Pulp International

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

PEP OUT OF STEP

Saddlered, whipped, and sent back to the barn.

The cover of this National Police Gazette published today in 1950 shows boxer Willie Pep being assessed by Dr. Vincent Nardiello after a February 1949 bout with archnemesis Sandy Saddler. Below the cover is another image from the same sequence. Saddler really put a hurting on Pep, as you can see from the severity of his injuries, but that was normal for the two fighters. They met four times, trading the lightweight championship three times in those battles, with the last fight considered even today one of the dirtiest of all time. You can see more from Police Gazette by clicking its keywords below. 

Police Gazette, Willie Pep, Sandy Saddler, Vincent Nardiello, magazine art, tabloid, boxing

RISE OF THE COBRA

Cutting the head off the snake.

Above and below, a July 1956 issue of Real Adventure magazine with uncredited art on the cover and throughout the issue. Inside you get model Peggy Ray, and a self-written feature by boxer Sandy Saddler in which he denies being a dirty fighter. The article includes a photo, which you see in panels three and four below, of Saddler mugging Willie Pep. That’s not the first appearance on Pulp Intl. for that image. Police Gazette featured it on one of its covers in February 1951 with a little photo-illustrative tweak. It’s worth glancing at and you can see it here.

So was Saddler a dirty fighter? Consensus seems to be that if he felt victimized himself, he tended to cross the line. According to theboxingmagazine.com, this happened during Saddler’s fourth fight with Pep, which featured, “elbows, butting, heeling with the glove and lacing, they were everything-gos foul-fests from start to finish. While Pep and Saddler wrestled on the inside, Saddler thought nothing of putting Willie in a headlock before throwing him to the floor. Even the referee was knocked to the floor several times in an attempt to separate the two fighters. Needless to say, the boos and jeers shook the joint to the rafters. Saddler said afterward that he felt insulted by those who insisted he was a dirty fighter.”

Saddler won 144 bouts against only 16 losses, which would seem to indicate a considerable amount of talent. He retired in 1956, at the earlyish age of thirty, after he hurt his eye in a traffic accident. Afterward her became a trainer and counted among his clients a young George Foreman. He died in 2001 but was honored by The Ring magazine a couple of years later when editors ranked him as the fifth greatest puncher of all time. We have about twenty scans of Saddler, Pep, and others below.

Real Adventure, The Ring, Willie Pep, Sandy Saddler, Peggy Ray, George Foreman, magazine art, literature, boxing

WRESTLING WITH A PROBLEM

If the Police Gazette has your back, you’re pretty much guaranteed to lose.

Above is another great boxing cover from the National Police Gazette, February 1951, along with some of the more interesting interior pages. The cover stars this time are Willie Pep and Sandy Saddler. Gazette editors were on the Pep bandwagon, but poor Willie, whose real name was Guglielmo Papaleo, didn’t get his title back. Saddler ko’d him in the ninth, beating him for the third time in four meetings. We’ve noticed the Gazette tends to back the guys who lose. We don’t think it’s due to a lack of boxing acumen, but rather the result of a deliberate strategy to snare readers by building up underdogs. In any case, if they’re in your corner, you better get an ambulance ready. You may also notice, looking at panel four, that this is the second time they’ve touted this Gotch character in their “Greatest Wrestlers of the Past” series. His name sounds like something you’d kill with an anti-fungal cream, but when we looked him up we discovered that Frank Alvin Gotch was the guy who popularized wrestling in the United States. He was one of the longest reigning champs ever, and was so beloved he even appeared regularly on stage, before dying in 1917. So there you go—not so much something to be creamed, as a guy who did the creaming. By the way, did you notice that the Gazette made an appearance in the new Sherlock Holmes film? Well, it excited us. Does that make us geeks? Don’t answer that.

Police Gazette, Willie Pep, Sandy Saddler, Frank Gotch, boxing, tabloid
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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1968—Cash Performs at Folsom Prison

Johnny Cash performs live at Folsom State Prison in Folson, California, where he records a live album that includes a version of his 1955 hit “Folsom Prison Blues.” Cash had always been interested in performing at a prison, but was unable to until personnel changes at his record company brought in people who were amenable to the idea. The Folsom album was Cash’s biggest commercial success for years, reaching number 1 on the country music charts.

2004—Harold Shipman Found Hanged

British serial killer Harold Shipman is found dead in his prison cell, after hanging himself with a bedsheet. Shipman, a former doctor who preyed on his patients, was one of the most prolific serial killers in history, with two-hundred and eighteen murders positively attributed to him, and another two-hundred of which he is suspected.

1960—Nevil Shute Dies

English novelist Nevil Shute, who wrote the books A Town Like Alice and The Pied Piper, dies in Melbourne, Australia at age sixty-one. Seven of his novels were adapted to film, but his most famous was the cautionary post-nuclear war classic On the Beach.

1967—First Cryonics Patient Frozen

Dr. James Bedford, a University of California psychology professor, becomes the first person to be cryonically preserved with intent of future resuscitation. Bedford had kidney cancer that had metastasized to his lungs and was untreatable. His body was maintained for years by his family before being moved to Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Arizona.

1957—Jack Gilbert Graham Is Executed

Jack Gilbert Graham is executed in Colorado, U.S.A., for killing 44 people by planting a dynamite bomb in a suitcase that was subsequently loaded aboard United Airlines Flight 629. The flight took off from Denver and exploded in mid-air. Graham was executed by means of poison gas in the Colorado State Penitentiary, in Cañon City.

1920—League of Nations Convenes

The League of Nations holds its first meeting, at which it ratifies the Treaty of Versailles, thereby officially ending World War I. At its greatest extent, from 28 September 1934 to 23 February 1935, the League had 58 members. Its final meeting was held in April 1946 in Geneva.

1957—Macmillan Becomes Prime Minister

Harold Macmillan accepts the Queen of England’s invitation to become Prime Minister following the sudden resignation of Sir Anthony Eden. Eden had resigned due to ill health in the wake of the Suez Crisis. Macmillan is remembered for helping negotiate the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty after the Cuban Missile Crisis. He served as PM until 1963.

  • FEATUREd PULP

DON GIOVANNI

Giovanni Benvenuti was one of Italy's most prolific paperback cover artists. His unique style is on display in multiple collections within our website.

WALKING AFTER MIDNIGHT

Italian artist Sandro Symeoni showcases his unique painterly skills on a cover for Peter Cheyney's He Walked in Her Sleep.

OPEN SECRETS

French artist Jef de Wulf was both prolific and unique. He painted this cover for René Roques' 1958 novel Secrets.

THE WORST DAY OF CHRISTMAS

Christmas themed crime novels are rare, in our experience. Do Not Murder Before Christmas by Jack Iams is an exception, and a good one. The cover art is by Robert Stanley.

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