Saturday, May 9, 2015

World Belly Dance Day: May 9

 
 
 
If there was ever a day made for our man Bolles, this would be it.  The feature cover today is an extra special image from 1932. There's a lot to enjoy here: a terrific costume and that big shimmy coming our way, her blazing red hair and most special, that animated jazz band behind the girl.  The only thing missing is her belly button, but that was a total no-no, not only on the cover. Even inside the pages of the magazine navels were routinely plucked from the photos of the "Hollywood hopefuls". 
 
That wasn't the case with the covers Bolles did for the so-called "under the counter" pulps, as you our no-nonsense Mata makes plainly clear.  But then again, these magazines were not intended for consumption by the general public, and the venders who sold them were at
considerable risk of harassment from the decency leagues or even a trip to the slammer, courtesy of the vice cops.   Bolles was certainly no fool and you'll never find his signature on any of this work, so he was free to paint to his heart's content, lucky for us!
 
 




 
 


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