Vintage Pulp

October 25 2017

ONE FOR THE MONEY

Sigh. Just pose and get paid. And remember—nobody I know will ever see these photos.

This Technicolor lithograph published by Champion Line features Dolores Del Monte, Playboy magazine’s centerfold for March 1954, in a shot entitled “Radiant Beauty.” Del Monte began her modeling career posing for the legendary photographer Bruno Bernard and the acclaimed pin-up painter Zoe Mozert, at times making as much as $50 a day. That was in 1951, when that pay rate was the equivalent of about $500 in today’s money. A year later Del Monte quit modeling. In 1954 the above photo was offered to Playboy. Though Bruno Bernard shot it, the centerfold credited the John Baumgarth Company of Melrose Park, Illinois. Such are the entanglements of copyright. When Del Monte received a letter asking permission to use her likeness she assumed Playboy was a standard pin-up magazine, and the images requested were from a shoot she recalled where she wore a leopard pattern bathing suit. Wrong on both counts, and one can only imagine her reaction when the centerfold hit newsstands, since she was not only married but a mother by then. Well, at least she got the $50. And the world? It got something priceless. We have lots more classic Technicolor lithos, and you can see those by clicking here.

Melrose Park, Technicolor pin-up, Playboy, John Baumgarth Company, Champion Line, Dolores Del Monte, Zoe Mozert, Bruno Bernard, nudity

Femmes Fatales

July 29 2013

WALK, THIS WAY

I’ll be so famous people will completely forget about that other Marilyn. Just wait and see.

When you hear the phrase “Marilyn Walk” you probably associate it with Marilyn Monroe’s distinctive sashay. That’s a fine image, but if your name happens literally to be Marilyn Walk then that means you went down in Hollywood history unremembered. We like to imagine Walk dreaming of catching her first big break and seeing an article about herself entitled “Walk of Fame.” It doesn’t seem as if that happened, but this shot by renowned lensman Bruno Bernard, aka Bernard of Hollywood, bestows a sort of fame upon Walk all by itself by making her image a rare collectible. It was probably made during the early 1950s. And just in case you think we’re making up her name, the reverse of the photo appears below.

Update: We now think this is Playboy model Marilyn Waltz. The look is right, the time is right, and the name is close. She was probably trying out a pseudonym to dissociate herself from her centerfold appearances, which spanned February 1954 to April 1955. Or this shot predated those appearances and she used a new name for her nude modeling. Either way, we’re 95% on her identity.

Marilyn Walk, Marilyn Waltz, Bruno Bernard, Bernard of Hollywood

Vintage Pulp

December 8 2012

BABY’S ALL GROWN UP

Aww, we can’t believe how big she’s gotten.

A naked woman in a baby crib? From our 2012 perspective we think the whole idea is a bit deviant, but in 1963 presumably this photo from Bruno Bernard, aka Bernard of Hollywood, was totally innocuous, right? No, we didn’t think so either. Nude photography runs the gamut. Sometimes it depicts women as strong or even domineering, but more often it suggests that the perfect woman is pliant and childlike, so to us at least, going the extra step and putting the model in a crib is just a bit too overt for good taste. But we were not even zygotes in 1963 so we’re not trying to judge. The photo is pretty, and that’s really all we can say. The week’s quips, with observations from poet Carl Sandburg and actor Vincent Price, are below.

Dec 8: “A baby is God’s opinion that the world should go on.”—Carl Sandburg

Dec 9: “A lot of girls who can dish it out can’t cook it.”—Vincent Price

Dec 10: Behind every successful man there’s a woman nagging him he’s not so hot.

Dec 11: “Solo: A loud passage played by the orchestra leader’s brother-in-law.”—John Doremus

Dec 12: “Every time my mother-in-law comes to sleep at our house, I have breakfast in bed. I sleep in the kitchen.”—Bobby Ramsen

Dec 13: “The modern girl marries for keeps; she keeps on working and keeps house.”—Paul Fogarty

Dec 14: There’s no economy in going to bed early to save candles if the result is twins—Chinese Prov.

Goodtime Weekly Calendar, Bernard of Hollywood, Bruno Bernard, Carl Sandburg, Vincent Price, John Doremus, Paul Fogarty, Bobby Ramsen, nudity

Vintage Pulp

October 14 2012

LADY AND THE TRAMPOLINE

When she says jump you ask how high.

Some call it cheesecake, glamour, or even smut, but we prefer to call it preserving the ephemera of history. For instance, this image by the renowned mid-century photographer Bruno Bernard, aka Bernard of Hollywood, did not exist on the internet a moment ago. And now it does. See how that works? So think of us as archivists, and yourselves as researchers. That probably won’t help if someone sees you looking at this image, but hey, it’s worth a try.

Of late, when reading the Goodtime Weekly quips, we’ve been imagining them delivered as part of a stand-up show—i.e., followed by uproarious laughter. That actually helps a bit. When we obey the two drink minimum that helps even more. Next we’re going to steal a few of these lines and try them out in the real world. After all, the true test of a quip is whether actual living and breathing, flesh and blood humans laugh at it. So we’re going to give some of these a trial run and get back to you. Stay tuned.

Oct 13: Mother Nature still blushes before disrobing.

Oct 14: “Sometimes a man pulls the wool over his wife’s eyes with the wrong yarn.”—Mitch Miller

Oct 15: “Have you heard of an elephant that went on a diet? Now he’s eating like a horse.”—Peggie Castle

Oct 16: “The ten best years of a woman’s life are between her 25th and 26th birthday.”—Jerry Lester

Oct 17: “Overheard at a restaurant: ‘She promised to love, honor, and obey. Now I’d settle for only one.’”—Irv Kupcinet

Oct 18: “Every husband knows the best time to wash the dishes is right after his wife tells him.”—Paul Gibson

Oct 19: “Husbands are like furnaces. You have to watch them or they’ll go out.”—Sam Cowling

Goodtime Weekly Calendar, Bernard of Hollywood, Bruno Bernard, Peggie Castle, Mitch Miller, Jerry Lester, Irv Kupcinet, Paul Gibson, Sam Cowling, nudity

Vintage Pulp

July 1 2012

SPONGE BABE

Hmm, maybe I should change this wallpaper.

Some well known photographers have contributed to the Goodtime Weekly Calendar, but the above image is by a true icon—Bruno Bernard, aka Bernard of Hollywood. The German-born Bernard possessed a doctorate in criminal psychology and had no formal photographic training, but after leaving Germany in 1937 was operating his own portrait studio within a year.

His second studio was on Sunset Boulevard, and that’s where he worked for 25 years, along the way creating such iconic images as Marilyn Monroe’s Niagara and River of No Return promos, Lili St. Cyr’s Indian headdress and transparent bathtub shots, and portraits of virtually every star in mid-century Hollywood. The Goodtime Calendar has several other Bernard contributions, and you’ll see those as the year continues.

As a side note, you may be wondering why we’re showing you this second week of July image a week early. It’s because we’re headed off to Sevilla, Spain tomorrow for a week or so, and we won’t be posting during that time. Well, you never know. Probably we won’t. Depends on what we see. But anyway, we didn’t want our vacation to interrupt our Goodtime Weekly series, so you get this page a week early. You also get the quips a week early:

July 7: “When a man opens the car door for his wife, it’s either a new car or a new wife.”—Larry Attebery

July 8: When a pensive little thing gets married, she often becomes an expensive little thing.

July 9: “A psychiatrist is a man who doesn’t have to worry so long as other people do.”—Pat Buttram

July 10: “A Hollywood guy changes his name once, a dollar bill once in a while, and his girl once she gets wise.”—Joe Hamilton

July 11: A man is incomplete until he marries—then he’s really finished.

July 12: “Science is dandy, but what makes a world’s fair is sex and cotton candy.”—Gracie Hansen

July 13: Small town: a place where there’s no recreation for single folks once the sun goes down.

Update: Turns out the model is named Terry Higgins. We just discovered this in June 2015, but better late than never. At least you know we’re always updating and refining the information on our site.

Germany, Hollywood, Niagara, River of No Return, Goodtime Weekly Calendar, Bruno Bernard, Bernard of Hollywood, Marilyn Monroe, Lili St. Cyr, Larry Attebery, Pat Buttram, Joe Hamilton, Gracie Hansen, Terry Higgins, nudity

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

December 12

1968—Tallulah Bankhead Dies

American actress, talk show host, and party girl Tallulah Bankhead, who was fond of turning cartwheels in a dress without underwear and once made an entrance to a party without a stitch of clothing on, dies in St. Luke’s Hospital in New York City of double pneumonia complicated by emphysema.

December 11

1962—Canada Has Last Execution

The last executions in Canada occur when Arthur Lucas and Ronald Turpin, both of whom are Americans who had been extradited north after committing separate murders in Canada, are hanged at Don Jail in Toronto. When Turpin is told that he and Lucas will probably be the last people hanged in Canada, he replies, â€œSome consolation.â€

December 11

1964—Guevara Speaks at U.N.

Ernesto “Che” Guevara, representing the nation of Cuba, speaks at the 19th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York City. His speech calls for wholesale changes in policies between rich nations and poor ones, as well as five demands of the United States, none of which are met.

December 11

2008—Legendary Pin-Up Bettie Page Dies

After suffering a heart attack several days before, erotic model Bettie Page, who in the 1950s became known as the Queen of Pin-ups, dies when she is removed from life support machinery. Thanks to the unique style she displayed in thousands of photos and film loops, Page is considered one of the most influential beauties who ever lived.

December 10

1935—Downtown Athletic Club Awards First Trophy

The Downtown Athletic Club in New York City awards its first trophy for athletic achievement to University of Chicago halfback Jay Berwanger. The prize is later renamed the Heisman Trophy, and becomes the most prestigious award in college athletics.

December 10

1968—Japan's Biggest Heist Occurs

300 million yen is stolen from four employees of the Nihon Shintaku Ginko bank in Tokyo when a man dressed as a police officer blocks traffic due to a bomb threat, makes them exit their bank car while he checks it for a bomb, then drives away in it. Under Japanese statute of limitations laws, the thief could come forward today with no repercussions, but nobody has ever taken credit for the crime.

December 9

1965—UFO Reported by Thousands of Witnesses

A large, brilliant fireball is seen by thousands in at least six U.S. states and Ontario, Canada as it streaks across the sky, reportedly dropping hot metal debris, starting grass fires, and causing sonic booms. It is generally assumed and reported by the press to be a meteor, however some witnesses claim to have approached the fallen object and seen an alien craft.

HELLO YELLOW

Italian artist Benedetto Caroselli illustrated this set of predominantly yellow covers for Editrice Romana Periodici's crime series I Narratori Americani del Brivido.

JUST TO BE FAIR