Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Well I realize that I've been hypnotized...

 
A                                       |                        B                         |         C

 

D                                        |                           E                     |          F 

 
 
G  |  H  |  I
  |   J   |
A) "Bed Me!" - Bee-Line Book 302S, 1968
B) Follies - v13n4, November, 1969
C) Layout from previous, as "Jana Keene"
D) Jaguar - v3n8, September, 1968
E) Leg Language - [v1]n3, Summer, 1971
F) Layout from previous, as "Gypsy Sheila"
G) Mr. [Magazine] - v15n6, April, 1971
H) Layout from previous, as "Dianna Curtis"
I) Rapture - v11n2, Dec-Feb, 1973-1974
J) reprint photo, but similar to "Bed Me!" so maybe the original session was c. 1968?

Perhaps Elmer Batters' most dynamic model (after Caruska), Diane Curtis was undeniable for a few years, attaining high-allure status as both session model and cover girl. Sullivan overlooks the bouffant babe in his "Glamour Girls" encyclopedia, but through not fault of his own. She is not well documented in the first place: rarely appearing with the same name throughout her career, few current websites with information beyond a black-and-white photograph (guilty, guilty), and her professional career as a nude model seems to have lasted maybe 6 years (tops). This was typical haven chosen figure modeling for a career. However long the magic lasted, Diane's appearances are unforgettable, oozing charm and grace inside a healthy skin, purposeful tanlines, and an upstairs to lounge around in. She MAY have become a teacher once she left the photog scene, but dont waste your time hunting. Diane was adaptable and cute if anything, and the type of hardworking, cooperative model that photographers so often waste away looking for. 

Best seen: Diane as captured by Elmer Batters in color in "Leg Language," as a desert gypsy in heels, hose, and garters. She also did an interesting color layout in "Mr." with an unstoppable centerfold.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Happy Easter

Sometimes things turn up when you least expect them to, and in this case it was a 4 x 6 inch black-and-white photograph found on eBay that triggered the notion that I had forgotten to call my girlfriend. That photograph that turned up on eBay is here too, a reprint. The woman looks oddly like Margaret Nolan aka Vicky Kennedy, but it could easily be someone else. Still, fun fact.
On-Call Wife
Andrew Shaw
Nightstand Books NB1835, 1965.
4 x 6" photo reprint of image
likely  for use in illustrating
 "On-Call Wife" by Andrew Shaw


Lawrence Block, that perennial name in modern literature, who seems to pump a book out every so often (more than not), wrote his share of sleaze and it's been confirmed he wrote as "Andrew Shaw" on occasion. Witness "On-Call Wife" by Shaw (this being one of the unconfirmed Block-Shaw titles, artist unknown): what looks like a kinky tryst into wife-swapping, and "buttocks" is about the risque-est term in the tome. Can you believe they actually banned this stuff?

*images scanned from items in the author's collection