt

In Miami, Florida, Giuseppe Zangara attempts to shoot President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, but is restrained by a crowd and, in the course of firing five wild shots, hits five people, including Chicago, Illinois Mayor Anton J. Cermak, who dies of his wounds three weeks later. Zangara is quickly tried and sentenced to eighty years in jail for attempted murder, but is later convicted of murder when Cermak dies. Zangara is sentenced to death and executed in Florida’s electric chair.

Unknown artist produces lurid cover for Indian true crime magazine Nutan Kahaniyan.
Cover art by Roswell Keller for the 1948 Pocket Books edition of Ramona Stewart's Desert Town.

VINTAGE ADVERTISING

Things you'd love to buy but can't anymore

Vintage Ad Image

Around the web