The Art of Packaging: Vespa Around the World

Vespa – Italian for wasp. Developed in Italy in 1946, the Vespa took a few years to take off, but by 1950 it took off like a rocket selling over 60,000 scooters in Italy alone. With the 1952 movie Roman Holiday starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck touring Rome on Vespas, sale went through the roof. By the mid-1950s, Vespas were being manufactured  in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and Spain; in the 1960s, production was started in India, Brazil and Indonesia. The scooter design is iconic, and the advertising is equally unique. Beautifully designed ads and posters highlighted Vespas sleek styling and humorous outlook (an elephant on a scooter). It was the vehicle for the everyman – affordable, stylish, easy to drive and just plain cool-as-hell.

1949 – Italy

1949 – France

1950 – Italy

1953 – Italy

1954 – Denmark

1954 – France

1955 – Italy

1960 – Kenya

1961 – Italy

1962 – Italy

1965 – Thailand

1969-71 – Italy

1970 – Italy

1972 – Italy

1982 – Italy

 

The Art of Packaging: Pulps – All Women are Bad

According to these novels women are “So young, so wanton, so wise in the failings of men”, “Lovely, Willing and Wanton” and their “… pagan desires violated even the loose moral code of the marshlands”. They’re either a “Bitch” an “Office Hussy”, “Office Tramp”, “Nympho Librarian” or a “Cracker Girl”. You’d think these dames didn’t stand a chance, but by the looks of things (and personal experience), they are totally in control and, as always, totally drivin’ the bus.  These probably were written as a reaction to womens’ rights in the 50′s and 60′s – remember, if you can’t understand something, the best thing to do is call it a name or insult it. Why else would there possibly be a book called The Bitch or Office Tramp. Also, apparently, women are even more dangerous dead than alive – according to Spider Lily by Bruno Fisher, so be careful.

The Bitch

The Wild One

Nympho Librarian

Wayward Nymph

Swamp Bred

Cracker Girl

Office Hussy

Office Tramp

Fly Girl

The Spider Lily

Private Eyeful

The Doctor's Woman

The Persian Cat

The Art of Packaging: Saber Books

There were a ton of paperback publishers in the 50′s and 60′s, all specializing in a specific genre. Saber Books’  particular field was cheatin’ wives and wanton women. Briefly closed down on obscenity charges in 1963 for publishing the title “Sex Life of a Cop” – (the publisher was sentenced to 25 years in the pen). Overturned on appeal, Saber went on to publish a total of 300 titles, all just as sleazy as you’d imagine, with titles like ‘The Tricked and the Wicked’, ‘Sex Dreamer’, ‘Immorality in 3 Dimensions’ and ‘Turbulent Daughters’. All covers seemed to share a scantily clad woman, a dumb looking sex-starved guy and a hilarious poorly written tagline or mini-synopsis, i.e. “Fran’s filmy attire made it necessary for her to remain behind the door until I had entered and she had closed it, secluding us snugly for the night” – from ‘The Women They Were Willing’.

Bachelor Husband by Lee Walters

The Women Were Willing by Sheldon Abbott

Lust Empire by Robert Vaughan

Emerald Bikini by Robert B. Ford

The Mirrored Orgy by Douglass Dee

I Am A Lesbian by ?

Slum Virgin by Richard Geis

Her Soul Went First by Jack Moore

The Art of Packaging: Filipino Women in Chains Films

The 1970′s were an interesting time, especially in cinema and specifically exploitation cinema. If you couldn’t get a film made or afford to do it in the US of A, why not just pack everything up and go to the Phillipines. Things were cheap, no one would bother you and has long as you paid off Dictator Ferdinand Marcos you were pretty safe. Great directors like Jack Hill, Jonathon Demme, and a bunch of local guys got their start on these low budget exploitation flicks. For whatever reason, Women in Prison films became popular in the early 70′s and who better to cash in, than the King of Exploitation – Roger Corman. Taking beauties like Pam Grier, Anitra Ford (later a Price is Right model), Margeret Markov and Judy Brown, et al. was risky but everyone seemed up for the adventure. Beautiful locales, lots of nudity and silly violence – women chained and abused and then beating the shit out of their male oppressors and blowing everything sky high became a perfect recipe for exploitaion. Though films continued to be made cheaply in the Phillipines – most notably Apocalypse Now, the Women in Prison genre fell out of favor pretty quickly and were no more by 1980.

The Big Bird Cage - 1972 *Note - 3 different tag lines on one poster

The Big Doll House - 1974

The Big Doll House Poster B

Black Mama, White Mama - 1972

The Hot Box - 1972

Women in Cages - 1971

Cleopatra Wong - 1978

Savage Sisters - 1974 'White Poster'

Savage Sisters - 'Black Poster'

Ebony, Ivory and Jade - 1976

The women of The Big Birdcage

Pam Grier playing the bad guy in Women in Cages

The fabulous Sid Haig

Happy Valentines Day

February 1954

Elvgren Pinup

Marilyn

George Petty Pinup

February Calendar Page - 1954

Dianne Durbin

Marilyn

 

The Art of Packaging: Pulp Fiction – What’s in a Name?

What’s in a name? That pretty much says it all. I’m sure there are reasons why these books are called what they’re called but ‘The Squeaker’ is a pretty damn good title regardless of the plot. For those of us under 70, the term ‘House Dick’ means a store or hotel detective (book 3).

The Squeaker

The Case of the Dancing Sandwiches

House Dick

Indian Beef & Killers are My Meat

The Girl with the Sweet Plump Knees

The Velvet Ape

Flesh Mother & Sin Census

Why Am I So Beat

The Venus Probe