#lesbianpulpficion

In honor of Veteran’s Day, today’s piece of historic erotic art is the original cover art by Barye Phillips of the best selling 1950 lesbian pulp fiction book “Women’s Barracks” by Tereska Torres.  Later editions of the popular book had a more toned down cover that still had women changing in a barracks, but without the suggestively knowing looks between two of the women. (1)  

A description which appears to be from the back of the book on the original 1950 publication and is included in the 2000 reprint of the novel reads:

”This is the story of what happens when scores of young girls live intimately together in a French military barracks.  Many of these girls, utterly innocent and inexperienced, met other women who had lived every type of experience.  Their problems, their temptations, their fights and failures are those faced by all women who are forced to live together without normal emotional outlets.

These girls who chose Tereska Torres, the author, as their confidante poured out to her their most intimate feelings, their secret thoughts.  So this book, with all of its revealment and tenderness, is an important book because it tells a story that had never been truly told– the story of women in war.” (2)

According to Wikipedia, Women’s Barracks was the first paperback best seller, “selling over 2 million copies in its first five years, as it was the first pulp to candidly address lesbian relationships. In total 4 million copies of the book were sold in the United States and it was translated into 13 different languages.” (3)

 In this scene, we have five attractively depicted women in French World War II uniforms changing clothes in a locker room setting.  In the background, we see one lady seated on a bench who appears to be wearing either a towel or a slip, the bare shoulder of another who is mostly out of frame, and another lady who is holding a cigarette in her mouth as she wears a uniform hat, a pink bra, and is working to fasten her uniform skirt.  In the foreground, a smiling lady in a pink bra and black panties is pulling her uniform up skirt as she shares an intimate and knowing look with a fully uniformed lady who is watching her dress from a seated position as she smokes a cigarette.

REFERENCE / FURTHER READING

(1) Zimet, Jaye.  Strange Sisters: The Art of Lesbian Pulp Fiction 1949-1969.  New York, NY: Viking Studio / Penguin Group, 1999,  Print.

(2) Torres, Tereska.  Women’s Barracks.  1950.  Reprint.  New York, New York: Quality Paperback Book Club, 2000.  Print.

(3) WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE: “Tereska Torres”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tereska_Torr%C3%A8s

WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE: “Lesbian Pulp Fiction”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesbian_pulp_fiction