SEX TRAFFIC JAM

She's bound and determined to put the bad guys out of business.


Uncensored secrets and sinister vice scandals? Sounded good to us, so we screened a copy of Slaves in Bondage, which is an envelope pushing 1930s crime drama featuring fast women, tough guys, heavy drinking, and late nights folded into a story about big city sex trafficking, or white slavery, as it was usually referred to back in the day. Specifically, the story follows the efforts of an organized crime game to install beautiful Lona Andre in one of their brothels. Head gangster Wheeler Oakman takes a special interest in Andre, but she starts to get wise and begins to turn the tables on him and his henchmen. The movie pretends to be a cautionary tale, but really it’s an excuse to give squares a glimpse of raucous clubs and backstage dressing rooms. It’s fairly racy, with women in lingerie, dialogue hinting at premarital sex, several sexy dance numbers, and an infamous scene where two negligee clad women roll around on a bed and smack each other’s asses. We loved it. The acting, direction, and editing are clunky as hell, but the film is significant and worth a gander. It premiered in the U.S. today in 1937.

Is this what football announcers mean when they talk about a perfect snap?

Because we’re like teenagers it amuses us when we hear sports terms that sound sexual. We’ve indulged in this juvenile amusement on Pulp Intl. once or twice. Or maybe even three times. The best unintentionally sexual NFL commentary we heard this football season was: “Look, here’s my thing—” Which was followed by silence. And we thought, well these broadcasters are certainly making the most of their time stuck together in that tiny booth.

Anyway, 1930s movie star Lona Andre, née Luana Anderson, shows some ball control skills in this promo photo we thought was fitting for today, which is of course Super Bowl Sunday. Andre made a number of notable films, including 1934’s School for Girls and 1937’s Slaves in Bondage. This photo was made for her film College Humor, which is fitting, because that’s about the level of our sports quips. It dates from 1933.

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1949—First Emmy Awards Are Presented

At the Hollywood Athletic Club in Los Angeles, California, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences presents the first Emmy Awards. The name Emmy was chosen as a feminization of “immy”, a nickname used for the image orthicon tubes that were common in early television cameras.

1971—Manson Family Found Guilty

Charles Manson and three female members of his “family” are found guilty of the 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders, which Manson orchestrated in hopes of bringing about Helter Skelter, an apocalyptic war he believed would arise between blacks and whites.

1961—Plane Carrying Nuclear Bombs Crashes

A B-52 Stratofortress carrying two H-bombs experiences trouble during a refueling operation, and in the midst of an emergency descent breaks up in mid-air over Goldsboro, North Carolina. Five of the six arming devices on one of the bombs somehow activate before it lands via parachute in a wooded region where it is later recovered. The other bomb does not deploy its chute and crashes into muddy ground at 700 mph, disintegrating while driving its radioactive core fifty feet into the earth.

1912—International Opium Convention Signed

The International Opium Convention is signed at The Hague, Netherlands, and is the first international drug control treaty. The agreement was signed by Germany, the U.S., China, France, the UK, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Persia, Portugal, Russia, and Siam.

1946—CIA Forerunner Created

U.S. president Harry S. Truman establishes the Central Intelligence Group or CIG, an interim authority that lasts until the Central Intelligence Agency is established in September of 1947.

1957—George Metesky Is Arrested

The New York City “Mad Bomber,” a man named George P. Metesky, is arrested in Waterbury, Connecticut and charged with planting more than 30 bombs. Metesky was angry about events surrounding a workplace injury suffered years earlier. Of the thirty-three known bombs he planted, twenty-two exploded, injuring fifteen people. He was apprehended based on an early use of offender profiling and because of clues given in letters he wrote to a newspaper. At trial he was found legally insane and committed to a state mental hospital.

We can't really say, but there are probably thousands of kisses on mid-century paperback covers. Here's a small collection of some good ones.
Two Spanish covers from Ediciones G.P. for Peter Cheyney's Huracan en las Bahamas, better known as Dark Bahama.
Giovanni Benvenuti was one of Italy's most prolific paperback cover artists. His unique style is on display in multiple collections within our website.

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