Above are some scans from Paris-Hollywood issue #56, published in 1949. Paulette Goddard is the cover star, sporting a crazy hair-do that makes her look a bit like she has horns. The cover text explains that the shot was made as a promo for her role in Les Naufrageurs des mers du sud, better known as Reap the Wild Wind, and we'll just assume the wild wind did that to her hair. The movie was made in 1942 but due to a little inconvenience called World War II did not play in France until later. Inside the issue you get Alexis Smith (described as a protégée of Errol Flynn), Jane Russell, Mary Kay Dodson, and the always lovely Adele Mara. The back cover goes to Janis Paige, who's posing in costume for her role in the western Cheyenne. We have more of these magazines in the website and you can see them by clicking the keywords “Paris-Hollywood” below.

Above, Paris-Hollywood magazine published in 1949, with a bare-shouldered Jane Russell on the front cover and Anne Baxter (spelled Ann by editors) gracing the rear. Baxter is pointing out Alaska on a wall map, probably explaining that she'd need a parka and snow shoes if she ever went there, rather than the undies and heels she's wearing. Inside the issue you get showgirls, models in lingerie, and celebs dressed as bunnies. Was it Easter? No idea, because Paris-Hollywood came without publication dates during these years. However, the front cover noted that Russell was starring as Calamity Jane in the film Pale Face, aka The Paleface. Since that appeared in France in mid-February and promotional efforts usually occur in advance of a film's premier, or at least around its opening date, we suspect the issue was published in February or March of 1949. 

During the last few months we shared three Technicolor lithographs with glassine overlays of clothing that could be peeled back to reveal a nude model, and mentioned we thought the technique originated in France with Paris-Hollywood, a cover of which you see above. The magazine began publishing déshabillable—i.e. undressable—pin-ups in 1950, whereas the American undressables we’ve found date from no earlier than 1953. Though Statesiders may have been latecomers to the party, once they got the technique down they churned overlay pin-ups out by the hundreds. You can see three here, here, and here, and we’ll share more later.

The artist responsible for painting the centerfold in this issue of Paris-Hollywood was Roger Brard, and he was the brush for most of those the magazine featured, but at least one other artist was involved too. Elsewhere in the issue you get showgirls, showgirls, and more showgirls, including a three page spread on la vagabonde Cirque Z dancer and world traveler Katrina, a Venice carnival-inspired set involving a model wearing a lace mask (she also gets the back cover), and a weird photo essay with knives and six-shooters. All of this is from 1952. We have twenty scans below, and you can see many more issues of Paris-Hollywood by clicking its keywords at the bottom of this post.

Above and below, scans from the French show-biz and showgirl magazine Paris-Hollywood, issue 26, from 1948. The front cover features Marguerite Chapman, the rear Arlene Dahl, and in between you get Cyd Charisse, Patricia Roc, Martha Vickers, Alexis Smith, Anne Jeffreys, Luce Feyrer, Edwige Feuillère, Marlene Dietrich, and other luminaries. That's quite a collection of celebs. In upcoming years the magazine would spend more time on cabaret dancers, but its early issues were all about international stars. We picked up a few of these in Paris a while back and we’ll get to some detailed scans of those soon. In the meantime, you can see more from Paris-Hollywood here, here, and here.

Vintage book seekers in Paris often focus their efforts on Le Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen, or the Saint-Ouen Flea Market. Operating since 1870, as you see in the vintage postcard above, the seventeen-acre site is located north of the 18th arrondissment, outside the Boulevard Périphérique encompassing the historic center of the city. Here thousands of vendors sell every item imaginable—furniture, board games, musical instruments, électrodomestiques, vinyl records, jewelry, art and more. There are also many cafés on site, and the combination of all this makes the market a popular destination. If you’re headed to Paris we recommend the place. Some unfavorable reviews focus on the prices, which we agree are not low, but this is less a true flea market than a rarities market—i.e., bargains are thin on the ground. But for pulp diggers it’s nice. Even sellers who don’t specialize in vintage publications sometimes keep a stash of books and magazines around because they’re just the sort of low cost items that bring browsers into the stalls.

Also on the subject of reviews, we saw some suggesting the market is unsafe. You have to scratch your head at some people’s fears. 120,000 people visit the Saint-Ouen during its busiest weekends and in no part of it could you manage to be more than twenty feet from other shoppers. It’s possible pickpockets may lurk, but that's true in any crowded spotin any big city in any country. Take the standard precautions, and then enjoy yourself—that's the only advice needed here. Oh, and bring good shoes. If this is indeed a flea market—disputed, as we mentioned earlier—then it's the largest in the world.

So, what did we buy? We came across a huge stack of Paris-Hollywood magazines, several tattered issues of Ciné-Revue, and plenty of old books. Budget mattered, but luckily the books and magazines were reasonably priced and every vendor we interacted with bargained willingly, even cheerfully. In the end we managed some good purchases, supplemented by crisp digital photos of the covers of items we couldn’t afford to acquire. A tweak in Photoshop and they’re almost as good as scans. We’ll share all of those in upcoming days.

We’ve shared five or six Paris-Hollywood magazines, including a few last year, but it’s been since 2012 that we found an issue with one of its trademark déshabillable—or undressable—centerfolds. Not surprising, since the magazine featured them for only a year or so. Anyway, we have an especially charming one inside this 1950 issue, painted by pin-up master Roger Brard, whose clever work we’ve shown you before. The issue also has an unrecognizable photo-illustration or painting of Lana Turner playing with soapsuds on the cover. We’d never have thought it was her, but it says so at lower right. Ten scans below, and more issues if you follow the links starting with this one. 

 

We found this special Nus d’été (summer nudes) issue of Paris-Hollywood back in 2009, and every year on the day of the summer solstice we seem to be too otherwise occupied to post images from it. So finally this year we decided posting on the actual first day of summer is less important than simply sharing the images, so here you go—seventeen pages to warm your heart and possibly your loins. If you squint at the one just below she could almost be Ingrid Bergman. Almost. See another Paris-Hollywood special here.