This is the last of the three Al Capone items, and it just happens to be my favorite. I originally spotted this exploitation rag in a Chicago museum about three years ago. I immediately tried to buy it on eBay, but I wasn't sure what to pay, so I passed it up at a $80 price tag, thinking it would come up again, and I'd get a chance to buy it at a lower price. Three years pass. It never comes up, until just a few weeks ago. I paid a tad less, but was it worth the wait to save just a few bucks...probably not. Anyway, this magazine is from 1931 and is a one-shot publication. It was sold at an expensive price for its time (50 cents when most magazines where 10 cents). After the first issue, it was banned immediately. Not sure why-- perhaps the garish murder-scene photographs? Perhaps they thought it was glorifying Capone?
I had said we recently acquired three Al Capone items. Well, I posted the one-sheet movie poster. This is the vintage paperback (Pyramid, 1959)-- movie-tie-in edition. It's interesting how the art on the back cover mimics the one-sheet, which I suppose makes sense since this is a movie-tie-in. Enjoy!
Haven't seen this 60's sexploitation flick, but it looks like a pretty wild "ride." According to Internet Movie Database, the plot concerns a husband who is "blackmailed by three lesbian bikers after they spot him having sex with another woman in a convertible." It goes on that they "then take the man's wife out for a picnic and some nude motorcycle riding." Eventually, the husband gets some male bikers to join him and "together they try to save his wife from becoming a lesbian biker."
We've acquired three pieces of Al Capone ephemera recently. This is a one-sheet from a movie about Al Capone. The other pieces are a pulp paperback and an exploitation magazine. I think the "adult entertainment" sticker that some censor added only gives this poster more character. Enjoy!
I think I'm seeing double. The makers of 70's sexploitation flick "Swedish Sorority Girls" ripped off the cover painting of the Midwood book "Pajama Party" to make for one helluva poster. I can't say I blame them for ripping it off. The 60's paperback cover was painted by the great Paul Rader and is considered one of his classic works.
This paperback copy of "The Killer Inside Me" by Jim Thompson is a true first edition, having been released as a paperback before it was released in any other form. The book is pretty rare and pricey but for good reason. I'm not a big mystery reader, so I have little to compare it with, but I was impressed with the writing, the story, and particularly the construction of the main character. I've read a few of his other books, but thought "Killer" surpassed those as well. I predict that Thompson and "Killer" will become much more popular in the mainstream once the movie is released in 2010. I'm not sure what I think of Casey Affleck as Lou Ford, but I'm willing to give it a chance.
Betty Lou Williams was a sideshow performer with a parasitic twin. This is a pamphlet, probably from the 1940's, that she would have taken with her on tour and sold to spectators.
This is a really rare pamphlet from the Barnum era featuring Waino and Plutano, the Wild Men of Borneo. Very few of these survived probably, because they were pamphlets which often get thrown away. Also, the paper quality was pretty low. So, finding this item was pretty exciting, to say the least.
Waino and Plutano would have sold this pamphlet at the sideshow as a way to supplement their income. Like other performers, they also sold cabinet cards and cdv's of themselves to make some extra cash.Waino and Plutano were actually physically strong dwarf brothers, who suffered from mental disabilities.
Although they were born in the Connecticut, Barnum had a flair for telling tall tales to spice up the show, and as such, they were said to have been captured in Borneo.The brothers were a very popular act in their day. I guess the public was amazed that such small people-- they were 40 inches tall and weighed 45 pounds-- could lift heavy weights (including audience members themselves) and wrestle "full-sized" people. During their 25 years with Barnum, the brothers earned $250,000. Not bad, eh?
He looks like a Dickensian chimney sweep. I would feign a dialect, but I don't want to embarrass myself this early in the morning (yes, I just woke up).
Then, she just a bored Victorian girl enjoying the wonders of roller skates. Oh, what novelty it would have been! Today, she'd join a roller derby league and enjoy bashing into people. What interesting times we live in, indeed.
What I like best about this CDV of Geishas is the hand-tinting. It's not quite as subtle and painterly as some hand-tinting, but I actually like how the bright colors pop out from the sepia tone of the actual photo.
Vintage paperback office hi jinx, part II. "Swinging Secretary" (Midwood) features cover art by Paul Rader. "Office Affair" (Beacon)-- unknown cover artist. "Office Hussy" (Star Novels) features cover art by George Gross.
FringePop is a showcase for uncommon and esoteric cultural artifacts. The focus is on unusual items from both popular and fringe culture, with an emphasis on subversive pieces. The items shown are from the author's personal collection, unless otherwise noted.
I am a pop culture buff and collector, who focuses on the odd, subversive, and fringe elements of Western culture. In 2005, I edited a book for Feral House called "Sin-A-Rama: Sleaze Sex Paperbacks of the Sixties." The vintage oddities in my collection include victoriana, sideshow, medical, and kitsch. I am also an amateur sewer, making clothing from vintage mod patterns.
