No reference to the genre of American, digest size (5.5" x 8"), fetish magazines of the 1950s and '60s would be complete without an introduction including John Willie's Bizarre magazine, started in 1946 in Toronto, Canada. Equally important is the Nights of Horror series of square back "novelettes" (first published 1953) whose illustrations were recently attributed to Joe Shuster of Superman fame. These two publications, along with a handful of others, were the genesis for all the digest sized, American fetish magazines that would follow. It would be impossible within this forum to be exhaustive and all inclusive, therefore I have focused this post on rarely seen and unusual titles with illustrated (as opposed to photographic) covers. Future posts will included photographs from these publications as well as posts dedicated to John Willie and Irving Klaw.
Bizarre magazines in my eBay store can be found here.
The cover for Bizarre No.10 (above) was done in two versions, the predecessor of which, Bizarre No.6, was the inspiration for an ad campaign in Paris for Guerlain perfume in the 1960s. Below is volume two of Nights of Horror. The series is complete in 16 volumes. These novelettes focused on domination fantasies, all illustrated by Joe Shuster and published as "perfect-bound" volumes with square backs as opposed to most publications in the genre that are "saddle-stitched" (two staples at the center page).
The titles that dominated the genre were published by Irving Klaw and Burmel from the early 1950s to the mid-1960s. I am not including any of the Klaw, Mutrix magazines here at the moment; and will include some of the Burmel and Selbee titles at the end of the post. Note that all these magazines were published clandestinely and were not available through conventional retail outlets, i.e. not for sale at the corner candy store. However, there were many adult only bookshops in Times Square offering the fetish/domination magazines "under-the-counter" as they were forbidden to be sold in public and otherwise.
In this first group I concentrated on late 1940s, early 1950s novelettes, from small publishers; all are square bound. Within this genre, many collectors paid little attention to these early examples because they were not from known publishers and not illustrated by the usual suspects: Eric Stanton, John Willie, Bill Ward or Eneg (Gene Bilbrew). Today these titles and similar publications, remain amongst the scarcest and least understood within the genre, raising questions as to who were the publishers, the writers and the illustrators.
In the Claws of Terror. A Satan Publication. Cover plus two illustrated pages.
Mistress of Leather. Privately printed.
White Lace. Front and back covers.
Aristocratic Discipline. Front and back covers. Note the similarities between the illustration style and that of Joe Shuster's for the Nights of Horror series.
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The following three magazines are all staple bound along the left side indicating a less professional approach to the publication process. The pages were printed in a relatively simple production process eliminating the need for folding and binding into a more conventional method (perfect bound or saddle stitch).
Princess Dominata. Published by Glass Slipper. Illustrations attributed to Eneg (Gene Bilbrew).
A Week at Bizarre Manor. Illustrations by Eneg (Gene Bilbrew).
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The next group of illustrations were published as loose, unbound pages, all by Irving Klaw. Most of these types of publications from Klaw were sold through his catalogs in "chapters" usually in groups of four or eight pages at a time. It seems that the rationale was to publish the pages as they were completed by the illustrators (Eneg [aka Gene Bilbrew], Van Rod [also Eneg], Ruiz and Stanton) who were overworked and underpaid and thus, notoriously late getting the finished work delivered for print.
Four pages (above) from Bound Vixen. Illustrated by Van Rod (Gene Bilbrew).
Three pages (above) from TV Domination. Illustrated by Eneg (Gene Bilbrew).
Three pages from Satan In High Heels. Illustrations by Eneg (Gene Bilbrew).
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The remaining scans are all of digest magazines with a conventional saddle-stitched (stapled) binding. The publishers include Zucca, Satellite, Burmel and Selbee as well as two which are unknown.
Unique. Exotic, Bizarre, Esoteric. One-shot?
Devil Doll. Illustrated by Eneg (Gene Bilbrew)
Ultra. Issues one and two with cover illustrations by Eneg (Gene Bilbrew).
Published by Zucca. Four issues, all published.
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The next group were all published by Selbee.
Masque. Cover illustrations by Eneg (Gene Bilbrew).
All four issues published.
Issues No.1 and 2 of Connoisseur, both illustrated by Eneg (Gene Bilbrew)
Forced Femininity. Cover illustration by Eric Stanton
Cherchez La Femme...In Drag. Cover illustration by Eric Stanton.
Rubber Bound. Cover illustration by Eric Stanton.
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The next three magazines are Satellite publications. Klaw's New York City operation, after having cease and desist orders brought against it in New York state, moved part of their business to Jersey City, New Jersey. Jersey was where Satellite was established in the early 1960s. The magazines, circa early to mid-1960s.
Bound Correspondence Issue No.2. Cover illustration by Eneg (Gene Bilbrew).
Two covers above: Burlesque Brawl and Strange Partners, illustrated by Eric Stanton and Eneg (Gene Bilbrew) respectively.
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The next and final group are all Exotique (Burmel) Publications.
Adonis In High-Heels.
Secretary's Revenge an ExotiqueExotique Foto-Fiction.
Exotique No.15. Cover illustration by Eneg (Gene Bilbrew).
Booted Discipline. Exotique Special Issue. Cover illustration by Eneg (Gene Bilbrew).
Exotique No.5. Cover illustration by Eneg (Gene Bilbrew).
Exotique No.14. Cover illustration by Eric Stanton.
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Illustration by Eric Stanton used as a back cover for many Selbee publications
of the early to mid-1960s.
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