'I'll Get Mine!' Here are 13 vintage pulp book covers that depict 'loose women' getting high
February 14, 2016
Trashy pulp fiction reached its height in the 1920s and ’30s, fostering a plethora of book covers destined to be made into the posters of today.
This article was originally published by The Influence, a news site that covers the full spectrum of human relationships with drugs. Follow The Influence on Facebook or Twitter.
The pulp era overlapped with a surge in anti-marijuana propaganda, spearheaded by Harry Anslinger, whose hatred of weed was rooted in racism and sexism. “Two Negros took a girl fourteen years old and kept her for two days under the influence of hemp,”went one example of his rhetoric. “Upon recovery she was found to be suffering from syphilis.”
This notion that drugs legal and illegal would ensnare women into promiscuity and exploitation proliferated in pulp fiction. Women who used drugs were invariably portrayed as “loose,” and a danger not just to themselves but to society at large. The book covers below demonstrate this trope in action.
They’re not just drinking—they’re drinking naked!
“She Traded Her Body For Drugs—And Kicks!”
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This time she’s mixing nudity with opium, in search of some “shocking ecstasy.”
“WEIRD ORGIES,” a syringe full of “MISERY” and a scantily-clad woman? Definitely “not recommended for children.”
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“A cheap and easy girl sets a hopped-up killer against a city.” All while wearing a form-fitting, strapless purple gown.
“Teens On The Loose With Marijuana In Their Pockets, Liquor On Their Breath, And Time On Their Hands!”
What perversions are in store for this half-naked woman, about to made a “BEAST”? Questions don’t come much more burning.
“She could look like a wistful child and she loved to play games—such as murder, men and marijuana.”
“The outlandish, Rabelaisian saga of the hunt for a fantastically potent tropical sex drug … and what happened to our men … and women … when it was smuggled into America!” That particular story had a while to run.
Thanks to the “REEFER,” she is a “GOOD GIRL” no more!
“Divulging heretofore unheard of orgies of youth’s dissipation.”
This article was originally published by The Influence, a news site that covers the full spectrum of human relationships with drugs. Follow The Influence on Facebook or Twitter.
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