Pulp International

vintage and modern pulp fiction; noir, schlock and exploitation films; scandals, swindles and news

FUR EVERYONE TO SEE

God-amighty! Is that a kitty cat under there? *gnaw* Can I stroke it?

Above: a somewhat bizarre cover for Erskine Caldwell’s Tobacco Road, an oft reprinted book, seen here in its Great Pan edition from 1959. It’s a Depression era Southern Gothic family drama about the cycle of poverty, undereducation, and misfortune ensnaring a sharecropping family, and is one of the most famous U.S. novels ever published. It appeared originally in 1932, was banned and burned by reactionaries, feted by literati, and proven through the passage of time to be a significant work. The art here is by Danish virtuoso Hans Helweg. It’s derived from a scene early in the book:

Ellie May was edging closer and closer to Lov. She was moving across the yard by raising her weight on her hands and feet and sliding herself over the hard white sand. She was smiling at Lov, and trying to make him take more notice of her. She could not wait any longer for him to come to her, so she was going to him. Her harelip was spread open across her upper teeth, making her mouth appear as though she had no upper lip at all. Men usually would have nothing to do with Ellie May; but she was eighteen now, and she was beginning to discover that it should be possible for her to get a man in spite of her appearance.

So now you know why Helweg probably chose the angle he did for Ellie May—not for what’s under her dress, but because of her countenance. Even Great Pan Books, based in England and possibly subject to less censorship than U.S. imprints, would have balked at an accurate depiction of Ellie May’s face as Caldwell describes it. Helweg’s solution made for an unusual but superior cover. This is only the second time we’ve featured him on the website, but hopefully not the last.

Denmark, Pan Books, Great Pan, Great Depression, Erskine Caldwell, Hans Helweg, cover art, literature

CARRYING ON

Where they stop nobody knows.

Below: more vintage covers of people getting carried away. The artists include Mitchell Hooks, Louis Carrière, Victor Kalin, George Chrichard, Giovanni Benvenuti, Albert Pujolar Soler, who signed as “Schöller,” James Avati, and Frank Frazetta. Our previous collection is here.

Margery Allingham, Eric Hatch, Dana Chambers, Garrett Weston, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Edgar Wallace, Dean Owen, Yves Dermèze, J.H. Walls, Harry Whittington, Anthony Morton, Peter Derby, Jean Cecile, Bernard Mara, Leo Saint Coutant, David Lynn, Hal Kantor, Frank G. Slaughter, Erskine Caldwell, Mitchell Hooks, Louis Carrière, Victor Kalin, Giovanni Benvenuti, George Chrichard, Albert Pujolar Soler, Schöller, James Avati, Frank Frazetta, cover art, cover collection, literature

TOXIC RELATIONSHIP

Don't look at me that way, raspberry martini. You know as well as I do you've been responsible for all my problems.

Do you have a friend like this? We bet lots of you do. The woman on Erskine Caldwell’s Love and Money looks like she’s playing hard to get, but her friend looks like the persuasive sort, so we bet she’ll give in. This came from Signet Books in 1956 and the cover was painted by James Avanti. It fits into our ever growing women-in-bars collection. 

Signet Books, Erskine Caldwell, James Avati, cover art, literature

LIP SYNCING

Kiss me and I'll kiss you back.

Below, another collection of covers featuring characters expressing a little affection, a continuation of the lip locks we put together way back in 2013, and an adjunct to our collection of Harry Barton neck kisses from 2017. 

Bonus action: see more kisses here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Tiffany Thayer, Michael Avallone, Franklin M. Davis Jr., Von Hoffman, Ruth Livingston, Florenz Branch, Rex Weldon, Ruth Park, Kathleen Norris, R. G. Mayzk, Robert Carse, Robert Paul Smith, John Dexter, Peter Cheyney, J.B. O'Sullivan, Perry Lindsay, Harry Best, Erskine Caldwell, Watkins E. Wright, Don Elliott, Van Nize, William E. Gordon, Edith Roberts, Frank Yerby, Kyle Onstott, Lance Horner, Dick Dale, Vicki Baum, Nancy Hale, John Bramlett, James Ramsey Ullman, Viña Delmar, Ian Stuart Black, Dana Wilson, James M. Cain, John B. Thompson, Judith Heiman, Gordon Merrick, Kim Savage, Daoma Winston, Vladimir Nabokov, William Faulkner, Alberto Moravia, Dylan Thomas, Émile Zola, Robert Wilder, Martha Gellhorn, Ellen Caren, Robert Briffault, Anthony Thorne, Theodore Pratt, Vincent James, Faith Baldwin, cover art, cover collection, literature

THE SOUTH SHALL RISE

Um, Georgia Boy—see if you can put down that unrest you've got happening down around Savannah.
George Mayers does the cover work for the Erskine Caldwell short story collection Georgia Boy, which first appeared in 1943, and in this Avon paperback edition in 1947. While it’s a story collection, all the tales are narrated by one young character and mainly discuss the poor Stroup family and their friends, acquaintances, and neighbors. This is Caldwell in a more humorous mode than normal, but the underlying themes of his work—particularly poverty and racism—remain, as in the tale “Handsome Brown’s Day Off,” in which a black character becomes a living target at a carnival.

We recently encountered this phenomenon in a Jim Thompson novel, and what we thought, or at least hoped, was a case of literary flourish was actual reality—in the Jim Crow south white carnival goers paid to throw baseballs at black men’s heads. The balls were generally of a novelty variety, which is to say heavy enough to fly straight, though not hard enough to be lethal, but still. Making the tableau even more horrific was the requirement that the target stick his head through a hole in a jungle backdrop and that he grin and mug for the assembled whites as he tried to dodge the baseballs.

We checked it out in other sources and confirmed the prevalence of this barbaric practice. We also found that carnivals in northern states did it too, though it was far more common down south. Apparently the big fun with these spectacles occurred whenever some college or professional pitcher showed up and thrilled the crowd by nailing these poor guys’ heads at high velocity.
 
We found a 1908 article, which you see at right, about a group of pro baseball players who substituted normal baseballs for novelty ones and repeatedly beaned a man, putting him in the hospital, where it was feared he might not survive. The target was said to have taken the punishment “courageously,” and of course there was no suggestion of charges being filed.

We also found two other mentions of “African dodgers”—the gentlest term used to describe them—being killed. Things like these need to be remembered, especially in light of today’s cultural battles wherein a segment of people seek to propagate a myth of the south as misunderstood. But literature, besides its other value, is often useful for preserving history, as Erskine Caldwell shows. That said, in Georgia Boy we preferred the stories about sex and we have a feeling you will too. 

Georgia, Avon Publications, Erskine Caldwell, George Mayers, cover art, literature

A FOOL AND HIS MONEY

Harder! Harder! Hit it like you're beating a refund out of that barber you went to!

First published in 1930, the above paperback edition of Poor Fool appeared in 1953 from New York City based Novel Selections. It was Erskine Caldwell’s second novel, and bears the Caldwell hallmarks—southern milieu, senseless violence, crime, betrayal, prostitution, etc. The poor fool of the title is Blondy Niles, a mediocre boxer who gets involved in a moneymaking scam that goes terribly wrong. Probably the most notable aspect of the book is the character Mrs. Boxx, who’s one of Caldwell’s most vicious villains—and that’s really saying something. The entire story is packed with grim stuff, but of course literature isn’t always supposed to be pleasant. We love the cover art on this edition, with its foppish Blondy Niles pounding—well, more like nudging—the heavy bag, but sadly it’s uncredited.

Novel Selections, Erskine Caldwell, cover art, literature, boxing

IT TAKES A VILLAGE

The whole town knew—but was what they knew right?

It’s amazing how many mid-century authors were compared to Erskine Caldwell, but such was his influence that any pass at southern smalltown loving, feuding, and corruption prompted reviewers to cite him as the king of the genre. Francis Irby Gwaltney’s The Whole Town Knew, originally published as The Yeller-Headed Summer, was compared by many to Caldwell. It deals with the rape and murder of a woman, subsequent efforts to find her killer or killers, efforts to keep the details of her free-spirited ways out of court, local newspaper drama, a not-too-bright lawman in way over his head, and more.

This lawman is the center of the book, and his problems mount tremendously—starting with the fact that he’s supposed to leave influential members of the community alone and stick to policing poor and powerless folk. Art imitates life, right? The town of Walnut Creek was close kin to the burgs from Caldwell’s oeuvre, as were the antics of the townspeople, but the book was well reviewed, leading to Irby—actually a protégée of Norman Mailer, whose mentorship was instrumental—becoming very famous for a time. We love the cover art on this 1955 Popular Library edition. It was painted by Ray Johnson, who always does great work, as you can see here and here.

Popular Library, Francis Irby Gwaltney, Norman Mailer, Erskine Caldwell, Ray Johnson, cover art, literature

OSTRICK RECIPE

J. Oval’s style was as clean and vivid as a master chef’s.

Illustrator J. Oval was a Brit named Ben Ostrick who painted under both his pseudonym and real name. His crisp illustrations helped make Pan Books, which debuted in 1944, one of the most eye-catching mid-century imprints. Pan is still around as part of Britain-based Macmillan Publishers, which is in turn owned by the Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group of Germany. Many of Oval’s pieces for Pan were paired with works so obscure they’re almost impossible to find today, but above you see a good-sized collection, including a few we managed to turn up that haven’t been widely seen. With few exceptions they all use the same formula, though he would occasionally deviate by painting a fully rendered background, or populating a scene with more than one or two figures. You can see a couple more Oval covers in our collection of Asia-influenced paperback art here, and we also shared a small collection of his work back in 2011 that you can find here. 

Germany, Britain, Pan Books, MacMillam Publishers, Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, J. Oval, Ben Ostrick, Ronald Leavis, Alec Waugh, Nicholas Monserrat, Douglas Angus, Glendon Swarthout, Paul Scott, Gerald Green, William Bradford Huie, Patrick Quentin, R.H. Ward, Peter Cheyney, Ray Russell, Erskine Caldwell, Any Bonneval, Georgette Heyer, cover art, cover collection, literature

ALL THUMBS

Well, mostly thumbs.

The hitchhiker has been a central element of many a mid-century thriller, with the results of these rides ranging from hot sex to bloody murder, and several outcomes between. Above you see a cover for Jean Holbrook’s Girl on the Run, and below is a collection of more paperback covers depicting various characters casting their fates to the road. Wish them luck—they’ll need it. And thanks to all the original uploaders on these.

Jean Holbrook, Edward D. Radin, David Wade, Gerald Kramer, Ben Benson, Georges Simenon, Amos Hatter, Cass Regan. M.J. Jacobs, Robert C. Du Soe, Jean Lilly, Carter Brown, Reese Hayes, Bill Lauren, Paul Rader, Barye Phillips, A. I. Bezzerides, Howard Pease, Erskine Caldwell, C. A. Gonnet, Peter Willow, Jef de Wulf, Jerome Jans, Erle Stanley Gardner, cover art, cover collection, literature

KEYHOLES TO THE CITY

Maybe you shouldn't look, but sometimes you just can't help yourself.

A couple of months ago we mentioned the popularity of keyhole themed pulp art and said we’d gather some examples. Well, today’s the day. Below are fifteen pieces of keyhole cover art for your enjoyment.

Jay de Bekker, Orrie Hitt, Peggy Gaddis, Jack Ray, George Maxwell, Ernie Weatherall, Jack Woodford, Harold Q. Masur, Alfred Gesheidt, Fan Nichols, Erskine Caldwell, Alex Pinon, Erle Stanley Gardner, George Maxwell, cover collection, cover art, literature
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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1960—To Kill a Mockingbird Appears

Harper Lee’s racially charged novel To Kill a Mockingbird is published by J.B. Lippincott & Co. The book is hailed as a classic, becomes an international bestseller, and spawns a movie starring Gregory Peck, but is the only novel Lee would ever publish.

1962—Nuke Test on Xmas Island

As part of the nuclear tests codenamed Operation Dominic, the United States detonates a one megaton bomb on Australian controlled Christmas Island, in the Indian Ocean. The island was a location for a series of American and British nuclear tests, and years later lawsuits claiming radiation damage to military personnel were filed, but none were settled in favor in the soldiers.

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 remained at large, mostly living in Brazil, for more than forty-five years before returning to the UK—and arrest—in 2001.

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DON’T RIDE THE WHITE HORSE

Rafael DeSoto painted this excellent cover for David Hulburd's 1954 drug scare novel H Is for Heroin. We also have the original art without text.

BARN GIRLS

Two Spanish language digest novels from Argentine publishers Malinca Debora and Malinca Nueva Pandora.
Argentine publishers Malinca Debora reprinted numerous English language crime thrillers in Spanish. This example uses George Gross art borrowed from U.S. imprint Rainbow Books.

LOVES OF A BLONDE

Uncredited cover art for Orrie Hitt's 1954 novel Tawny. Hitt was a master of sleazy literature and published more than one hundred fifty novels.

INSATIABLE APPETITE

George Gross art for Joan Sherman’s, aka Peggy Gaddis Dern’s 1950 novel Suzy Needs a Man.

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