 What can I say? My parents taught me to always demand more. 
Above, classic sleaze from Gordon Semple, Man-Crazy Hussy, aka Blonde Temptress, 1954, from Croydon Books. Often these novels seriously examined ’50s stereotypes, particularly those concerning what was appropriate sexual behavior for women, but the authors had little control when their serious stories were given crazy titles and wrapped in titillating covers. We can't tell you whether this novel is an attempt at real literature or if it's pure sleaze, because we aren't going to pay thirty bucks for it. We never go above ten dollars per—including shipping. But we're tempted. The art here is by Bernard Safran. See another example of his work here.
 *sob* It gets so confusing when the sinful stuff is the most fun. 
We love this melodramatic cover for Gordon Semple's Sinner. This was painted by Rudy Nappi, who most aficionados consider one of the best paperback illustrators of the mid-century period. He certainly had one of the longest careers. There are numerous works of his we don't have on this site, but the ones we've uploaded that we like best are here and here. Moving on to Gordon Semple, he was in reality William Neubauer, and wrote such sleaze novels as Love Crazy Millionaire, Blonde Temptress, and Man-Crazy Hussy. Sinner was originally titled Life of Passion, and was first published back in 1949. The above edition is from Croydon Books and hit newsstands in 1953. You can read the rear cover teaser below. 
 Forget my wife—I think I need help regaining feeling in my lower half. 
Nursing isn’t easy—especially in mid-century fiction, where in addition to dealing with medical issues you have to dodge the roaming hands of doctors and patients alike. Visiting Nurse, written by Norman Bligh, aka William Neubauer, deals with an angel of mercy sent into the slums who finds herself giving the fellas some unconventional treatments. Why? Because “she has all the weaknesses and yearnings of women, the need to be loved, the aching desires, the mad impulses” and because “she tries and tries again, yet cannot help making mistakes, cannot help the fact that she is a woman.” At this point, we'd note that the weaknesses and yearnings of men have reduced entire countries to parking lots, but that would be a digression. 1953 copyright, with cover art by Ray Pease.
 Baby, you are something special. And to imagine I once thought a quality spread only referred to the stock market. 
They say money can’t buy love, but it can certainly buy a reasonable facsimile. That’s not our opinion—that’s empirical reality. It works even if you’re even as old as this guy. Gordon Semple, aka William Neubauer, Norman Bligh, et al., explores the theme of love-for-money in Love-Crazy Millionaire, as a rich man gets tangled up with a woman who’s decided it’s time to get ahead in life. It comes from Croydon Publishing Company, and the excellent cover art is by Bernard Safran, who we need to feature more often. 1954 copyright on this. And now, the top 20 financial terms that sound sexual but aren’t: 20: Backup withholding 19: Tender offer 18: Liquidity put 17: Horizontal acquisition 16: Gypsy swap 15: Usufruct 14: 30-day wash rule 13: In-service withdrawal 12: Leptokurtosis 11: Open position 10: Jointly and severally 9: Receipt of deposit 8: Underperformance 7: Pump and dump 6: Naked straddle 5: Escheat period 4: Fallout risk 3: W-type bottom 2: Front-end load 1: Endowment
 I’ll go through it one more time for you. Mine are b’s, but there are also a’s, c’s, d’s, double-d’s... 
Above, an excellent George Gross cover for Bed-Time Angel written by Norman Bligh, aka William Arthur Neubauer, for Ecstasy Novel Magazine, March 1951.
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The headlines that mattered yesteryear.
1940—The Battle of Britain Begins
The German Air Force, aka the Luftwaffe, attacks shipping convoys off the coast of England, touching off what Prime Minister Winston Churchill describes as The Battle of Britain. 1948—Paige Takes Mound in the Majors
Satchel Paige, considered at the time the greatest of Negro League pitchers, makes his Major League debut for the Cleveland Indians at the age of 42. His career in the majors is short because of his age, but even so, as time passes, he is recognized by baseball experts as one of the great pitchers of all time. 1965—Biggs Escapes the Big House
Ronald Biggs, a member of the gang that carried out the Great Train Robbery in 1963, escapes from Wandsworth Prison by scaling a 30-foot wall with three other prisoners, using a ladder thrown in from the outside. Biggs remains at large for nearly forty years.
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