"Strange Sisters" - Lesbian paperback artwork from the 1950s and 1960s

[Roxanne Appleby]

"Strange Sisters is an online archive of lesbian paperback cover art from the 50's and 60's. This free site has a clean and well-catalogued layout. Some of the covers featured in this impressive collection were an early inspiration for the director of twilightwomen films. Lots of fun, highly recommended."

"He forgot his tramp wife in a depraved lust-nest."

"Young, tender and naive, she was perfect bait for a professional divorcee with perverted desires."

 

[Etoile]

Awesome! I have Jaye Zimet's book, which is also called "Strange Sisters" and has the same content as well as history about lesbian pulp novels. Thanks for the link!

 

[neonflux]

Thank you, Roxanne, this site is awesome. I bookmarked it.

Have you ever seen the film "Forbidden Love?" Talks about lesbian life in the 40's - early 60's using lesbian pulp fiction as a jumping off point and framing device. one of my favorite documentaries about queer women.

Neon

 

[Guest]

 

[snowy ciara]

OhMyGosh! Thank you for the links, Roxanne! Now, I need to find a source for the novels themselves!

Did you ever wonder what happened to Nancy Drew?

http://www.strangesisters.com/a-z/images/theme_one.php?start=4&data=jailbirds.list&photo=xfemaleconvict_II.jpg

 

[justindurham]

this is a fascinating site. the images on these book covers--along with the titles--speak volumes. pruett's "the abnormal ones" is priceless. or, "the art colony perverts: they lived their art in depraved orgies"--fantastic! thanks for this link.

 

[snowy ciara]

I liked "Satan was a Lesbian!" and "Satan's Daughter"...

 

[snowy ciara]

For the boys (and the girls who get hot from them): Gay on the Range

 

[Netzach]

"back when men were men--- more or less"

omg, this made my day

 

[Netzach]

and this got me in the mood

http://www.strangesisters.com/a-z/images/crap_shoot.php?start=1&data=m-r.list&photo=xmadamebutch.jpg

 

[neonflux]

"Confinement" in the Jail Birds: Breeding Ground for Strange Vices section...

 

[neonflux]

BTW Netz, I'm the one in drag that you barely see on the right side of the cover, the one with the umbrella with the sharp point. Who knows what I might have hidden under that trench coat and hat. And let me take a guess at which lovely lady might you be...

and this got me in the mood

http://www.strangesisters.com/a-z/images/crap_shoot.php?start=1&data=m-r.list&photo=xmadamebutch.jpg

 

[SophiaY]

Now that brought up some memories.
Back in the dark ages, when I was in college (a place where pearls were part of the uniform - still are from what I hear), some us used to pass around old copies of those books, with macramé book covers to hide the illustrations.

 

[RogueLurker]

Thank you, Roxanne, this site is awesome. I bookmarked it.

Have you ever seen the film "Forbidden Love?" Talks about lesbian life in the 40's - early 60's using lesbian pulp fiction as a jumping off point and framing device. one of my favorite documentaries about queer women.

Neon

I love that documentary ... and just recently got my hands on a VHS copy of it. It made such an impact on me when I first saw it that I use the movie poster as my regular AV.

 

[SophiaY]

OhMyGosh! Thank you for the links, Roxanne! Now, I need to find a source for the novels themselves!

Did you ever wonder what happened to Nancy Drew?

http://www.strangesisters.com/a-z/images/theme_one.php?start=4&data=jailbirds.list&photo=xfemaleconvict_II.jpg

Cleis Press has reprinted some of them:

http://www.cleispress.com/category_index.php?category=Paperback,Classics

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

Bwa-ha-ha! Check this out (snicker)

Chained Girls/Daughters of Lesbos

Director: Joseph P. Mawra
Starring: June Roberts
Languages: English
Run Time: 61 (min)
Year Produced: 1965
Rating: NR

Do you know the difference between "the Bull Dyke, the Stomping Bitch, and the Baby Butch?" If not, then immediately watch Chained Girls, an outrageous expose of the Lesbian Gay Scene of the Sixties, and learn the True Facts about these she-wolves who prowl the streets of Manhattan after dark! See: "The Secret Haunts and Mysterious Life of the Lesbian!" See: "A Young Deb making Her Debut as a Daughter of Lesbos by being Subjected to the Most Shocking and Horror-Filled Initiation Ever Imagined!" Yes, it's exactly the kind of serious sociological statement you'd expect from the makers of Glen or Glenda? and Olga's House of Shame.

Plus, join Dominique and her galpals for a special meeting of the Daughters of Lesbos, "a lesbian organization dedicated to the proposition that women are superior beings." After Helga gets it on with a counselor at a girl's camp, Dominique splashes in a tub with a pretty young playmate, and "female stud" Maxine makes it with a hippie hitchhiker. Yow!

http://www.wolfevideo.com/products.asp?id=1398

 

[PandoraSpox]

Thanks for the link! That's some very pretty cover art. Wish I could read all of them. lol