Category Archives: Art

Artwork of the Day: They Call Her “Easy” (Artist Unknown)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

Artist Unknown

That might not be the best nickname to have!

This book came out in 1952.  It was published by Ecstasy Novels, which probably tells you all that you need to know.  The cover was later reused in 1959 for Private Club, which was written by Orrie Hitt.  While the identity of the artist is not known, they did a good job with this cover, strategically placing the girl (Easy?) so that it’s impossible to tell whether or not her friend with the cigarette is wearing a bathing suit or not.  Maybe he should be nicknamed Easy!

Artwork of the Day: The Show Girls (by Harry Schaare)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

by Harry Schaare

Uhm, her eyes aren’t down there, buddy.  Also, what happened to her other shoe?

This book was published in 1963.  The cover is by Harry Schaare, who was one of the few cover artists to regularly sign his work.  Though I haven’t read the book, this cover definitely tells a story of its very own.  I especially like contrast between the flustered look on the man’s face and the half-smile on the showgirl’s face.  At least one of these two knows what she’s doing.

Artwork of the Day: Cosmopolitan (by Bradshaw Crandell)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

by Bradshaw Crandell

This is from 1938.  The artwork was done by Bradshaw Crandell, who did several covers for Cosmopolitan and who was one of the few artists of the era to actually get to sign their own work.  On this cover, you can find his signature right underneath the hands holding the gun.

There’s nothing more romantic than learning how to shoot together.

Artwork of the Day: Sport Story Magazine (by Earle Bergey)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

by Earle Bergey

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

This issue of Sport Story Magazine is from 1936.  As you can tell from the Earle Bergey-illustrated cover, football used to look much different.  I don’t know if those leather hats provided much protection.

Lt. Col. Gar Davidson, who wrote the featured story “How the Army Plays Football” was the coach of West Point’s football team.  He coached from 1933 to 1937 and compiled a 35-11-1 record.  Later, from 1956 to 1960, he served as the Superintendent of the United States Military Academy.

Artwork of the Day: Tough Guy (Artist Unknown)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

Artist Unknown

In 1938, writer A.I. Bezzerides sold his first novel.  It was called Long Haul and it was about the dangerous lives of truckers.  In 1940, it was turned into a movie called They Drive By Night and, when the original novel was republished, it was renamed so that the book’s title matched the movie’s title.  Then, for some reason, in 1953, the book’s title was again changed.  When Lion Books republished Long Haul, they changed the title to Tough Guy.

The cover for Tough Guy features someone doing something that no one should ever do — wear a fedora with jeans!  It also features a woman hitchhiking in high heels, which is something else you should never do.  A trucker should know better than to pick up a hitchhiker but, in this case, he was probably more busy thinking about the cleavage than the potential danger of letting a stranger into his cab.  I do like the beret.

Unfortunately, the identity of this cover’s artist is unknown.

Artwork of the Day: Smashing Detective Stories (Artist Unknown)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

Artist Unknown

This issue of Smashing Detective Stories is from 1952.  Unfortunately, the identity of the artist who did this cover is not known.

It’s love!  Or is it a prison break?  Or a chase through the swamps?  I’m impressed that anyone could keep their hair looking that good even after passing out in a swamp.  Is the man on the cover Mickey?  Is the passed out woman named Mayhem?  Perhaps only Richard Deming knows for sure.

 

Artwork of the Day: Like Ice She Was (by Raymond Johnson)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

by Raymond Johnson

Like Ice She Was was first published in 1960.  Unfortunately, writer William Ard died of cancer shortly after writing this book.  He was only 37 years old.  This was one of the many books that Ard wrote about hard-boiled private detective Lou Largo.  After he died, a few more Largo books were ghost-written by authors like Lawrence Block and John Jakes.  You can read more about William Ard at this tribute site.  And you can read a review (albeit a negative one) of this novel at this site.

As for the cover, the combination of the gun, the cigarette, the red bikini, and the high-wasted pants that compliment the confused expression on her fella’s face make this a pulp classic.  This cover was done by Raymond Johnson, whose work has been featured many times on this site.

Artwork of the Day: The Marriage Rite (by Walter Popp)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

by Walter Popp

The Marriage Rite was first published in 1953 by Intimate Novels.  You can probably guess what type of books they published just by the name of their company.  Five years later, the art was reused for the cover of a novel called Wild Oats, which was published by Beacon.  I think The Marriage Rite is a better title than Wild Oats.

“Thou shalt not commit adultery!,” the cover reads, “But if a husband sins, should his wife follow suit?”  Was that the only option available?  The cover also says that this is “a novel of sham passions and triumphant love.”  What are sham passions?

I like the contrast between the swooning lovers and the shocked witness, who I am assuming is the wife.  Is he cheating at home or has his wife followed him to his secret love nest?  His mistress has good fashion sense, combining a green skirt and a red sash with a black top.

This cover was done by Walter Popp, who is one of my favorites.

Artwork of the Day: Double Rainbow

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

by Erin Nicole

I took this picture a few years ago, on a Saturday.

It had rained all day and when it stopped, I went outside and I snapped this picture of the rainbow.  At the time, I didn’t give much thought to the rainbow.  I thought it was pretty and I figured that I might as well take a picture of it but otherwise, I didn’t really look at it.  I was more interested in how thick the humidity was and how swampy the front yard had become after hours of nonstop rain.  I took my picture and then I went back inside because, even though the rain had stopped, it still didn’t seem pleasant outside at all.

It was only hours later that I looked at the picture and discovered that I hadn’t just taken a picture of one rainbow.  I’d taken a picture of two rainbows.  It was a double rainbow and if I hadn’t taken that second look, I never would have known it was out there.

A second look is always worth it.