Acquired Tastes XLIII: Gay Pulp Fiction, Part 71 Manhard Books, Part 6 of 6

Acquired Tastes XLIII:

Gay Pulp Fiction, Part 71

Manhard Books, Part 6 of 6

Today we'll be taking our final look at the Manhard imprint from Surrey House, Inc. / Surree Ltd, Inc. of San Diego and Santee, California. These books were distributed by the same company as Trojan Books and Gay Way Books; the Zorro Distribution Company, also operating out of San Diego.

At this point, I am not sure that all these imprints aren't related. I say this because I recently purchased a Gay Way book and when I looked in the back of the book, where they offer other titles to purchase, they'd listed titles from all the various imprints Zorro Distribution Company dealt with, including the HIS series, which we have yet to take a look at, but are tied to Surrey House, Inc.

The Manhard imprint published 96 titles from 1973-1979.

Today, we finally get a peak at the one and only time the style of the cover art would change;  the black ink line drawings would be replaced for some rather garish, badly taken photos. I guess they thought realism would take them to the next level? But they were wrong. Instead, I believe it helped hasten the death of the imprint. 

Yes, 96 titles is all they wrote!

Here are the final dozen (or so) titles. Sadly, there's a number of covers missing this week. I'd really expected to find more of these, but instead? Slim pickings!

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Bondage and Boy Flesh 

Author: Newt Jennings 

MH476

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Cops & Throbbers

Author: John Santerini

MH477

Love a good pun/double entendre. Does this qualify? A shame they had to move away from these marvelous illustrations. As far as artwork goes, I think this is one of my favorite imprints. I think the key to a successful dirty book cover is to engage the viewers imagination and drawings like this have mine working overtime. 

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Greasing Up Axel's 

Author: Peter Hunter 

MH478  

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The Sergeant's Privates

Author: Philip Pine

MH479

Another great title and cover. The other day I was trying to remember... I know I've had my 'card punched' by The Army and The Marines... but I can't think of anyone from The Navy. I need to put that on my 'to do' list. Oh... it's quite a long list. 

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Deliveries In The Rear

Author: Samuel West

MH480

Another of my favorite gay/sexual puns. And I love where that arrow is pointed! Nice touch. Subtle. Now, take a look at the two figures. I swear they were drawn by different people. The figure on the box? Perfection. The on next to it? What's with his hand in the foreground? And his left leg? And his chest? It's just a tad off somehow. Or is it just me?

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Leather Bound 

Author: Michael Scott 

MH481

(Just found this one!)

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The Telephone Installer 

Author: Buck Sage 

MH482

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Stud-Ranch Slave 

Author: Chandler Lewis 

MH483 

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Star Suckers 

Author: Roland Graeme 

MH484

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Dark Master 

Author: P.H. Bennett 

MH485

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Double Play 

Author: Paul Gronowski 

MH486

Here we are: the first example of the 'new' direction the imprint's cover art would be taking (that I could find.) Hard telling the reason for the change up. Changing tastes? Trends? Their former artist no longer wanted to do it? Hard to say. What can be said? The photos they chose to replace those wonderful drawings? Not the greatest. I get that they have to crop out all the naughty bits, although by 1979 the censorship laws were a thing of the past, but they really could have chosen better quality photos. You'll see what I mean...

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Brother Slave

Author: Sebastian Lamb

MH487

Laughing at this one. I had an older brother. A big bully... and he loved to 'make' me do things (no, never 'that.) So I remember those days of being his 'slave.' Of course, due to our poor sense of history we had no context for the term 'slave.' It was tossed about quite cavalierly. 

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Teenage Tease 

Author: Allen H. Todd 

MH488

(Just found this one.)

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Bunk House Hunks 

Author: Raymond Cooper 

MH489

As you can see, I really did whatever I could to represent these titles and I can't believe there aren't more of them to be found. But then, given the quality of the photos used, I guess I can see why no one felt them particularly scan worthy. It does make me wonder about the rarity of some of these books. Thankfully, universities throughout the US have started archiving them - that's how I discovered the actual titles and authors for a number of this series. So, this part of gay history is being preserved... you simply need to make an appointment and wear rubber gloves to see it firsthand.

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Boarding School Chicken

Author: Stuart Rowen 

MH490 

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Stud-Sucker 

Author: Samuel West 

MH491

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Humpy Highschooler

Author: Peter Proud

MH492

'Humpy' - what a wonderful word. It makes me think of cornfed blonde's with big booties. I just want to lend a firm hand and smack those peach fuzz covered cakes. The word also makes me want to stand behind them and watch while they pump it into some silly twink. 'Humpy.' The cover boy above fits the bill quite well. He's a bit sleazy, though. But then again... that can be fun.

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Coachin' The Chicken 

Author: Allen H. Todd 

MH493

Eek. 'That' term, again! And 'Coachin!' Plays right into the far rights misconception that gay men are all about recruitment and pedophilia. And, on top of that, we have that little yellow kerchief wrapped around this young ginger's throat - rather reminiscent of the scarf worn by members of The Boy Scouts of old (do they still have uniforms?) I guess that makes this one of the creepier covers we've seen. And the early '70's porn aesthetic of the photo certainly isn't helping any. 

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Manslave

Author: Sebastian Lamb

MH494

Another poor quality photo which really does nothing to entice the viewer. Small wonder the imprint went belly up. Don't mess with success. If you have something that works? Leave it alone. Oh, something I have failed to mention, according to Timon, our dear friend over at Hommie Publishing, the writing/stories that fuel the Manhard series? All second hand! Timon says that they're reprints of books published by others. At least that's the gist of what I took away from his answer when I asked him about collecting Manhard books. 

Speaking of Hommie Publishing, Timon is about to introduce another 53 titles to his collection of ebooks! I can't wait to see what he's got to offer. Fun reads for two to three bucks? Sign me up!

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Inside Man 

Author: Bob Michaels 

MH495

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Fun With The Farm Boy 

Author: Michael Thomas 

MH496 

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And that concludes our look at Manhard books!

Next week, we'll move on to another imprint. Not sure which, though. Unique Books is on the list, but we'll see. That one is quite involved. But no worries... I have book covers and imprints enough to keep writing about this for years. Yes! 

Who knew there was so much vintage gay pulp fiction in the world?

Until next time...

Thanks for reading!

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I'm A Slave 4 U - Britney Spears