Pulp International

Feb 24 2013

Shall I play for you, pa rum pum pum pum?

We’re at the penultimate page of the Goodtime Weekly Calendar of 1963, and as promised last week here’s a great shot from Ron Vogel of an unidentified model getting her groove on. This just cries out to be repurposed as a 12-inch cover or some kind of concert poster, don’t you think? The image actually brings up lots of humorous possibilities, and we were contemplating something along these lines for a subhead: She’s not the only one who loves beating something between her legs. But then we decided that was just too much. We have some class here.

Among the quips this week is one from a person named Barbette. We had no idea who that was, so off to the interwebs we went for an answer. Turns out Barbette was a famous trapeze performer and female impersonator. He was born Vander Clyde Broadway, and in his aerial act performed in full drag only to reveal himself as a man at the end. As his fame grew he worked all over the U.S. and Europe, selling out storied venues like the Casino de Paris, Moulin Rouge, and the Folies Bergère.

His renown extended beyond the realm of performance. He was photographed by Man Ray, cast in Jean Cocteau’s experimental film Le sang d'un poete, was the subject of Cocteau’s essay Le numéro Barbette, and choreographed aerial scenes for Hollywood movies. It’s also possible he was the inspiration for Reinhold Schünzel’s musical comedy film Viktor und Viktoria, which was remade as Victor Victoria by Blake Edwards. Quite a legacy. We aren’t sure if his quip is particularly insightful, but even Barbette had his off days.

Feb 24: “A college girl who eloped put the heart before the course.”—G.S. Kaufman

Feb 25: “Women think about love more than men; that’s because men think more about women.”—Barbette

Feb 26: A woman’s strength is her weakness. She fights by yielding and conquers by falling.

Feb 27: :One group of people who live on love are the owners of drive-in theaters.”—Jack Herbert

Feb 28: “For every man there’s a woman; but the chances are one may get the wrong number.”—He-who Who-he

Mar 1: “Alimony: The high cost of guessing wrong.”—Quin Ryan

Mar 2: Every girl should have a husband, not necessarily her own—Hollywood Code

Folies Bergère Casino de Paris Moulin Rouge Le sang d'un poete Le numéro Barbette Viktor und Viktoria Victor Victoria Goodtime Weekly Calendar Ron Vogel G.S. Kaufman Jack Herbet Quin Ryan Barbette Man Ray Jean Cocteau Reinhold Schünzel Blake Edwards Vander Clyde Broadway

Vintage Pulp

Jan 20 2013

At this point why bother leaving it on?

Here's the latest page from Goodtime Weekly with a shot from Don Ornitz of February 1958 Playboy centerfold Cheryl Kubert. Kubert is a bit of a mystery. Early Playboy centerfolds were pretty demure, and she showed less than normal. She had already appeared in magazines such as Pageant, Gala and Argosy, and after her Playboy appearance was featured in their 1959 calendar, but after that there’s only a bit appearance in the movie Pal Joey, and a bit part in 1980’s Smokey and the Judge. She died in 1989, supposedly from suicide. The calendar quips are below.

Jan 20: “Many a girl is only as strong as her weakest wink.”—Sam Cowling

Jan 21: “A girl is grown up when she stops counting on her fingers and starts counting on her legs.”—Irv Kupcinet

Jan 22: “A wizard is a man who can describe—without gesture—an accordion or a girl.”—Quin Ryan

Jan 23: “Fashion is what a her does to a hem to get a him.”—Joe Hamilton

Jan 24: “A clever girl is one who knows how to give a man her own way.”—Tom Poston

Jan 25: “The greatest mystery in the world is a woman who is a bachelor.”—Loretta Young

Jan 26: “A confirmed bachelor is a guy who’ll go to a drive-in on a motorcycle.”—Scott Brady

Goodtime Weekly Calendar Playboy Argosy Pal Joey Cheryl Kubert Don Ornitz Scott Brady Tom Poston Loretta Young Joe Hamilton Quin Ryan Irv Kupcinet Sam Cowling

Vintage Pulp

Jan 13 2013

A pool with great resources.

Above, the latest page of the Goodtime Weekly Calendar of 1963, with a Tom Kelley image of a model that is unknown to us. This is Kelley's fourth page in the calendar, and you can see his others by clicking his keyword below.

Jan 13: “A woman never forgets her sex. She would rather talk with a man than an angel any day.”—O.W. Holmes

Jan 14: “In Hawaii, girls wear grass skirts. I used to watch and wait for the grass to catch on fire.”—Red Skelton

Jan 15: “A mermaid is half girl and more fish than you need.”—Jack Paar

Jan 16: “A capella is when you come out of the shower to answer a televised telephone.”—Johnny Carson

Jan 17: “A blonde is superior to a cat; a cat can only dye nine times.”—Sam Cowling

Jan 18: “Years ago a nice girl wouldn’t think of holding her date’s hand; now she has to.”—He-who Who-he

Jan 19: “A girl wants to buy a referee’s whistle, because she has a date with a basketball player.”—Quin Ryan

Goodtime Weekly Calendar Red Skelton O.W. Holmes Jack Paar Johnny Carson Sam Cowling Quin Ryan Tom Kelley

Vintage Pulp

Jun 2 2012

Be a darling and get me an iced tea with lemon.

The Goodtime Weekly Calendar of 1963 opens the month of June with a tropical-themed shot by Tom Kelley, whose name may be unfamiliar but whose work isn’t, if you’ve ever seen those famous nudes of a young Marilyn Monroe stretched on red velvet. Kelley shot those timeless photos in May 1949 for a pin-up calendar, and they were acquired by Playboy for its debut issue in 1953. The model above is unknown to us, but we love the shot. Kelley uses a standard-issue studio backdrop, but makes magic with a hammock and a great reclining pose. Kelley has another page in this calendar but it won’t come up until December. Guess you’ll have to keep visiting our website, right? Don’t answer that. The quotations this week focus on the institution of marriage. See below.

June 2: June is the month when the bride who has never had a broom in her hand sweeps up the aisle.

June 3: “A bridegroom is a wolf who paid too much for a whistle.”—Henry Morgan

June 4: Generally, the bride looks stunning and the groom looks stunned.

June 5: “Marriage is like boxing: the preliminaries are often better than the main event.”—Quin Ryan

June 6: “A Hollywood wedding, as a rule, is generally a retake.”—Rip Taylor

June 7: “15 percent of all tornadoes in this country fall in June. And so do most marriages.”—Phil Bowman

June 8: “There’s no use giving the groom a shower because he’s all washed up anyway.”—Henry Morgan

Goodtime Weekly Calendar Phil Bowman Rip Taylor Henry Morgan Quin Ryan Tom Kelley Marilyn Monroe nudity