| Femmes Fatales | Dec 10 2019 |
European burlesque dancer reaches operatic heights.
The burlesque dancer Tosca—who for some reason took her name from a Puccini opera rife with murder, suicide, and torture—appears above in all her statuesque glory. The photo was made for the Coralie Jr. Theatrical Agency, a Hollywood institution which was famed for handling all sorts of leftfield acts, and which still exists today, though it's now located in Burbank. Tosca was billed as being from Europe, though we can't confirm that. She was said to be the tallest dancer in the world, but we can't confirm that either. She was also supposedly known as the “The Duchess of Disrobe,” a moniker we can't confirm, and which doesn't roll off the tongue as much as its coiner probably thought when they came up with it after five bong rips. Grammatically speaking, wouldn't it be the Duchess of Disrobing? We can't confirm that. But we can confirm that this is an amazing photo. It was made sometime during the 1950s, along with the one below from the same session.
| Vintage Pulp | Sep 21 2018 |
As long as he leaves his work at the office their relationship has a real chance to succeed.
Above, a cover for Macabrus, by Jannet Mills, aka Laura Toscano, for Edizioni Periodici Italiani's series Classici dell'Orrore, copyright 1970. There are actually other great Italian cover artists, but we're Caroselli loyalists because he was the best. See plenty more from him by clicking his keywords below.
| Vintage Pulp | Jun 19 2014 |
Murder by any other name.
As long as we’re on Italy today (see below), here’s another top effort from the Italian genius Benedetto Caroselli. Il suo nome era omicidio, aka His Name Was Murder was written by Mary Steel, who is in reality a pseudonym of author and editor Laura Toscano, and it appeared in 1971. See more amazing Caroselli covers by clicking his keywords below.
