THE SUBSTANCE OF FIRE

It takes planning and skill to contain a Blaze.

Burlesque dancer, nudist, and tabloid personality Blaze Starr is captured in oils by painter Joseph Sheppard in a photo made in his studio this month in 1955. Starr was only twenty-three, but well known thanks to an appearance the previous year in Esquire. Sheppard was also well known, and would continue growing into an artist of international renown. In addition to his numerous paintings, he was also a highly regarded sculptor with many works to his credit, and would eventually create the Brooks Robinson statue that stands outside Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

This portrait wasn’t the only one Starr and Sheppard made together, but it’s the only one that was photographed in progress. Or seemingly in progress, anyway. Considering that the painting actually looks finished, the shot may be staged. But it’s nice anyway. Sheppard also made either a study or a separate piece in pencils, with a reverse orientation, which you see below too. We probably won’t see Sheppard here again, but if you’re interested in his work there’s a website that shares his pieces and the details of his life. As for Starr, she’ll be back eventually. You can count on it. Meanwhile, see her again here and here.

Diane Webber brings a bit of warmth to winter in Baltimore.

Today’s Technicolor lithograph features a recognizable figure for once—the much adored Diane Webber, a California born model, dancer, and actress who was also known as Marguerite Empey and became one of the most important fixtures of the 1950s and 1960s nudist magazine scene. You can see a few examples of those here. Webber was also a two-time Playboy centerfold under her Empey persona, in May 1955 and February 1956. We’ve mentioned before that the blank spaces at the tops of these Technicolor prints were made for the insertion of advertising, and at right you see how that worked with a calendar for a Baltimore, Maryland establishment called Stanley’s Drive-In. The original image came from the A. Scheer Company, was called Exclusively Yours, and appeared in 1955. The calendar came out in the winter of 1958.

Matchmaker, matchmaker make me a match.

I’ve had these matches for years. They come from probably 1950 and have Blaze Starr on the cover. I never actually saw her dance because I would have been -10 in 1950, but some years ago, and I can’t remember where or when, I came to own this matchbook and it got me interested in burlesque. Today I have numerous photos, programs, coasters and all sorts of memorabilia that I imagine must constitute one of the better collections around. I saw this exact matchbook go on Ebay for forty dollars a while back, so I scanned mine and was going to auction it, but then I changed my mind. After all, Blaze got me started on this hobby, so I probably shouldn’t just sell her. But I had a feeling you would like this, so these scans are yours now. 

Thanks for sharing. This is exactly the type of item we would never be able to acquire here, and that’s one big reason we put together the reader pulp interface. Nice sub-head, by the way. Not sure we would have thought of that. So, we don’t want to create a dilemma for you, but we did a quick search and found an auction site here where your matchbook sold for $146.18. Does that change your feelings about Miss Starr at all? 

 
Great weapon! Mind if I hold it? Wow, this little darlin' is just amazingly—KABOOM!

We could do an entire comedy routine on this one, vis-à-vis “Nimrod” and whether anyone involved here understood the non-literal aspects of the term, but instead we’ll just deliver the facts. This is the cover of a program for the L.M.S. Sportsmen’s Show, held in Baltimore, Maryland in the autumn of 1946, with Bob Hoke art in a Norman Rockwell vein. Inside you get a bunch of fishing and hunting articles, along with a few photos, lots of coupons for things like bullets and bait, and zero content on what to do in the event of accidentally shooting a friend in the face, i.e. pulling a Cheney. On the bright side, with his hunting buddy in intensive care, maybe he’ll get to keep the gun. 

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1989—Anti-Feminist Gunman Kills 14

In Montreal, Canada, at the École Polytechnique, a gunman shoots twenty-eight young women with a semi-automatic rifle, killing fourteen. The gunman claimed to be fighting feminism, which he believed had ruined his life. After the killings he turns the gun on himself and commits suicide.

1933—Prohibition Ends in United States

Utah becomes the 36th U.S. state to ratify the 21st Amendment to the United States Constitution, thus establishing the required 75% of states needed to overturn the 18th Amendment which had made the sale of alcohol illegal. But the criminal gangs that had gained power during Prohibition are now firmly established, and maintain an influence that continues unabated for decades.

1945—Flight 19 Vanishes without a Trace

During an overwater navigation training flight from Fort Lauderdale, five U.S. Navy TBM Avenger torpedo-bombers lose radio contact with their base and vanish. The disappearance takes place in what is popularly known as the Bermuda Triangle.

1918—Wilson Goes to Europe

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sails to Europe for the World War I peace talks in Versailles, France, becoming the first U.S. president to travel to Europe while in office.

1921—Arbuckle Manslaughter Trial Ends

In the U.S., a manslaughter trial against actor/director Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle ends with the jury deadlocked as to whether he had killed aspiring actress Virginia Rappe during rape and sodomy. Arbuckle was finally cleared of all wrongdoing after two more trials, but the scandal ruined his career and personal life.

1964—Mass Student Arrests in U.S.

In California, Police arrest over 800 students at the University of California, Berkeley, following their takeover and sit-in at the administration building in protest at the UC Regents’ decision to forbid protests on university property.

1968—U.S. Unemployment Hits Low

Unemployment figures are released revealing that the U.S. unemployment rate has fallen to 3.3 percent, the lowest rate for almost fifteen years. Going forward all the way to the current day, the figure never reaches this low level again.

Cover art by the great Sandro Symeoni for Peter Cheyney's mystery He Walked in her Sleep, from Ace Books in 1949.
The mysterious artist who signed his or her work as F. Harf produced this beautiful cover in 1956 for the French publisher S.E.P.I.A.
Aslan art was borrowed for many covers by Dutch publisher Uitgeverij A.B.C. for its Collection Vamp. The piece used on Mike Splane's Nachtkatje is a good example.

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