Had a Great Uncle in Omaha that was the business manager of a cigar store front for illegal gambling (1937-1963) and a back door to a prostitution hotel. He had tons of this stuff. Newstands in bus depots and railroad stations had these too. I never was big on pulp art and dime novels. They were so hokey and based on White (American) Male Supremacy. I worked at a Y.MC.A. in high school, was later a Navy Machinist’s Mate and spent a little time as a packinghouse janitor and truck driver. This stuff is largely not reality and the present-day fetish for sailors, cowboys and gangsters is mostly based on this stuff. How would you like to be a person who lives in Nebraska with an agricultural background, but raised in urban Omaha and Lincoln, served in the Navy, had a great uncle with ties to the mob and then read this stuff? The worst part is, a lot of people believe this stuff and they’re disappointed when you don’t live up to their magazine and movie-based delusions. This stuff is entertaining for its ridiculousness, not its validity.
“Dull reality do not sell magazines” would answer any publisher.
And, as Oscar Wilde put it: “life imitates art far more than art imitates life”.
3rd cover art signed by John Kutler.
Had a Great Uncle in Omaha that was the business manager of a cigar store front for illegal gambling (1937-1963) and a back door to a prostitution hotel. He had tons of this stuff. Newstands in bus depots and railroad stations had these too. I never was big on pulp art and dime novels. They were so hokey and based on White (American) Male Supremacy. I worked at a Y.MC.A. in high school, was later a Navy Machinist’s Mate and spent a little time as a packinghouse janitor and truck driver. This stuff is largely not reality and the present-day fetish for sailors, cowboys and gangsters is mostly based on this stuff. How would you like to be a person who lives in Nebraska with an agricultural background, but raised in urban Omaha and Lincoln, served in the Navy, had a great uncle with ties to the mob and then read this stuff? The worst part is, a lot of people believe this stuff and they’re disappointed when you don’t live up to their magazine and movie-based delusions. This stuff is entertaining for its ridiculousness, not its validity.
“Dull reality do not sell magazines” would answer any publisher.
And, as Oscar Wilde put it: “life imitates art far more than art imitates life”.
3rd cover art signed by John Kutler.
3rd cover signed John Kuller.
Middle cover is by Mel Crair.
1st cover is by George Gross.