Too Much Turkey?

Feeling guilty about all that turkey stuffing you stuffed yourself with? Well, you're not alone. On your left is the first of a recurring theme the Bolles girl had with the issue of weight control. This cover from 1927 shows our flapper contentedly posing on a scale, but only two years later and presumably a few ounces more there clearly is some alarm about the issue of weight. Not that she seems to have anything to worry about. Bolles' girls were among the slimmest of any pretty girl (again I am resorting to the standard term applied during this era) artist, aside from John Held Jr.'s stick figures.

The dictum emerging here is calories-in calories-out. By the mid 1930s Bolles girls were typically less active and spent more time indoors posing placidly than their outdoorsy counterparts from a decade earlier, hence the need for the dulling daily dozen (though with an assist from a slimming machine). A lot has been written about how magazine and advertising imagery contributed to a preoccupation with physical appearance, but what is unclear is whether Bolles was reacting to and commenting on this phenomenon or actually contributing to it.

Save That Turkey!

This has to rank as the weirdest Bolles cover ever. The slice of bread motif makes no sense at all to me and that's just the beginning of my confusion. Bolles' theme of naked fairy cuddling stolid Tom Turkey is indecipherable, except at the level described by Doug Ellis in his book Uncovered, on the history of the spicy pulps. He notes that with just a small change in color the censors would have been all over this. For other reasons I think they already were.

This was also the only cover Bolles did for Ginger and I can't figure out why the art director, if it had one, splurged on him. It wasn't even the debut issue, the magazine started in 1928, a year before this issue and lasted until 1932. I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was forced out of business by one of the morals groups that were in he hunt for Frank Armer and other publishers of these so-called Smoosh mags.

The other cover artists for Ginger couldn't approach the quality that Bolles put into his work, but one far surpassed him in turkey themed weirdness. Take a look at this cover by Reginald Greenwald, an artist who did covers for Ginger and similar rags. This girl's certainly no turkey lover!

Addendum: Ok, I stand corrected and then some for my lamentable attempt at ornithology. My friend Mark Forer, big time Bolles collector and cultural touchstone for all things retro, politely pointed out to me that our fairy is embracing a peacock, not a turkey. Well that makes it a bit worse in some ways, though at least it wasn't a swan.

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving?

A great cover but a hassle to clean up. By 1937, when this issue hit the newsstands the publishers of Gay Parisienne had resorted to ever cheaper printing. Not only did I have to remove some major age wear but the image was loaded with printing blemishes. But I think the painting is worth the attention and the featured cover story could well be describing it. At first glance our baker is simply trimming up the crust, but a closer look reveals she is not appropriately, or at least, completely dressed for the job. Bolles did a lot of covers like this, innocent at first and then as you look closer all sorts of contrary details start to show up; the lack of undergarments, a flash of flesh where you wouldn't expect to see it, or clothing patterns that look like naughty bits. He must have driven the censors crazy.

National Game & Puzzle Week Starts Today

Perhaps I've taken this too far but it has been a lot of fun to find magazine covers that connect to the theme of the day or week. And I've got a really crazy one that I'm holding back for Thanksgiving. When Bolles did this cover in 1924, the crossword puzzle had only been around for 11 years, so it was still a bit of a novelty. For some reason I think Bolles hand drew and numbered the puzzle on top of the girl instead of it being added on by the engraver.

National Smoke Out Day is Over. Need a Light?

Meet Windy. She's the most famous unknown Bolles girl of them all. In fact a lot of people still think her last name is Vargas, or is that Varga? I'll post her entire story soon. If you thought in my earlier comments I was kidding about Bolles obsessing over hand poses, check out how Windy is handling her Zippo. Talk about digital manipulation.

Light 'em if you got 'em: Today is National Smoke Out Day

On our left is the girl who in 1914 launched Bolles' career. This was only his second published cover but by popular demand from readers it was reprinted as a poster by the publisher, Leslie-Judge for the next 10 years. Please note the cigarette. From what I have read it wasn't until 1928 that any cigarette advertising campaign showed a woman even hold a smoke, much less inhale. Before then she could only longingly admire her man as he acquired a nicotine addiction. But long before this here is our man Enoch using a cigarette to great dramatic effect. I'm not aware of any other illustrator of his era depicting his pretty girl (yes, that was the standard term) with butt in hand (you know what I mean), at least in the 1920s. And at that time the very idea of a young woman wielding a smoke was transgressive. Bolles would use the cigarette as a symbolic exclamation point for the rest of his career. It was so important to him that he once had his son-in-law pose with a cigarette in hand because he was dissatisfied with how he model had wielded it (not that his son-in-law would have ever taken a puff. He was a National champion bicyclist). Bolles himself was a non-smoker but that didn't stop him from doing illustrations for cigarette companies. I have scans of original illustrations for ad campaigns but have never seen anything published.

I'll leave you with a real treat: a never before published original sketch for a cigarette ad. I have no idea if it ever saw print.

We've Been Cleaning House!

You can't help but notice the new look around here. It's all courtesy of my Bolles pal, Brandon Dawley (see his blog), who along with giving The Blog on Enoch a whole new look contributed the new Winter themed banner. This image comes from Shane Gline's Cartoon Retro site which has some great Bolles images and a whole lot more. Let me know what you think of the new look.
Jack