| Femmes Fatales | Mar 29 2021 |
It's a yellow banana occasion—no exceptions, no excuses.
This brilliant photo features the famed French burlesque dancer who billed herself as Maria Tuxedo. She appeared onstage at Le Crazy Horse cabaret, and this image was made there probably around 1968. We think it's amazing. There are other frames from this session, which was shot by Giancarlo Botti, and some of those are even in realistic color, but we like this desaturated look best.
Those of you in the know concerning burlesque have noticed that Tuxedo is channeling Josephine Baker. Baker may or may not have been the first to wear a skirt of bananas, but she undoubtedly was the one who made the look iconic. Ironically, the most famous photos of Baker in this mode 
don't feature her with real bananas, but rather costuming constructed to resemble them. The shots of her with actual bananas—such as the one you see here—are less famous.
don't feature her with real bananas, but rather costuming constructed to resemble them. The shots of her with actual bananas—such as the one you see here—are less famous.But the gimmick was indeed made into something lasting by Baker, and Tuxedo was definitely paying tribute when she wore her ungainly accoutrement. Yet she managed to make it look effortless, which shows yet again that, while beautiful women graced all niches of show business, burlesque dancers were special, aesthetically and athletically. We don't think they get enough credit for being some of the most inspiring figures of the mid-century era. But we always do our best to promote them, particularly in the jawdropping examples we've shared here, here, here, and here.
| Vintage Pulp | Mar 23 2021 |
When Uschi dusts the house, she dusts everything.
It's been a while, so today we have another issue of the iconic French nudie magazine Folies de Paris et de Hollywood. This issue is number 400, published in 1968, and the cover features German actress Uschi Glass, better known as Uschi Glas, with a feather duster. Almost identical but more revealing versions of the shot appeared on a couple of other magazines around the same time. Glas has been in too many movies to name, including in 2020, and we've seen none of them. But we have our eye on 1970's Die Weibchen, about a woman who joins a women's health clinic only to discover that it's run by feminist cannibals. We'll report back on that.
Inside Folies de Paris et de Hollywood there are more than twenty models, many of them Parisian cabaret dancers. The striking Belinda and the striking Marlène Funch are actually both the striking Iso Yban. Why did she pose as different women? No idea, but we recognized her immediately. In fact, we have an amazing and provocative image of her we'll show you a little later, if we dare. We love her name, by the way. It sounds like a flexibility exercise. But our favorite model name from the issue is Manila Wall, which is what MB hit when he realized it was time to get out of the Philippines. We all sometimes hit a Manila Wall in our lives. We'll have more from Folies de Paris et de Hollywood down the line.
FranceGermanyFolies de Paris et de HollywoodDie WeibchenUschi GlassUschi GlasIso Ybanburlesquenudity
| Femmes Fatales | Jan 17 2021 |
Three good Andreasons for these photos.
Above, three wonderful burlesque style images of mid-century dancer and actress Mylee Andreason. We can't confirm whether she was a legit touring burlesque performer, but we'll do some digging. As an actress she had two uncredited roles in King Richard and the Crusaders and the bizarrely titled comedy Phffft, both from 1954. These images are undated but from around that year.
| Intl. Notebook | Jan 1 2021 |
Don't just turn over a new leaf. Turn over twelve of them.
Let's start the year right. Everyone is hoping for a better 2021 than 2020. That's assuming you adhere to constrained, non-scientific ideas about time—for cynics and realists it's just another day. But in any case, above you see the cover of a 1959 nudie calendar that came inside an issue of the U.S. magazine Cocktail, a creation of Beacon Publications. The interior is below, and those with sharp eyes will spot a few notables—burlesque dancer Candy Barr in June, Shirley Kilpatrick in July and August (her July pose is the same as from the famed promo poster for the sci-fi film The Astounding She-Monster), and Jean Nieto, aka Ramona Rogers, in November. The other models may be well known too, but not by us, at least not today. When the cava hangover wears off, maybe our brains will work better. Then again, maybe the damage is permanent. Only time will tell. Happy New Year.
Beacon SignalThe Astounding She-MonsterCocktail MagazineShirley KilpatrickCandy BarrJean NietoRamona Rogersnudityburlesque
| Femmes Fatales | Dec 25 2020 |
What's more festive than a holiday candy cane?
Some people say Christmas. A few say X-mas. Many just say happy holidays. Whatever your preference, here's burlesque legend Lilly Christine—or if you prefer, Lilly X-ine—looking festive in a candy striped outfit. She's appeared on our website often, most notably in this series of photos from Carnival magazine we were the first to scan and upload. If you have the time and inclination, click her keywords below. And enjoy this day.
| Intl. Notebook | Sep 29 2020 |
This is the best Laff you'll have all day.
We've posted three issues of Laff magazine over the years, and we return to that publication today with an example from this month in 1946 featuring starlets, showgirls, and burlesque dancers of the highest order. You get Jane Russell, Adele Mara, Vera Ellen, and Myrna Dell, amongst others, but the winner in these pages is Acquanetta, aka the Venezuelan Volcano, who gets a striking tropical themed centerfold photo. In addition, you get a bit of sports coverage—specifically baseball, which is appropriate with the MLB playoffs starting tonight—as well as numerous cartoons.
These cartoons—the laffs in Laff magazine—tend to be sexist by today's standards, but then so is this entire website, really, which is an unavoidable side effect of focusing on vintage fiction, art, and photography. We hope the historical significance of the material overshadows all else. In any case, we included the cartoons despite their mostly lame humor, due to the fact that they're high quality illustrations well worth seeing. All that and more appears here in forty-plus scans and zooms, and you can see the other issues of Laff by clicking its keywords below.
LaffAdele MaraAcquanettaJane RussellMyrna DellVera EllenJoy SkylarHarry DanningDoreen DeMosDoris DeanPat HuttoVirginia Dewmagazine artburlesquebaseball
| Femmes Fatales | Sep 3 2020 |
She barely stomached Hollywood.
Adele Jergens, who appeared in I Love Trouble, The Corpse Came C.O.D., The Dark Path, and numerous other films, got her start in show business, like so many actresses of her era, when she won the a beauty contest—Miss World's Fairest, at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Later, as one of the famed Rockettes dancing troupe, she was named the number one showgirl in New York City. This led to her serving as understudy to burlesque dancer Gypsy Rose Lee in the Broadway production Star and Garter, and from there Jergens never looked back. That's probably why she forgot half of her sweater. This fun image of her with bare midriff was made in Los Angeles in 1946, by the pool at the famed Town House Hotel, a locale we've talked about more than once. Find out why by clicking its keywords below and scrolling through those posts, and you can do the same with Jergens if you want to see what else we've posted about her.
New York CityLos AngelesBroadwayTown House HotelStar and GarterI Love TroubleThe Corpse Came C.O.D.The Dark PathAdele JergensGypsy Rose Leeburlesque
| Vintage Pulp | Aug 4 2020 |
They have a certain je sais exactement quoi.
Yes, we have yet another issue of Cancans de Paris, this time from August 1967, with Teffie Winters on the cover and inside. There are plenty of fun French burlesque and glamour magazines, but Cancans is a particularly convivial one. Generally, these focus strictly on women, but this issue has a horoscope, which we've included for those of you out there who read French. But you don't need astrology to predict the future. Just keep coming back to Pulp Intl. and the future will be filled with fun, films, fiction, and femmes fatales. We have five other issues of Cancans de Paris in the website. They're available various places online, so if you want them for yourself, they're out there for the getting. To see the issues we've shared, click the keywords below and enjoy a leisurely scroll.
| Vintage Pulp | Jul 19 2020 |
We're not sure what mesdemoiselles are, but we'd like to meet one.
Remember those amazing front and rear covers of Nichigeki Music Hall magazine we showed you? We thought you'd like to see what's inside one. Below we have a 1955 cover, with its promise of “mesdemoiselles,” and some interior scans. We actually know what mesdemoiselles are, because we looked it up. It's the plural of mademoiselle. We're aways learning. The inside of this mag isn't as impressive as the outside, but how could it be? That's often the way it went in vintage publishing, where so much effort was put into luring buyers with pretty cover art. Exactly how pretty does this magazine get? Check our previous post.
| Vintage Pulp | Jul 13 2020 |
There's no business like showgirl business.
Below, the cover and virtually the entire interior of the bi-monthly U.S. cheesecake magazine Showgirls, featuring burlesque dancers, chorus girls, and semi-famous models of the era, published in July 1947 with a great cover by George Gross.
