ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE

Obviously the poor guy tripped and fell, breaking every bone in his body and bashing his brains out. Maybe someone up there saw it.

The Case of Spiv’s Secret by Anthony Parsons was an entry in the Sexton Blake Library series, and came in 1950 from British publishing company Amalgamated Press. The Sexton Blake Library is what was known as a story paper, basically a magazine with illustrations, and this one appeared two to four times a month, starting all the way back in 1915 and continuing until 1968, which is an amazing run. We had to look up the word “spiv”—with serious trepidation. But it turned out to be relatively innocuous. A spiv can be a flashy dresser, but its other definition—which we suspect is Parsons’ usage here—is a sort of petty or low-class criminal. The artist on this is Eric Parker. You can see a few more Sexton Blake titles here, here, and here.

Britain, Amalgamated Press, Sexton Blake Library, Anthony Parsons, magazine art, literature

Vintage Pulp

November 24 2008

A PERFECT STRANGLER

Don’t take it personally, my dear. To paraphrase Ben Franklin, two can keep a secret only if one is dead.

We have it on good authority that Keep it Secret! is now required reading for all new employees of the National Security Agency and the cover hangs as a poster in the cafeteria. The book was written by Philip Chambers for Sexton Blake Library, which was a line of mysteries printed by London’s Amalgamated Press between 1915 and 1968, and which starred the titular Blake—a fictional British detective almost as famous as Sherlock Holmes. Over the years about two-hundred authors wrote Blake stories. Philip Chambers wrote or co-wrote seven entries in the series between 1960 and 1963, with this one appearing in 1961. The cover art is by Stefan Barany, who worked for Amalgamated on the Sexton Blake line for a couple of years but seems to have had virtually no other output. He was a very capable artist, though, based on this effort.

London, Amalgamated Press, Blake Sexton Library, Philip Chambers, Stefan Barany, cover art, literature

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

October 7

1959—Dark Side of Moon Revealed

The Soviet space probe Luna 3 transmits the first photographs of the far side of the moon. The photos generate great interest, and scientists are surprised to see mountainous terrain, very different from the near side, and only two seas, which the Soviets name Mare Moscovrae (Sea of Moscow) and Mare Desiderii (Sea of Desire).

October 6

1966—LSD Declared Illegal in U.S.

LSD, which was originally synthesized by a Swiss doctor and was later secretly used by the CIA on military personnel, prostitutes, the mentally ill, and members of the general public in a project code named MKULTRA, is designated a controlled substance in the United States.

October 5

1945—Hollywood Black Friday

A six month strike by Hollywood set decorators becomes a riot at the gates of Warner Brothers Studios when strikers and replacement workers clash. The event helps bring about the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act, which, among other things, prohibits unions from contributing to political campaigns and requires union leaders to affirm they are not supporters of the Communist Party.

October 4

1957—Sputnik Circles Earth

The Soviet Union launches the satellite Sputnik I, which becomes the first artificial object to orbit the Earth. It orbits for two months and provides valuable information about the density of the upper atmosphere. It also panics the United States into a space race that eventually culminates in the U.S. moon landing.

October 4

1970—Janis Joplin Overdoses

American blues singer Janis Joplin is found dead on the floor of her motel room in Los Angeles. The cause of death is determined to be an overdose of heroin, possibly combined with the effects of alcohol.