The De Baca nuclear test was part of Operation Hardtack II, a series of thirty-seven Nevada Test Ground blasts squeezed into seven weeks in order to beat a looming deadline—the beginning of a U.S./U.S.S.R. nuclear moratorium. The test ban failed when the Soviets began testing again three years later, a political crisis precipitating that failure, specifically a showdown concerning the status of East Berlin.

The test ban would have failed anyway, though, as all test bans have failed, and all future test bans will fail, because nuclear weapons are seen by weak nations as the ultimate defense against invasion by stronger nations. And of course, they’re right. Since only the year 2000, nuclear-armed nations have invaded non-nuclear nations nine times. Conversely, since the dawn of the nuclear era in 1945, a period comprising nearly seventy military encroachments, no nuclear nation has had its mainland invaded.

That's the entire uncomplicated why of nuclear weapons. There may be periods of relative inactivity, but as time goes by more nations will build them. Nuclear disaster has no choice but to follow one day. There are two scenarios for survival—either all the nuclear nations agree to reduce and eventually dismantle their nukes, or one nuclear armed nation comes to dominate all the others. Guess what? The second scenario isn't going to happen. Not ever. The De Baca test occurred today in 1958. 

Of all the books Berlin-based publishing company Goliath has produced, perhaps none is more essentially pulp in nature than Private Pornography in the Third Reich. 1950s and 1960s men’s adventure magazines were obsessed with Nazis, and Third Reich spies littered post-war pulp fiction. The stories and art were often sexual in nature, such as here and here, sometimes hinting at or portraying depravity behind closed doors. With Private Pornography in the Third Reich the doors are closed no more. Stepping into forbidden salons, we’re presented not only with challenging images, but the social questions pornography raises, plus the specter of Third Reich authoritarianism and eventual war.

But racial purity was Hitler’s obsession, and to force procreative sex on a country he felt needed to replace millions of military age men killed in the Great War his regime repressed the idea of recreational sex, driving sexual freedom and sexual expression underground. Prostitutionwas banned, sending an estimated 100,000 women and 35,000 men into the shadows. But as always, the rich, powerful, and connected could obtain whatever they wished. Secret dens of sexual performance and prostitution sprang up, and a black market in pornography blossomed, gaining momentum once it became clear that selling it outside Germany was an efficient means of accessing foreign currency.

In another few years the Reich would have near total control of life in Germany, and operate a chain of concentration camps in which those deemed sexual deviants could be imprisoned. As a historical document of the sex industry during the anti-lust years leading up to that period,Private Pornography in the Third Reich is fascinating. The subject is taboo, the photos perhaps more so. They range from artful salon compositions to raunchy reverse cowgirl penetration shots, which means it may not be coffee table material for everyone, but for the adventurous it’s certain to live up to aesthetic expectations, and provoke vigorous debates as well. Read more at Goliath Books.

Berlin After Dark is an obscure record, but the sleeve caught our eye because the cover star boldly showing every millimeter of leg she possesses looked familiar. Turns out she’s American actress Barbara Nichols. She doesn’t sing on the record, but it was not uncommon during the period when this was released (1962) to use celebrity photos on record sleeves. Four years ago we put together a collection of sixty album covers featuring famous actresses (with the difference that they all actually sang on the records) and you can see those examples here. We also have two great promos of Barbara Nichols, once again showing a lot of leg, here.

It’s been a few months, so we’re bringing Hitler back on The National Police Gazette. This example from March 1951 is the twenty-first Hitler cover we’ve located, all of them from the 1950s and 1960s, which means he starred for the Gazette at least yearly for two decades. But of course, that’s just an average based on the issues we’ve found so far. We know for certain there were others, and ultimately we’ll probably determine that he was featured closer to twice a year. As you can see yourself, this time Gazette is concerned with Hitler’s fake suicide, which journo Harvey Wilson says was propaganda put out by the Soviets to cover for their failure to capture him as Berlin burned.

Leaving aside the question of who’s really doing the propagandizing here, it’s a clever little pivot by the Gazette, which went from merely claiming Hitler had escaped to blaming the escape on Moscow, resulting in a nifty mash-up of two of post-War America’s biggest boogeymen—Hitler and Khrushchev.

Later the Gazette would claim Hitler or his henchmen were tight with other enemies of the American power elite, including Abdel Nasser and Juan Peron. One year after the above issue came out, Gazette turned around and in its May 1952 issue, at right, blamed Hitler’s escape on the Allies. And let's not forget the infamous Hitler-in-Antarctica story, truly one of the all-time creative highlights of mid-century tabloid journalism. Well, wherever Hitler fled, the Gazette’ll straighten it out for us in due time. We just have to keep digging up issues. Meanwhile, a couple of scans below, and more from the Gazette to come.

Well, that was fun. Berlin is an interesting city, dynamic, hectic and ultramodern, but also much greener than we expected. Certainly a recommendable destination, though we did encounter an €8 glass of white wine, which makes us happy to be back where the same pour costs exactly eight times less. We’re a bit tired today, so we’re just going to do a couple of brief shares, just so you know we’re still alive. Above is the cover from the West German celeb magazine Gondel (Gondola) featuring Elisa Mainardi. Inside you get shots of Teresa Velasquez, Lisa Gastoni and more, and on the rear cover you get goddess Elke Sommer. Most of the shots are unimaginative portraits that don’t do the subjects justice, but the images are rare, which makes them worth sharing. You can see more Gondel covers here. This issue came out in 1964. 

Based on what we saw, the supposedly serious Germans are as capable of wild partying as any other people you care to name. We are highly intrigued by their blasé approach to nudity. In fact, when someone recently claimed to have unearthed a nude photo of a youthful Angela Merkel parading her bush around a summery German seafront, the news was greeted in her home country with a collective shrug. Even if it were true, Merkel would have been merely part of a longstanding nudist tradition. That tradition was well represented in print. Through the 1950s and 1960s reams of naturist publications such as Sonnenstrahl, O Humana, and Unser Dasein appeared in West Germany. The above cover is from Sonnenfreunde (Sun Friends), one of the earliest and most popular of such magazines, launching way back in 1949. We have a few scans below, and if you think you see Angela Merkel, well, we disavow any such suggestion. 

We’re going to Berlin today. Vintage material probably abounds, but in such a sprawl we may not be able to find anything in the time we’re there. We’ll give it our best effort. Every trip presents us with the choice of whether to keep posting on Pulp Intl. or let it stand idle. This time we’re opting for idle. If you’re a regular visitor, you know the drill. If you’ve never visited here before, please have a look around. This is one of the most extensive pulp related websites on the internet, with content going back to 2008 comprising more than 2,300 separate articles and about 25,000 pieces of vintage art, much of it never previously uploaded to the internet. Besides book covers, other areas of specialization include Japanese film, Australian men’s magazines, American tabloids, and general weirdness. You can use the category links at right, plug terms into the search box at lower right (just under the lady wearing a kimono), use the keyword links at the bottom of every post, or simply read chronologically to the bottom of the page where the “next page” link will send you to past entries. Or, just for fun, if you click this link it will take you back to 2008, and by clicking “previous page” you can navigate forward. We’ll be back soon. 

Bare was a digest-sized men’s magazine, meaning that it was small enough to fit into a pocket and be carried about unseen. At least, that seemed to be the point. As a bonus, such publications were cheaper to print that standard sized magazines. Bare lasted just a few years, from 1953 to 1955, if the span of issues available online are an indication. You’ll notice its slogan was “The Naked Truth.” There was no nudity, but it did try to titillate. This issue from June 1955 has Evelyn West and Rita Hayworth on the cover, and various celebs and burlesque queens inside. There are also features on Berlin’s racy nightlife, boxer Jack Dempsey’s near defeat by Joe Sudenberg, and the love life of a midget—everything needed to keep an inquiring mind occupied.

Last week we shared a few images from a new bondage collection called Strictly Bondage created by Berlin-based publishers Goliath, and mentioned that the book we received was one of two. Above you see the cover of the second collection—Kinky Bondage Obsession. How different can two bondage books be? You’d be surprised. Shot by Jim Weathers, Kinky Bondage Obsession is of course about the restraints, but more so than Strictly Bondage, it’s about color and texture. Weathers’ models are beautifully garbed—clad in metallic purples and shimmering crimsons, sheathed in skin hugging vinyl and nylon. Rubber, faux fur, PVC, and patent leather abound. The action takes place in opulent, suede-walled salons appointed with wooden accessories. In fact, the book could double as a catalog for expensive bondage outfits and shabby chic home decorations.

The press material references David Lynch and that’s easy to see. Weathers has made Blue Velvet with the lights turned up a notch, before Dennis Hopper barged in, screamed amyl nitrate-fueled filth and ruined the party. An all female party, by the way, which is another contrast to Strictly Bondage. The lack of men in this thick book may seem to bring the threat level down, but on the other hand, since most of the four-hundred-plus shots are solo—that is, they feature only a bound woman—you have to wonder who exactly is doing the restraining. Possibly it's you, you kinky devil. But some scenes do feature a dominator, always another woman, and the implicit question presented in those deals with gender expectations. Beyond the technicolor outfits and opulent interiors, do you see pure domination, mutual consent, or mere artifice?  The answer may reveal your attitudes about women and power.

A long while back we mentioned the Japanese art of kinbaku or shibari (we won’t get into the debate over which term is more correct) and said we’d discuss it again, but of course never did. Well, we were reminded of that promise when Berlin-based rebel publishers Goliath sent us a couple of their books. Ostensibly, they’re coffee table volumes, but of a rather provocative type, dealing with bondage as art. Today we’re looking only at Strictly Bondage, and we’ll get to the other book Kinky Bondage Obsession later this week.

The book’s foreword asks: “What is art? What is erotic? What is porn? What is interesting?” Strictly Bondage is a little of all those, and it’ll be living on our coffee table for some time, or at least until our friends bring their kids by. We have several of the tamer images from the book’s interior below, and you can learn more about Victor Lightworship and Strictly Bondage at www.goliathbooks.com.