They had to go to synagogue with their mother. She and her two brothers had to get straight A’s. Rachel Mason said that when she was growing up, her parents were much more strict than her friends’. The place was selling the magazine, but you weren’t allowed to look at it.” You’d worry there was a vice officer in there who would arrest you for looking at the magazines. “Sometimes the men in there looking at straight erotica would see you looking at a gay-oriented magazine and get upset. “There was just enough space to edge in and look, and there were porn magazines for the straight men and the gay men.
Gay-themed magazines played an important role in assuring people they weren’t alone at a time when homosexuality was taboo, said Joseph Hawkins, director of the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at USC.įor decades, gay magazines - including ONE, the non-pornographic magazine for which the archive is named - that were sold at newsstands in big cities were obscured behind a tarp or curtain and sold alongside bawdy straight magazines, even if the gay periodicals had no nude pictures. Along with the pornography, they sold obscure novels from LGBTQ authors, as well as science fiction books, foreign newspapers, even Bibles. The couple kept the staff and changed the name to Circus of Books. Barry made a deal with the property manager: He’d pay half the man’s $1,400 monthly rent until he was evicted if the Masons could take over the lease afterward. The Masons eventually learned the bookstore’s owner, who had fallen behind on magazine payments, was being evicted. Customers were so glad when the magazines arrived, “they would come out front and help me unload it.” “I’d have to fill the whole truck up just to fill those titles,” Barry said. One West Hollywood store, Book Circus, ordered 600 gay titles, including Blueboy and Honcho, each month and instantly sold out. She was pregnant at the time, so she hired unemployed musicians - she preferred drummers, who always seemed the most reliable - to help with heavy lifting. Ummmm, yeah, you may want to skip the Bea Arthur and Estelle Getty chapters.In the 1970s, Barry made a decent living selling accessories he’d invented for dialysis machines until the cost of medical malpractice insurance became too much.Īfter Karen, who had worked as a journalist, spotted a newspaper ad seeking magazine distributors for Larry Flynt - the publisher of Hustler and Chic - Barry started driving around to liquor stores and newsstands, taking orders. I’m a sceptical kind of guy, not prone to falling under cults and such… but this is one I think I could really get behind. Is it just me, or does this “perverted orgy” look more like “a woman with hemorrhoidal pains”? Someone get this gal some ointment. If you can appreciate this awesome cover blurb, check out An Ambush Of Psychotic Lust! 10 Sleazy Mid-Century Paperback Blurbs.
“She rode high, wide and wicked on a merry-go-round of sex” And, yes, this is what men will do with super powers… fighting crime is too dangerous. I have a feeling more bad puns and double entendres are to be had “between the covers” of this novel.īwahahahaa! Lucky’s expression is the funniest thing I’ve seen all day. “Cockeyed cuties”, “Rod”, “Coxman”, a leaf that won’t cover…. They’re saying Marcia is the “strange sinner”, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say her overly attached boyfriend has her beat in the “strange” department. If you haven’t had a look – check them out here. Those of you who’ve been following along with Flashbak for a while will be reminded of the amazing Christina books. the very vision of a Sixties Swinger’s dream. (for those as slow as I, that sounds a lot like “lesbian”).Ī curvy blonde with high-waisted capris waiting by a well-stocked wet bar with martini in hand…. Where can I get a copy?īecome an expert on sleazy lesbian paperbacks by reading: Abnormal Tales: 33 Vintage Lesbian Paperbacks From the 50s And 60s. all amounts to one depressing and uber-sleazy mess. The cigarette butts and spilt drinks, the hardened cross-eyed prostitute, the Chinese guy in the background…. And, is it just me, or does this guy seem to be more of an account manager or systems administrator than pimp? This looks to be taking place in either a dream sequence or the afterlife. It’s the Nancy and Sluggo dolls that are making me a bit wary. Hey, if she swings both ways, that’s fine. This 1971 piece of erudite smut was actually the first of a 14 book series! Book #7 was called The Naked Countess of Liechtenstein (1976), in case you were curious. I suppose she’s evil, but the boss is just A-OK? Gotta love those mid-century double standards.Īgain, it’s the promiscuous gal that gets the “evil” label.Īpparently, the God of Lust is a flaming minotaur with a Beatle haircut.Īnd speaking of horny dudes with mop tops…
“It only took one look to see that she was always ready to take dictation… or anything else the boss wanted to giver her.”