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Mexican VEA Magazine for Pinups 1950s. Rare South of the Border Pulp Magazine.







 
Can anyone make a blog post which isn't political these days?  To think a day would come (again…) when showing the Mexican people are just like us is necessary?  Look. They had pin-ups just like we did!  I am not surprised after the election, as we were given every indication the new choice of the Republican party was a horrid man.  Still a whole lot of people voted against humanity, civil rights and equality. Still we should seriously work on fixing that. I don't pray much, but pray for the midterms.  It might be our last chance. 
I first wrote about and scanned some issues of Vea five years ago and have continued to pick them up when I can.  So I am running the piece again below.  Enjoy it.  By the way, learn to get along with and appreciate everyone, will you?  Jeez!  Read these words and think about it this time.  The United States is a nation of immigrants and what makes us special is that we care about everyone.  Our culture, which is the greatest export we HAVE, wouldn't be what it is if we were not a melting pot.  

VEA is a pretty hard magazine to find copies of these days.   Vea ran in the 1940s and 1950s, and when you figure in acid-based paper, climate and censorship, you’ll know why they don’t turn up often. Do not confuse it with Vea the Puerto Rican gossip magazine, or Vea which came from Chile.  Search hard and you will see a few issues on Fred Seibert’s flickr stream, but that’s about it.  I found a handful  to purchase recently, and I wish I had them all. 
VEA was a weekly pulp periodical which ran for years but was apparently often in trouble with the law, largely due to Niuglo’s spicy muchachas.  The magazine was a menudo of news, bullfighting reports, pulp fiction (with illustrations that look like Charles Burns on peyote) and breasts, which is where Nuiglo comes in.  There is really nothing to compare the magazine to in the states then or now, but it was similar to the Folies De Paris et de Holllywood magazine from France which was running the same time.  Some of the Harrison mags like Whisper maybe.  Large format, large on style and striking today.
Flipping through them makes me think it is time for a 1950s Mexican revival.  The best reason to find some VEA is the pioneer Mexican fashion and glamour photographer known only (but not known WELL) as NIUGLO.  Niuglo’s photos were so good they often graced front and back cover simultaneous in vibrant candy colors, but the ones inside were printed in burnt sienna brown.  There was frontal nudity, a considerable amount…but nothing below the waist.

Scarce and forgotten, but someone is paying attention.  These are worthy of saving.

Bright scholar Ageeth Sluis recently wrote “Projecting Pornography and Mapping Modernity in Mexico City” for the Journal of Urban History which drew upon the images in VEA.   A portion of the abstract reads:  By analyzing depictions of female nudity as conversant with urban landscapes in the banned magazine Vea, the author argues that pornography connected Mexico City to transnational ideas of the early twentieth century that held that sexually liberated women were part and parcel of cosmopolitan modernity. Vea exemplified and fueled concerns over “public women” and helps scholars understand larger debates on the gendered effects of revolution, urbanization, and transnational currents of global modernity.  NICE!
I’ve put in a note to Ms Sluis, and if additional information results I’ll be glad to add it.
Even better,  an outstanding set of original negatives of erotic images which have been attributed to Niuglo were discovered in 1996 and recently exhibited (in 2002) by photographer Merrick Morton at the Fototeka Gallery in Los Angeles.  Attributed might be too strong a word, as it was speculation, and there were several other “house” photographers doing the pinup photography for VEA.  Selected images of this cache were printed in editions and sold.  The certainly have the look, and they look wonderful.
Jim Linderman Books and Affordable Ebooks are available HERE

Antique Folk Art Fish Noisemaker Toy



Antique Folk Art Fish Noisemaker Toy.  A clicker-clacker!  
BOOKS AND EBOOKS BY THE AUTHOR HERE

The Birth of Rock and Roll Original Vintage Photograph


Original vintage photograph collection Jim Linderman 
From the Dust to Digital Book The Birth of Rock and Roll Available from the publishers HERE

Sounds from the AIR! The New Vintage Photography Book by Jim Linderman Available NOW





Vintage photographs of mystery, sound and science. In SOUNDS FROM THE AIR one will find pictures of the invisible. The presence of audible waves as captured by anonymous photographers. Mysterious and beautiful visions in sepia. The language of ether. Collected and curated, the pictures generate the buzz of static without making a noise. 78 pages. Available in paperback and instant PDF download. Jim Linderman has produced numerous art and photography books on the obscure.  ORDER HERE

Erotic Folk Art Nude Reclining Woman Relief Carved Sculpture



Erotic Folk Art Nude Reclining Woman Relief Carved Sculpture
11" x 21"
Collection Jim Linderman  
Books and Ebooks by Jim Linderman & Dull Tool Dim Bulb available HERE

SOUNDS FROM THE AIR! New Book by Jim Linderman available from Blurb.

The NEW Book by Jim Linderman is SOUNDS FROM THE AIR!  It explores the power of vintage photographs to show that which is not there!  Visions of sound waves and the magic of radio is told in 78 pages of anonymous photographs.  The language of ether revealed!  $19.99 paperback, $8.99 instant PDF download. 


Drilling Down in a Vintage Photograph. Stories inside a Photo

 Drilling Down in a Vintage Photograph.  Stories inside a Photo. 

Flynn's has The Evening Graphic, the Dispatch, the Tribune, The Observer, the World, the Telegram and the Sun.  Take your pic!  Plus Baseball Magazine for the fellas and Screen Romances for the gals.
Hmm.  Judge Crater is missing on one paper.  That will date the rack.  1930.  Political operatives croaked him.  Two women he was involved with left town quick when he went missing, and a third was murdered.  His safe deposit box was empty.  The third woman, a prominent hooker  (who entertained Crater) had mob ties and was a friend of Jack "Legs" Diamond.  They rubbed her out like bug.  She had been set to testify about graft, and Judge Crater's coat was found in her apartment after she was deep-sixed.  The scandal eventually led to the collapse of crooked mayor Jimmie Walker.

The Judge was never found, but was declared dead in 1937.  For years after, "Judge Crater, call your office" was a gag for comedians.  He is still missing.

HEY!  It's Jeanette MacDonald on the cover of Screen Romances!  October 1930.  It's the first issue!  She was on plenty of magazine covers back then.  She was quite an item, holding a secret torrid love affair with Nelson Eddy for years.  I guess.  I dunno.   A super popular redhead, a good singer and a starch conservative. Of course she had numerous flings, and she ended up married to Gene Raymond, who was arrested three times for having sex with men.  It appears to have been an arranged marriage, but it stuck.  He was once arrested in a vice raid on a "homosexual nightclub" and once after physically abusing the actress, Nelson Eddy rushed over and kicked his ass.  Oh Jeannette…whey didn't you marry Eddy?  I wonder if her complicated life was the motivation for founding of the magazine.

What else do we have in the press.  Car crash, sports shit.  You gotta know your team to place your bets. Then and now betting on your team was an expensive pastime for some.  All in all, 1930 was a cruddy time. The depression, illegal booze, segregated everything…and the mob was growing like Microsoft and Apple did in the 1990s.

Here is the Baseball Magazine.  October 1930 also.  The big article in this issue was the invention of night baseball!  They thought it was a fad.  
Collier's (up on top, but hidden) was a weekly, so it's not clear what was on the cover.

As for Flynn's Stationary, it was apparently founded in 1901.  After having retail operations for decades, is now primarily a web-based business.  If this is the same company, the location here could be 43 East 59th Street, from which they operate now. On the other hand, the way retail space changes in NYC, this cute little shop could have been anywhere.  With all the sunglasses on display (not to mention children's sand toys…) I was guessing this was a shop on the way to the beach… but then voila, it could be a block from Central Park!  One would enter the park on the south east side, near the pond.  I image in plenty of nanny's stopping to pick up some toys for junior and some shades.  Too bad their location is now sullied by being a stones throw from Trump Tower…Shudder.  Still a guess, but possible.  I have no idea if Flynn's operated a chain of stores or where this one was.  This shop could have been one of a dozen for all I know.  Who does a promotional photo without showing the address?  The Topic Sign Company who commissioned it.  They don't care.  It's just another page in their press kit…the photo was printed on linen and has punched holes for a book.

Back then the famous Central Park Sheep Meadow HAD SHEEP. On the other hand, it was also the depression and out of work men lived in shacks (and desperation) in the park. Known as "Hooverville"  I can only hope it never comes back.  Period photos show a pretty sparse and sad place at the time.  I'm not sure it was appropriate for kids except scruffy urchins.  I have walked on the rock here...it's still there.  Hooverville's were all over the country.  When it happens again, Hooverville will be composed of "the middle class" and the city will put up charging stations for your phone.
The Flynn's photo is credited to M. Baer Salov from Montclair, NJ.  It appears most of his work was done in the big city.  A shutterbug working stiff who didn't amount to much.  A similar photo by Salov on ebay now is shown below.


More of Salov's work is shown in the Montclair Public Library site

 


A Lending Library!  I suppose even then the big New York Public Library was a pain. The Mid-Manhattan branch, which opened far later, provides quick access to circulating books now, but then? I'm not sure what the circulation policy of the big library was then.  Let's borrow one from Flynn's.  I imagine pickings were slim at the shop…but it is a good idea to get customers inside.
They developed film…as did everyone before digital.  Drop it off, a day or few later, pick them up. A fine Kodak promotional sign.

The "Erected by The Topic Sign Company"  inscription on the photo is odd.  This hardly looks like an erection.  More like a haphazard window display anyone could do. 

Tradition Cigar was a Philadelphia company.  A striking Tradition Cigar display which shows both cowboys and indians loved the brand.  Those filthy stogies were a big item then, and appropriately the shop gives them an entire window.  Tradition was owned by Bayuk (the parent company name) but they had more luck with Phillies. THEY were so popular other companies kept stealing their brand.  The oval painted signs atop each window were placed by the Garcia Grande cigar company.

Flynn's photograph by M. Baer Salov 1930.  Collection Jim Linderman

Black Beauty Anonymous African-American slide photographs from West Coast




Anonymous color photographs from the 1950s.  Anonymous as of now...found on ebay
Collection Jim Linderman

Elvis : The Last Tour The Last photos and Why the King NEVER performed outside the US Original Photos Collection Jim Linderman









 Elvis : The Last Tour The last photos and Why the King NEVER performed outside the US.

The king is not looking too well here. A group of never published photographs found in Michigan. Indeed Elvis played Michigan several times during his end times.  Having been pushed to the limit by fame and his crooked, greedy manager Col. Tom Parker He was near collapse.  Sure enough, he dropped.  Elvis spent a week in the hospital from April 1 to April 6, 1977, but a few weeks later there he was again.  A night in Detroit.  A night in Ann Arbor.  One in Saginaw.  A show in the hockey rink in Kalamazoo.  BACK to Saginaw a week later for another gig.


Colonel Tom Parker took 50%. 
 
You know the protocol. There were a few shows cancelled due to "intestinal flu" or "toothache" but he rolled on.  He died several months later.

He was performing well enough, some say. Live gigs on the 1977 tour were captured for a concert film and albums.  When Dr. Nick had him jacked-up with as many drugs as Elvis took, he could get through a show.  The concert film was canned, as it showed a man clearly on the brink, but greed caused it to be released not long after his death.  Greed.

Why did Elvis NEVER PLAY OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES?  Other than three or so gigs in Canada (back when a passport was not required to cross the border) Parker never once put the King on display unless he was on American soil.  At least one offer of a million dollars in Australia was turned down.  Can you imagine if he had played Japan?  20 sold out shows in a row in any Japanese venue.  Europe? 

Colonel Tom Parker was an illegal Immigrant who feared he would not be able to return to the US if he left.  That was the reason. Some even speculate he was "on the run" from a murder he committed in Europe as a young man.  He was Dutch born.  He made it to the US and claimed he was born in West Virginia.  He never had a passport.  A manager on the lam.


Original Unpublished Photographs of Elvis 1977 Anonymous.  Collection Jim Linderman  Each signed on the reverse "E  C"


Large Antique Church Revival Banner Folk Art Teaching Tool Circa 1925 Collection Jim Linderman

Large Antique Church Revival Banner Folk Art Teaching Tool 125 x 53.  Yes, that is a doorknob lower left.  Circa 1925, Midwest.  I will research a bit and post on the sister blog old time religion with detail photos.

Books on Folk Art by the author available for purchase or preview HERE

Vintage Photograph Navajo Rug Seller and Rough n' Tough Tenderfoot



Navajo rug seller shows his wares to what I can only suspect is a tenderfoot. I have written the story of the "Drugstore Cowboy" before on his blog...I am going to guess Jasper here traveled from out east to see the desert, and I am going to also guess his feet hurt from his stiff new boots.  His crisp new Stetson makes the mountain look small.   I don't blame him, it's still a wonderful and magical trip.  A few nights in Santa Fe and environs will change your life.  

Do those chaps even fit in the touring car? "Put the front seat down, dear...my chaps won't bend at the knee"  Jasper seems to be interested in pawn jewelry too.

Navajo rugs are among the most beautiful objects of art ever produced.  While they may have taken a woman months to make, the return was small.  Still, it provided a meager living.

Original snapshot (detail) circa 1930s Collection Jim Linderman
Thanks to Curley's Antiques