Tabloid offers pills, thrills, and various painful aches. Above: assorted pages from an issue of National Close-Up published today in 1968, with sex pills called vitogen, sexual perversion, sex parties, and sex swingers, then conversely, mass suicides, a monster baby, an acid burn victim, car crash deaths, and all that is terrible and painful in the world. Somewhere between those extremes are celebrities, including Julie Christie, Bing Crosby, Donna Marlowe again (seems she was a tabloid staple in ’68), Playboy centerfold Sue Williams (in the advertisement for strip poker cards), and, just above, the lovely June Palmer.
Stop it! I already told you, I’m dating Larry the Living Torso. If pulp teaches anything, it’s don’t mess around with a carny’s woman. If he can’t throw knives and spit fire himself, you can bet he’s got friends who can. Road Show, by German author John Haase, doesn’t get quite as eye-for-an-eye as we’d like considering the setting, but it’s a satisfying piece of pulp fiction from a well-regarded novelist whose later work became movie vehicles for the likes of Julie Christie and James Stewart. As a bonus you get a fantastic cover image from pulp stalwart Barye Phillips. We'll get to Phillips again a bit later. And remember everyone, no means no.
Waiting for her ship to come in. Promo shot of British actress Julie Christie on the set of Darling, the classic 1965 drama set in swinging London (and partly in Capri, above) about a model trying to sleep her way to the top. Christie was born in Chabua, British India, today in 1941.
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The headlines that mattered yesteryear.
1939—Holiday Records Strange Fruit
American blues and jazz singer Billie Holiday records "Strange Fruit", which is considered to be the first civil rights song. It began as a poem written by Abel Meeropol, which he later set to music and performed live with his wife Laura Duncan. The song became a Holiday standard immediately after she recorded it, and it remains one of the most highly regarded pieces of music in American history. 1927—Mae West Sentenced to Jail
American actress and playwright Mae West is sentenced to ten days in jail for obscenity for the content of her play Sex. The trial occurred even though the play had run for a year and had been seen by 325,000 people. However West's considerable popularity, already based on her risque image, only increased due to the controversy. 1971—Manson Sentenced to Death
In the U.S, cult leader Charles Manson is sentenced to death for inciting the murders of Sharon Tate and several other people. Three accomplices, who had actually done the killing, were also sentenced to death, but the state of California abolished capital punishment in 1972 and neither they nor Manson were ever actually executed. 1923—Yankee Stadium Opens
In New York City, Yankee Stadium, home of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees, opens with the Yankees beating their eternal rivals the Boston Red Sox 4 to 1. The stadium, which is nicknamed The House that Ruth Built, sees the Yankees become the most successful franchise in baseball history. It is eventually replaced by a new Yankee Stadium and closes in September 2008.
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