POPULAR CULTURE APPRECIATION SOCIETY

PULP FICTION

No, not the movie! (Although, it is one of my all-time favourite movies).

What I'm talking about is all that wonderful tawdry pap that was written between the thirties and the sixties, and especially in the 10 or so years after the war. With its uplifting subject matter, lurid cover art and huge readership, it was truly a barometer of the times. And with a powerful social conscience, to boot! No, really.

Between pulp fiction and rock'n'roll, all of life is covered!

A number of themes feature that I particularly like:

Sex

Well, what can I say? Somehow this theme just seems to creep in to all of them! God knows why! I mean, who would want to read this stuff, anyway? What is it about sex? Does anyone really care? Why can't we all just grow up and get over it? I know I have. (Ooops, my nose just grew!)

Well, anyway, the GP just couldn't get enough of it. And it sold by the container-load.

Drugs

The film Reefer Madness wasn't enough. (Incidentally, you can you view this classic online, in its entirety, at The Sync Online Film Festival. If by some chance, it has passed you by, go see it!)

The message needed to be reinforced with truckloads of books on the subject. Too important to leave their effect to chance, they wisely took a number of approaches - the documentary, the dramatic, the sensational. But every one a social service!

Teenage delinquents

Fuelled by sex, drugs and, of course, rock'n'roll, the devil's music, teenage gangs roamed at large and the streets were no longer safe for decent folk!

The cover says it all: "They came from filthy slums where even their dreams were dirty". And: "It's about time the public opened its eyes to the naked shocking story of teen-age lust, dope and prostitution."

Crime

Well, it was just everywhere wasn't it? No, no that, I'm talking about crime now. Concentrate!

If sex, drugs and delinquents didn't get you, well, hoo boy! you certainly weren't going to escape the tentacles of crime. There was organised crime, petty crime, violent crime, unspeakable crime. It was all around, and it made great reading.

Mickey Spillane spawned Mike Hammer, and the world was never the same again! (All in the great tradition of Phillip Marlowe, of course!)

Lesbians

We walk alone through Lesbos' Lonely Groves

There was a significant crop of lesbian-themed pulp fiction written in the 40s and 50s, catering to ... well, use your imagination. And there was some great cover art to go with it!

Some nice lesbian pulp fiction cover art can be found at Mount Saint Vincent University's site. This stuff really is hilarious! Do yourself a favour ...

More refs: http://odyssey.lib.duke.edu/women/pulp.html