THE SUBTLE APPROACH

*psst* I want you to stick your finger in my handhole, only I don't really mean finger or handhole.

The iconic sleaze publisher Midwood Books uses Robert Schultz art twice on covers for John Turner’s Take Care of Me and Vin Fields’ The Come On, 1963 and 1966 respectively, in which a woman makes clear in her not-so-subtle way what’s on her mind. You can make a case that she’s not actually simulating sex with her hands. We won’t make that case though—we think the slight mispositioning of her finger merely provides enough wiggle room to deny the undeniable, probably a necessary precaution during an era when publishers were occasionally hauled into court on obscenity charges. We think this is a pretty daring piece of art.

Midwood, Vin Fields, John Turner, Robert Schultz, Irving Greenberg, cover art, literature

Vintage Pulp

May 2 2016

CORPORATE RADER

They've been looking forward to this merger for a long time.

A while back we put together a collection of mid-century paperback covers set in offices and depicting hanky panky between bosses and workers. Most of the covers were by Paul Rader because he painted in that theme quite a bit for Midwood-Tower. Well, we’ve found another—the double novel Always Say Yes by Monty Brian and A Sure Thing by Vin Fields, aka Irving Greenfield. It’s a worthy addition to the collection, which you can see here.

Midwood, Monty Brian, Vin Fields, Irving Greenfield, Paul Rader, cover art, literature

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

October 7

1959—Dark Side of Moon Revealed

The Soviet space probe Luna 3 transmits the first photographs of the far side of the moon. The photos generate great interest, and scientists are surprised to see mountainous terrain, very different from the near side, and only two seas, which the Soviets name Mare Moscovrae (Sea of Moscow) and Mare Desiderii (Sea of Desire).

October 6

1966—LSD Declared Illegal in U.S.

LSD, which was originally synthesized by a Swiss doctor and was later secretly used by the CIA on military personnel, prostitutes, the mentally ill, and members of the general public in a project code named MKULTRA, is designated a controlled substance in the United States.

October 5

1945—Hollywood Black Friday

A six month strike by Hollywood set decorators becomes a riot at the gates of Warner Brothers Studios when strikers and replacement workers clash. The event helps bring about the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act, which, among other things, prohibits unions from contributing to political campaigns and requires union leaders to affirm they are not supporters of the Communist Party.

October 4

1957—Sputnik Circles Earth

The Soviet Union launches the satellite Sputnik I, which becomes the first artificial object to orbit the Earth. It orbits for two months and provides valuable information about the density of the upper atmosphere. It also panics the United States into a space race that eventually culminates in the U.S. moon landing.

October 4

1970—Janis Joplin Overdoses

American blues singer Janis Joplin is found dead on the floor of her motel room in Los Angeles. The cause of death is determined to be an overdose of heroin, possibly combined with the effects of alcohol.