Leonard Burtman Forty Plus Vintage Sleaze The Rare Digests #34
Leaving no exploitable fetish unexploited, Lenny Burtman's grab for the big casaba market was Forty Plus. I once saw a magazine titled FIFTY plus, but it was an AARP thing. Lenny's title ran a good long while, as a digest, of course, but later, I guess, incorporated into mobster Reuben Sturman's stable as a full size slick. The original had an Eric Stanton logo of a sweater girl pushing the boundaries of a tape measure. She looks better than nearly all of the models, I am afraid…but although Burtman filled the inside front cover with "art study" claptrap, it was all about what was in the sweater, not the face above the sweater…so we can forgive him if a few of what has unflatteringly come to be known as "butta-faces" appeared in the pages. (Or their chins anyway…this magazine for some reason had plenty of photos shooting up towards the chest rather than down from the eyes.)
Once Sturman took it over, he replaced the Stanton drawing with one by Bill Ward, an obvious choice. Actually, there were probably lots of Forty Plus titles, and if I am not mistaken one still exists, but if so it is certainly limping along, the market for crud like this having become as extinct as a double D dodo bird. Now we have the internet…even a genius like Burtman couldn't figure out how to make the printed page sway in unison.
As you can see, Burtman put no price on the cover. As long as a shopkeeper took the risk buying what was in the car trunk, he was free to charge as much as he thought he could get away with. Lenny got his, the owner got his, there was enough for the beat cop who stopped in once a week for his take…and everyone was happy.
I don't think anyone has yet published a complete list of the titles, of which there were many. I have a few circulars for mail-order showing them, but why should I make it easy for the bootleggers?
Forty-Plus Issue Number 10 Selbee Associates 1964 Collection Victor Minx
Order Jim Linderman Books and Ebook Downloads for IPAD HERE
THIS IS NUMBER THIRTY FOUR IN THE SERIES 'THE RARE DIGESTS' Small essays on hopelessly obscure and scarce soft-core publications of the 1950s. Enjoy them All!
