skip to main |
skip to sidebar
This is one of a few rare booklets featuring P.T. Barnum's famous little person Tom Thumb. Our interest in Tom Thumb naturally flowed out of our interest in collecting sideshow memorabilia. It was further sparked by a visit to Bridgeport, CT, and to the P.T. Barnum museum there which had a very nice collection of Tom Thumb memorabilia. We also visited Thumb's grave the same day. I'll post a few more Tom Thumb booklets in the future, but I particularly like the use of color on this one.
This photo reminds me of photos they used to take of kids in the 80's. I don't know what they are called, but they show two photos of the same kid. One is a regular photo of the kid sitting, but then there's another photo that's smaller and higher up that looks sort of like a shadow or a reflection. If someone knows what I'm talking about, help me explain. Whatever the case, this oozes cheesiness, which isn't very common for a photo from this era. I don't even know if people back then really had a sense of something being cheesy. Maybe they had a sense of tackiness in furniture, decor, or behavior? I don't know...
Beginning in the 50's, vintage paperback publishers began releasing racially themed books. I haven't read all of them, but based on the cover art, blurbs, and titles, most seem prejudiced. A common theme is the "shame" that occurs when a white woman becomes intimately involved with a black man. Whatever the angle, let's just say that sensationalism and fear were important aspects. This book comes from Greenleaf, a publisher of 1960's "sleaze" (adults only) paperbacks. I tried to ascertain the tone of the book by examining the cover art, blurbs, and title. Although the book is called "The Color of Shame," which could suggest something prejudicial, it's hard to say so without reading the book. After all, the black man and white woman are shown to be cooperating to fight off a real evil, something worth of shame, the KKK. I'd actually be surprised if the book is prejudicial, since many of Greenleaf's writers were more progressive than the average American of the time. Whatever the case, the cover is interesting, and the book is highly collectible, being a racial paperback and featuring KKK imagery.
Cover Art by Ed Smith
I'm speechless. Comments are welcomed as always.
Of late, I've been watching my box set of the original "Twilight Zone." I had already watched all of season 1 so began at season 2 and now am watching season 3. Since Matheson wrote several episodes for the series, I decided to post a couple of rare mystery paperbacks he wrote in the 1950's. These books were released in paperback form for the first time, making them paperback first editions, or PBOs (paperback originals). Matheson didn't write many mysteries and since these are first editions, they are sought after by paperback collectors and Matheson fans alike. I love the tagline "Men--they're all pigs!". That's just pure pulp.
A friend of mine turned me on to this blog called "Awkward Family Photos." Google it if you're not familiar. I literally spent hours searching through the images on the site and laughed out loud many a time. It's hard to make me laugh, so this was saying a lot. Much of my amusement stemmed from the fact that family photos from when I was a kid are similar to some on the site. Let's just say we all had our awkward years (err, okay, I was pretty homely) and a few of us liked to wear those Cosby Show sweaters a bit too often (yes, me, but my brother and dad too). Looking through our collection of cabinet photos, I came across this photo. What's awkward is how the mom is staring intently at one daughter, while the other daughter looks at the camera with a morose expression. It makes you think "hmmmm....let me guess who mommy's favorite was..."
Once we'd gotten most of the juvenile delinquent posters we wanted, we started looking for other genres to collect. 1970's sexploitation posters seemed like a natural collecting interest. After all, we already collected 60's and 70's sexploitation paperbacks, and the posters were surprisingly, very cheap, many of them $20 or under. Thus began our foray into the genre.
When I was a kid, my brother and I would watch USA Up All Night, whenever we got the opportunity. Usually our parents were gone, and although they were pretty liberal, I'm not sure they'd have allowed it had they known. Most of the stuff hosted by Gilbert Gottfried, and then later Rhonda Shear, would probably seem extremely tame if I watched it now. But back then, movies like "Ski School," "Barbarella," and "The Toxic Avenger" seemed pretty risque. I'm still a fan of "Barbarella" today, but it would hardly make me blush. Then again, I'm pretty desensitized so not much does. Getting to the point, my sexploitation poster interest is also fueled by these early memories I have of watching similar fare on USA Up All Night. Awww, thinking about all this is making me feel pretty nostalgic. "Monstervision" with Joe Bob Briggs was also a favorite in the horror vein. I don't feel like there's a TV outlet for stuff like this anymore, what with the internet and Netflix and all the other resources.
So, enjoy the nostalgia that may or may not be induced by fare like "Tomcats." After all, they are "free, white, and twenty-one, and don't give a damn about anyone!"
Beginning in the 50's, vintage paperback publishers began releasing racially themed books. I haven't read all of them, but based on the cover art, blurbs, and titles, most seem prejudiced. A common theme is the "shame" that occurs when a white woman becomes intimately involved with a black man. Whatever the angle, let's just say that sensationalism and fear were important aspects. This book comes from Greenleaf, a publisher of 1960's "sleaze" (adults only) paperbacks. I tried to ascertain the tone of the book by examining the cover art, blurbs, and title. Although the book is called "The Color of Shame," which could suggest something prejudicial, it's hard to say so without reading the book. After all, the black man and white woman are shown to be cooperating to fight off a real evil, something worth of shame, the KKK. I'd actually be surprised if the book is prejudicial, since many of Greenleaf's writers were more progressive than the average American of the time. Whatever the case, the cover is interesting, and the book is highly collectible, being a racial paperback and featuring KKK imagery.
