Tijuana Bibles: Art and Wit in America's Forbidden Funnies, 1930S-1950s

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Joe Shuster drew Tijuana bible-like illustrations for an underground bondage-themed erotic series called Nights of Horror in the early 1950s. His male characters are strongly reminiscent of Superman, and some of his female characters resemble Lois Lane. Thousands of copies of Nights of Horror were seized in a police raid on a Times Square book store, but Shuster's name did not come to light in the ensuing prosecution. [33] [34] We curate the pop culture market for you, evaluating and selecting only the best from hundreds of the most popular manufacturers. Cultural references [ edit ] The cover of a typical Tijuana bible, this one features Wimpy, and is drawn in the style of the anonymous "Mr. Prolific". The FBI monitored the Tijuana bible trade but rarely made arrests. A large file of specimen bibles was maintained at FBI headquarters, eventually comprising over 5,000 items, for the purpose of tracing printers and distributors. [31] As a result of the 1942 raids the FBI came into possession of thousands of engraved printing plates used to print the original bibles; these gathered dust in a storage cabinet at FBI headquarters for years awaiting a final decision on their destruction. Cultural references [ edit ] The cover of a typical Tijuana bible, this one features Wimpy, and is drawn in the style of the anonymous "Mr. Prolific".

Fan magazines constructed star personae, mediating how little or much fans knew about the stars; as sex symbols their fans craved further insights into, and confirmation of, star’s private lives and personas, beyond the studios’ official ‘line’. Geek Slop understands geeks (because we are geeks) and their fondness for inventive gear and hard-to-find collectibles! According to the FBI, four tons of material were ready to ship across the country, and seven tons had already gone out and were being rounded up at regional distribution centers in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cleveland/ Akron, Indianapolis, and Kansas City. Jacob Brotman was identified as one of the main players in the Tijuana bible trade in Jay Gertzman's Bookleggers and Smuthounds, and he had previously been arrested in a similar raid on a Lower East Side loft reported in the New York City papers in 1936 which produced a large haul of bibles, erotic fiction "readers", pornographic playing cards, and nude photos, along with cutting and binding equipment and an expensive modern printing press which police could not confiscate because it turned out to be leased. The firm had been operating under the guise of a playing card manufacturer. [21] Millions of Tijuana bibles were printed and sold in the 1930s, the heyday of the bibles. But the number of new Tijuana bible titles being produced took a nosedive at the beginning of World War II, and the industry never recovered. Factors in the decline of the Tijuana bibles at this time may have included police raids and the retirement of Doc Rankin, who was called up by the military at the beginning of the war, along with wartime shortages of paper and printing supplies. Printing plates of older bibles were worn down through continued reprintings until they were nearly blank, and original plates lost in police raids had to be replaced with new plates crudely recut by hamfisted, untrained amateur engravers. The quality of Tijuana bibles available on the market suffered, and prices dropped as sales plummeted.

Hairbreadth Harry in "The Rescue" (Tijuana Bible) via Hang Fire Books with usage type - Public Domain. 1935 In a 2018 issue of Howard Chaykin's scathing satire of the comics industry, Hey Kids! Comics!, two freelance comic book artists are shown furtively delivering artwork for upcoming Tijuana bibles to the (fictional) offices of the Tobasco Publishing Co.

Most Tijuana Bibles were obscene parodies of popular newspaper comic strips of the day and chronicled their explicit sexual adventures. Some featured the sexual escapades of popular film stars such as Laurel and Hardy, Mae West, The Marx Brothers, and Clark Gable and influenced the “Hollywood Babylon” aura that was perpetuated during the 1930’s. Others focused on world leaders such as Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin. Accessions 2010-0146, 2012-0175, 2012-0207, 2012-0245, 2017-0020, 2017-0062 are described in this finding aid. Arrangement: The 1996 novel The Green Mile by Stephen King, features a scene in which guard Percy Wetmore is caught reading a Tijuana bible with fictional character "Lotta Leadpipe", and is asked what his mother would think of such material; this is included in the film version. Cover of a ca. 1936 Tijuana bible: "The Adventures of a Fuller Brush Man" via Wikipedia Commons by Vintage Nude Photos with usage type - Public Domain. 1936

Comics

Panel from a "Tillie and Mac" tijuana bible comic strip via Wikipedia Commons by Haks Auctions with usage type - Public Domain. 1935 Spiegelman, Art. "Those Dirty Little Books" in Tijuana Bibles: Art and Wit in America's Forbidden Funnies, ed. Bob Adelman, Simon & Schuster, 1997, p. 5-6. Baby Face" Nelson in "Oh Yeah" VI (Tijuana Bible) via Hang Fire Books with usage type - Public Domain. 1935 Tijuana bibles were sold under the counter for 25 cents in places where men congregated: barrooms, bowling alleys, garages, tobacco shops, barber shops, and burlesque houses. One commentator reminisces: The total number of distinct stories produced is unknown but has been estimated by Art Spiegelman to be between 700 and 1,000. These were endlessly reprinted, redrawn, retitled, and pirated, with nearly illegible "nth-generation" copies circulating decades after the originals were first issued. The majority of old Tijuana bibles seen today are reprints dating from the 1950s.