NAVEL MANEUVERS

Nancy Sinatra sets Guinness record for world’s biggest panties.

We had planned to share more Dutch pulp today, but we can’t manage the work after last night, an eventful foray into the Amsterdam social scene that included getting tossed from a bar called Royalty. And we don’t mean tossed like politely asked to leave. We mean tossed like bouncers putting us in arm locks and bum rushing us out the door. So we won’t be going back there.

Anyway, here’s our backup post, an August 1969 issue of The National Police Gazette, with Nancy Sinatra rocking the retro bod and granny panties. Notice her missing navel—in 1969 exposed navels were still considered risqué, which is why they had only just begun to appear in movies, weren’t shown on respectable magazine covers, and were entirely banned from television.

At first we thought it was possible Nancy’s naughty little button was tucked inside her bottoms, but then we began to suspect it had been airbrushed away. Finally, we decided she’s an alien with no navel at all. Which also would explain the wink—that’s what aliens do when they’re about to probe you. But then we found two more photos from the same session, which are proof positive the airbrushing theory is correct, and that she isn’t an alien. A shame, really. After last night, we could use a good probing.

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1939—Holiday Records Strange Fruit

American blues and jazz singer Billie Holiday records “Strange Fruit”, which is considered to be the first civil rights song. It began as a poem written by Abel Meeropol, which he later set to music and performed live with his wife Laura Duncan. The song became a Holiday standard immediately after she recorded it, and it remains one of the most highly regarded pieces of music in American history.

1927—Mae West Sentenced to Jail

American actress and playwright Mae West is sentenced to ten days in jail for obscenity because of the content of her play Sex. The trial occurred even though the play had run for a year and had been seen by 325,000 people. However West’s considerable popularity, already based on her risque image, only increased after the controversy.

1971—Manson Sentenced to Death

In the U.S, cult leader Charles Manson is sentenced to death for inciting the murders of Sharon Tate and several other people. Three accomplices, who had actually done the killing, were also sentenced to death, but the state of California abolished capital punishment in 1972 and neither they nor Manson were ever executed.

1923—Yankee Stadium Opens

In New York City, Yankee Stadium, home of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees, opens with the Yankees beating their eternal rivals the Boston Red Sox 4 to 1. The stadium, which is nicknamed The House That Ruth Built, sees the Yankees become the most successful franchise in baseball history. It eventually closes in September 2008 upon being replaced by a new Yankee Stadium.

1961—Bay of Pigs Invasion Is Launched

A group of CIA financed and trained Cuban refugees lands at the Bay of Pigs in southern Cuba with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro. However, the invasion fails badly and the result is embarrassment for U.S. president John F. Kennedy and a major boost in popularity for Fidel Castro, and also has the effect of pushing him toward the Soviet Union for protection.

Edições de Ouro and Editora Tecnoprint published U.S. crime novels for the Brazilian market, with excellent reworked cover art to appeal to local sensibilities. We have a small collection worth seeing.
Walter Popp cover art for Richard Powell's 1954 crime novel Say It with Bullets.
There have been some serious injuries on pulp covers. This one is probably the most severe—at least in our imagination. It was painted for Stanley Morton's 1952 novel Yankee Trader.

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