Juicy Tales

 

I can't say that I know a whole lot about Juicy Tales, of which this the first issue, from November 1929, other than that it was a 'girlie' pulp, promising sex and naughtiness but, of course, not really delivering.  That said, the cover painting does serve up some actual female nudity, marking this out as a 'pre code' publication.  While the 'Hays Code' might well have been intended for the censorship of US cinema, its effects were felt across US popular media, with even the sleazier end of the pulp market having to 'cover up' their covers.  I do know that Juicy Tales was part of a stable of such magazines published by Harry Donenfeld, which included Hot Stories and Joy Stories.  These were a precursor to Donenfeld's better remembered line of 'Spicy' genre pulps, published from the thirties onward, which included Spicy Detective Stories, Spicy Western Stories and so on.  As ever, they were more suggestive than 'spicy', featuring covers depicting imperiled young women in various states of undress, threatening to burst out of their underwear.  

They were, however, considered 'spicy' enough by the authorities of the era to threaten Donenfeld's publishing company with obscenity charges.  Eventually, in the mid forties, he changed the name of the line from 'Spicy' to 'Speedy', with the renamed Speedy Western Stories lasting until 1948.  As for Juicy Tales, it lasted for only five issues, which isn't really surprising - as a 'top shelf' pulp it would have had a relatively limited audience, particularly as it was being launched in the midst of the 'Great Crash', with potential buyers' spending power severely curtailed.  By combining the ;girlie' aspect with other popular genres a few years later in the subsequent 'Spicy' series, the magazines had a far greater appeal, (particularly to young men who could claim that they were only buying it for the western/detective/mystery stories).