Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Unique, Racy, & Exotic ('62-'63)
John Amslow & Associates, based somewhere in or around Culver City, CA, was a brown wrapper mail order service from over half a century ago that provided "some of the most fascinating, informative, and titillating items ever offered!" They specialized in"searching far and wide to bring YOU the RARE, the UNUSUAL, the EXOTIC!" Basically they sold naughty stuff in the form of books (some thinly disguised as "educational"), records, film, and "posing" lingerie. These days we call it porn. Here are some highlights from two of their catalogs from 1962 and 1963-- ADULTS ONLY!!!
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"Female Bums Sell". The oldest axiom in pamphlet marketing history!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I'd call any of this porn. Obviously the books probably contain some pretty hardcore words (and what randy teen wouldn't want a two-volume medical text on impotence?). And these albums are probably pretty raunchy (I'd love to have the whole Bert Henry set). But all the movies would certainly be pretty disappointing stag loops--depressing silent home movies of topless women looking a little embarrassed.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to have that (softcover) slipcase edition of Casanova on my shelf, though. A hundred-dollar book for a buck seventy-five! Way to go making him look like a depraved psycho on the cover there, Halloway House.
>"Female Bums Sell". The oldest axiom in pamphlet marketing history!
ReplyDeleteTrue.
>I'm not sure I'd call any of this porn.
If the bra and underwear pages of a department store catalog can be porn, then this can easily be an early 60's version of porn too. Whatever gets you off...
(Daffy Duck impression)-
ReplyDeleteWOO-HOO! WOO-HOO! WOO-HOO!!!
haha, thanks Prof... I can imagine you hopping around with your beak on upside down. Thanks for the comments.
ReplyDeleteSexual deviations in the female! Bisexuality! Nudge nudge, wink wink, say no MORE! These really are quite hilarious.
ReplyDeleteOf all odd things, I discovered while in a last ditch attempt to save my dying marriage back in the early 90's that one of the few perfumes that didn't make my skin itch and burn was a "pheromone cologne" sold by Adam and Eve. It had a nice light smell and I ordered it until 2001 when they unfortunately stopped carrying it. Hilariously, I still get catalogs from them to this day even though I haven't ordered from them since 2001. The envelope always says THIS WILL BE YOUR LAST CATALOG!
I'm still waiting for them to carry out their threat!
I hear ya Facey, I was on so many of these adult mailing lists too forever before I moved to LA, they eventually stopped coming after a few more moves around SoCal.
ReplyDeleteGoogle tells me that John Amslow & Associates is still in business, under different ownership (presumably Amslow is long departed) in Culver City, and has an "A" rating from the local BBB.
ReplyDeleteThey also published some softcore digest-sized magazines, probably in the early 1960s. One of these has the alliterative title 42 Naughty Nights of Nancy; there are several titles of which I am aware and they all similarly employ alliteration.
Thanks for the info Magnut!
ReplyDelete