![THE DISORDER OF THINGS](/images/headline/6500.png) Looks like neither of us values tidiness or organization, so that's cool. ![](/images/postimg/the_disorder_of_things.jpg)
Ben Ostrick, who signed his work J. Oval, painted this 1963 Pan Books cover for Sloan Wilson's 1960 novel A Sense of Values. Ostrick was an amazing artist, with a colorful and harmonious style that Pan used to good effect on scores of covers. We wrote way back that he was British, but a few online sources say he was actually Australian. We'll dig into that at some point and see if we can figure it out. In the meantime, we have two small collections of his work, here and here. You should have a look.
Edit: We got an e-mail from a family member of Mr. Ostrick, who said, "I read that you weren’t sure if he was English or Australian. He is English and moved to Australia when my Mom was a teenager. They lived alone together until he died."
So there you go. As we always say, the answers tend to come over time. Thank you for writing in with that info. That was extremely kind.
![ASIA SPECIFIC](/images/headline/2523.png) Mid-century fiction’s love affair with the East produced scores of virtuoso bookcovers. ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_01.jpg)
It seems time for another themed cover collection, so today we’re sharing some of the scores of Asian styled mid-century paperback fronts we’ve seen. Much of the fiction here is offensive on some level, but then quite a bit of the old literature falls into that category. The art, on the other hand, is somewhat easier to look at dispassionately. So we have thirty-two paperback covers revealing the mid-century fascination with—or exploitation of—Asian archetypes, with art by Denis McLoughlin, Robert Maguire (identically on Ne-San and The Transistor Girls), J. Oval, aka Ben Ostrick, and more. Four or five of these came from Flickr, so thanks to the original uploaders on those. ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_02.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_03.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_04.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_05.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_06.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_07.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_08.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_09.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_10.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_24.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_11.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_12.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_13.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_14.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_15.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_16.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_17.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_18.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_25.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_19.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_20.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_21.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_26.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_22.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_23.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_28.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_29.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_30.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_31.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_27.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_32.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/asia_specific_36.jpg)
|
![](/images/piart02v3.jpg) |
The headlines that mattered yesteryear.
2003—Hope Dies
Film legend Bob Hope dies of pneumonia two months after celebrating his 100th birthday. 1945—Churchill Given the Sack
In spite of admiring Winston Churchill as a great wartime leader, Britons elect
Clement Attlee the nation's new prime minister in a sweeping victory for the Labour Party over the Conservatives. 1952—Evita Peron Dies
Eva Duarte de Peron, aka Evita, wife of the president of the Argentine Republic, dies from cancer at age 33. Evita had brought the working classes into a position of political power never witnessed before, but was hated by the nation's powerful military class. She is lain to rest in Milan, Italy in a secret grave under a nun's name, but is eventually returned to Argentina for reburial beside her husband in 1974. 1943—Mussolini Calls It Quits
Italian dictator Benito Mussolini steps down as head of the armed forces and the government. It soon becomes clear that Il Duce did not relinquish power voluntarily, but was forced to resign after former Fascist colleagues turned against him. He is later installed by Germany as leader of the Italian Social Republic in the north of the country, but is killed by partisans in 1945.
|
![](/images/suki.png)
|
|
It's easy. We have an uploader that makes it a snap. Use it to submit your art, text, header, and subhead. Your post can be funny, serious, or anything in between, as long as it's vintage pulp. You'll get a byline and experience the fleeting pride of free authorship. We'll edit your post for typos, but the rest is up to you. Click here to give us your best shot.
|
|