Acquired Tastes XLIII: Gay Pulp Fiction, Part 96 - HIS69, Part 25 of 44

Acquired Tastes XLIII

Gay Pulp Fiction, Part 96

HIS69, Part 25 of 44

The HIS69 imprint was active from 1971 thru 1988, delivering an astounding 531 titles. Surrey House, Inc. / Surree Ltd, Inc. of San Diego and Santee, California are responsible for this imprint which was distributed by the same company as Trojan Books, Manhard Books, Gay Books and Gay Way Books; the Zorro Distribution Company, also operating out of San Diego.

It should be noted that many of these titles, with original artwork included, were simultaneously republished under the Gay Books imprint and then, later, minus the artwork, were also republished under the ManPower imprint.

The artwork for the HIS69 books would go through only two minor shifts with all the covers featuring ink drawings by various uncredited illustrators - artwork quite similar to what we saw with the Manhard imprint.

Here are the next dozen covers.

Leather Sucker

Author: Jon Riggles

HIS69411

A very vivid illustration. And peen! Not full-fledge peen, flaccid, but peen! 

I adore leather. I like the smell of it. I love that it absorbs all sorts of odd bodily fluids and yet retains it's own pungent scent. 

No, I don't like to think of it's origins, for that goes against my belief of do no harm. Nor do I own any - not a jacket, not a vest; even my boots are synthetic. Still, I understand its allure. I suppose people who love to wallow in a giant fur coat can feel the same. 

If it's 'grandfathered' in, does that make it acceptable?

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Slave Camp

Author: Tom Hardy

HIS69412

Oh, my... the boy scouts were never like this (that I was aware of.)

Such fun. Can we assume all these scouts are of age? 

I see this and immediately start thinking of all the merit badges I could earn without breaking much of a sweat. Yes, these type of challenges? The skills necessary? So in my wheelhouse.

I would have been made an Eagle scout before the week was out! 

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Boarding School Studs

Author: Roland Graeme

HIS6913

This imprint has an obsession with the sexual awakening of youth. And, while I understand the appeal - for there is something potent present when innocence mingles with sexual activity - I don't think I could have such a book in my house. Unless I put blinders on, which, I'm sure, I would, as I am no stranger when it comes to hypocrisy. Still... it's a spinter-filled fence to sit astride. 

But then, such is life.

 

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Pleasure Slave III

Author: Paul Gronowski

HIS69414

Sorry about the poor quality scan, but it was the best I could find. 

I read the occasional bio on Grindr or such; people looking for a slave. Their requirements are frequently so unrealistic, no wonder their dreams go unfulfilled.  First, they request that you be 'serious.' Which they then explain by demanding control of your time and plenty of it. No. Sorry. Not for me. Such a power dynamic has limited appeal - as in - an hour tops. Other than my younger sisters and the boyfriend, I can't think of anyone I would want to spend more than hour with. And when I do, they don't call all the shots. 

I think it would get boring, long-term, being someone's slave. So, the appeal of such, based on just that one criteria, rules out approaching such people. 

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Growing Up Hard

Author: Dick Stroh

HIS69415

Ah, those days of being a walking hard on! How I miss it. I know that, at the time, I was quite upset about the whole thing - as a youth all things sexual incorporated a great deal of shame. I blamed myself. My thoughts. Never knowing that it was a simple matter of biology. 

If I knew then what I know now? I would have been showing off at every turn. My dick would have been the talk of school. Because I certainly would have rather lived with the occasional "Put that away, no one wants to see it," than walk around trying to cover it up with a well-placed three-ring binder.

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Junior Jocks

Author: Allen H. Todd

HIS69416

Again with the young ones. Oh, well... when in Rome.

I was an early admirer of the junior jock. My years as a young football manager (towel boy) informed my current appreciation for locker rooms and jock straps. No, I was not athletic, though I did try. I was in my late twenties when I discovered working out, which I took to quite naturally and continue pursuing to this day. 

This illustration is a lot of fun. One can't underestimate the potency of a well-placed hip!

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Pleasure Boy

Author: Jon Hartley

HIS69417

My word, more older man preying on the younger set. And I can't tell for sure, but those look like denim cut-offs to my eyes. Strange thing, denim cut-offs. They're a fashion that came about due to a sort of poverty. We see them, we think 'cheap.' And then 'cheap' became 'sexy.' I find them ripe and exploitative. I wish I could still pull off a pair, but there's nothing less sexy than a stringy old man sporting a pair. I've seen it often enough to know that, by a certain age, is a fashion-don't.

But... to each their own.

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Dormitory Tricks

Author: Nick Steele

HIS69418

As previously mentioned, I never had the pleasure (or pain) of living in a dormitory setting. When I contemplate the thought of doing so, I keep in mind my seventeen year old self and realize how intimidated I would have been. A fish out of water, a lesser-than, trying to make due with a lack of money and always coming up short. I would have been bewildered by the privilege on display all around me, wondering why they 'had' and I 'had not.' 

And then there would have been the whole sexual awakening aspect. I would have waited until everyone was asleep or gone off to classes before hitting the showers. 

Or, so I imagine. Who knows? 

Maybe I would have been the boy pulling trains behind the equipment shed. Though, come to think of it, I was a full-fledge hard core top at the time, so more likely I would have been more of an aggressor.  

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Pledge-Slave

Author: Clay Caldwell

HIS69419

More college fun. 

No. I would never have tried to pledge to a fraternity. I possessed neither the confidence or desire. The idea of ritualistic initiation? Blech.

That's what being Catholic was all about. And by the time I was seventeen? I'd had quite enough of it. 

The sadistic nature of hazing? It holds extremely limited and, more frequently, no appeal for me. But... to each their own.

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Cruisin' The Quarter

Paul Gronowski

HIS69420

Now, cruising, on the other hand? That's a ritualistic endeavor I fully get behind (and in front of.) 

The art of the stance. The prickly anticipation of the smallest gesture. A hard stare. A fleeting glance. It's the kind of choreography I was born to dance. 

While house sitting in Madison, WI, recently, I had the chance to go out to a night club. it was a dive, all five rooms, featuring lots of cheese-fed bodies clad in jock straps and harnesses. It was kink night and everything was on display. The porn playing in the backroom was mediocre, ritualistic and boring - quite capturing the venues whole milieu. 

Still, I was in my element. Cheap, tawdry, less-than. Sophisticated boom-boom this was not. 

I approached no one and was rarely approached. A plastic drag queen missing a front tooth. And old hippy in need of a haircut and a new pair of jeans. A very pretty twink in boots and a jockstrap whom I'd seen earlier in full drag. And a man who accused me of being too intense and intimidating. This last observation was proffered unsolicited, out of the blue. I didn't take offense. I was on the hunt. But it did give me pause. 

Maybe that's why men at the prairie avoid me. So, this year, as with every year, I resolve to 'lighten the fuck up.' 

Best of intentions...

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Paddy Wagon

Author: George Kiva

HIS69421

A mobile gay bar backroom? 

But why are some in handcuffs and some not? 

Also... that's got to be an awful short ride. 

But then, some prefer it that way (I know I do!)

Back cover and a reading sample found below:

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Man-Stuff

Author: Jon Hartley

HIS69422

Again - the allure of cut-offs. They were huge in the 70's and, if I remember correctly, enjoyed a brief revival in the late 90's. And then there is that torn, bare-midriff shirt. Porn from the golden age featured numerous such shirts with the cut-offs and striped knee-high athletic socks. A classic look. 

Any idea as to the setting depicted? The rail? The garden hose? 

As for man-stuff (why the hyphen?) - it's a bodily fluid that I have any number of reactions to. Sometimes, I love the stuff; it's smell and warmth. Other times? I am actually repulsed by it. My own included! I think it goes back to adolescent shame. Although, come (no pun intended) to think about it, I was not shy about leaving samples of my DNA lying about. Eek. Right? But, as regular readers of this blog know only too well, I was a clueless, freaky kid. 

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And that's all for now.

Next week, yet another dazzling dozen covers.

Until then...

Thanks for reading!

Pleasure Slave - Việt