Wonderland Burlesque

Monday, March 31, 2025

Acquired Tastes XLIII: Gay Pulp Fiction, Part 214 - Jock Studs, Part 5 of 5

Acquired Tastes XLIII:

Gay Pulp Fiction, Part 214

Jock Studs

Part 5 of 5

Today we take a final look at the Jock Studs imprint.

Brought to you by the good people at Star Distributors, LTD., the Jock Studs imprint published 56 titles, from 1985-1988. Star Distributors, LTD. operated out of a P.O. Box at the Canal Street Station in New York City.

The cover design features colored erotic illustrations by Crag Esposito and an artist who goes by Clément. All of the authors are anonymous. Many of the titles, as was Star Distributors' practice, would be republished under different imprints, such as the Young Stallions imprint.

The topic of all these titles appears to be sports, or, more specifically, what happens in the locker room, off the field and court.

The numbering system begins with JS-101 and continues thusly.

These books can be found for between $20 to $143!

I continue to struggle when it comes to finding covers for these titles. I came up short four times this week. Here are the last ten titles.

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Track Team Boys

Author: Anonymous

Jock Studs

1987

JS-147

(Cover not found.)

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The Tormentors

Author: Anonymous

Jock Studs

1987

JS-148

(Cover not found.)

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Batting His Balls

Author: Anonymous

Jock Studs

1988

JS-149

Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.

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Rodeo Stud

Author: Anonymous

Jock Studs

1988

JS-150

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Showing Muscle

Author: Anonymous

Jock Studs

1988

JS-151

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Hard Men

Author: Anonymous

Jock Studs

1988

JS-152

Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.

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Hard Driving Men

Author: Anonymous

Jock Studs

1988

JS-153

(Cover not found.)

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Quarterback Hunk

Author: Anonymous

Jock Studs

1988

JS-154

(Cover not found.)

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Sidehorse Champ

Author: Anonymous

Jock Studs

1988

JS-155

Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.

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Gym Dominators

Author: Anonymous

Jock Studs

1988

JS-156

Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.

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And that's all for the Jock Studs imprint.

Next week: another vintage gay pulp fiction imprint.

Until then...

Thanks for reading!

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Rodeo - Blanka

Sunday, March 30, 2025

Wonderland Burlesque's Down The Rabbit Hole: The Alice Comedies - Part Three

Wonderland Burlesque's

Down The Rabbit Hole:

The Alice Comedies

Part Three

Down The Rabbit Hole merely places a spotlight on something slightly unusual that's caught my interest. With the help of Wikipedia, YouTube, and other sites, I gather information and learn something new.

Today, we take a look at more Walt Disney's The Alice Comedies!

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The Alice Comedies are a series of live-action animated shorts created by Walt Disney in the 1920s, in which a live-action little girl named Alice (originally played by Virginia Davis) and an animated cat named Julius have adventures in an animated landscape. The shorts were the first work by what ultimately became The Walt Disney Company.

Disney, Ub Iwerks, and their staff at the failing Laugh-O-Gram Studio in Kansas City, Missouri, made the first Alice Comedy, a one-reel 1923 short subject titled Alice's Wonderland. After completing the film, the studio went bankrupt and was forced to shut down. After raising money by working as a freelance photographer, Disney bought a one-way train ticket to Los Angeles, California to live with his uncle Robert and his brother Roy.

In California, Disney continued to send out proposals for the Alice series, in hopes of obtaining a distribution agreement. A deal was finally arranged through Winkler Pictures, run by Margaret Winkler and her fiancé, Charles Mintz. Due to a recent falling out with Pat Sullivan, the studio needed a quick replacement for their centerpiece Felix the Cat animated series. Disney convinced Virginia Davis's family to bring her from Missouri to Los Angeles to star in the series.

Disney both directed and produced all 57 films in this series. Over the course of the series, four actresses played Alice: Virginia Davis (15), Margie Gay (31), Dawn O'Day (1) and Lois Hardwick (10). The film Alice in the Jungle contains only archival footage of Virginia Davis.

The shorts in this series are now all in the public domain in the United States.

About Virginia Davis:

Virginia Davis was an American child actress in films. She is best known for working with Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks on the animated short series Alice Comedies. Over the next 20 years, she went on to work at other Hollywood studios as a child actress and, later, as a supporting actress.

Recalling her work on the Alice Comedies, Davis said, "It was a great time – full of fun, adventure, and 'let's pretend.' I adored and idolized Walt, as any child would. He would direct me in a large manner with great sweeping gestures. One of my favorite pictures was Alice's Wild West Show. I was always the kid with the curls, but I was really a tomboy, and that picture allowed me to act tough. I took great joy in that."

About Ub Iwerks:

Ubbe Ert Iwerks, known as Ub Iwerks, was an American animator, cartoonist, character designer, inventor, and special effects technician, known for his work with Walt Disney Animation Studios in general, and for having worked on the development of the design of the character of Mickey Mouse, among others. Disney and Iwerks ventured into animation together. Iwerks joined Disney as chief animator on the Laugh-O-Gram shorts series beginning in 1922. Iwerks would spend most of his career with Disney. The first few Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphony cartoons were animated almost entirely by Iwerks,

Iwerks quickly felt he was not getting the credit he deserved for drawing all of Disney's successful cartoons. Eventually, Iwerks and Disney had a falling out; their friendship and working partnership were severed in January 1930. According to an unconfirmed account, a child approached Disney and Iwerks at a party and asked for a picture of Mickey to be drawn on a napkin, to which Disney handed the pen and paper to Iwerks and stated, "Draw it." Iwerks became furious and threw the pen and paper, storming out. Iwerks accepted a contract with Disney's former distributor, Pat Powers (with whom Disney also had a falling out) to leave Disney and start an animation studio under his own name. The Iwerks Studio was never a major commercial success and though he did help develop Chuck Jones as a talent. Iwerks eventually returned to Disney and contributed to the success of such classics as Sound Of The South (1946) and 101 Dalmatians (1961), as well as the design of some of the theme park attractions.

Outside of Disney, he is responsible for the birds in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963). He also contributed the animation sequences in Mary Poppins (1964).

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I'd never heard of these before. And, I must say, they strike me as a little strange. Some of the humor certainly suffers in these more empathetic days. But it is interesting to see where it all began. Here's the next five.

Alice The Piper - 1924

Alice Comedy #11

feat. Virginia Davis

Alice Cans The Cannibals - 1925

Alice Comedy #12

feat. Virginia Davis

Alice The Toreador - 1925

Alice Comedy #13

feat. Virginia Davis

Alice Gets Stung - 1925

Alice Comedy #14

feat. Virginia Davis

Alice Solves The Puzzle - 1925

Alice Comedy #15

feat. Margie Gay

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That's all for now.

Next week: five more great vintage Alice Comedies!

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Saturday, March 29, 2025

Weekend Onesie: Get Twisted

Weekend Onesie:

Get Twisted

Breaking away from the norm is something we all should do now and then - just to keep the blood flowing.

That doesn't appear to be a problem for the gentlemen depicted below.

They all seem quite comfortable... getting twisted!

Is it for everyone?

Well, it should be... at least to some degree.

If you wish to remain healthy and active in your later years, remaining physically flexible is key.

There are many ways to accomplish that and can be as simple as adding a 'morning stretch' to your daily routine. For the more adventuresome there's yoga (and naked yoga). Adopting some of the most basic yoga poses as part of your weekly exercise routine can yield surprising results.

However you choose to do it... remain active.

Reach. Stretch. And extend!

I don't know about you...

But I am thinking some of these poses?

Could improve more than just one's flexibility.

- uptonking from Wonderland Burlesque