This Week: strangesisters.com

Since time immemorial, mankind has been fascinated by girl-on-girl action. Whether this is right or wrong (or neither) depends on your own sense of sexual morality, so let's not get into that. But it's a simple fact that depictions of lesbianism have regularly appeared in popular culture—from Roman mosaics to Prince songs—for reasons that aren't purely artistic. Long before "lesbian chic," paperback publishers of the '50s and '60s knew that their male readers would likely buy trashy fiction if it had lurid cover art promising illicit sexual congress between two buxom women. (Books dealing with sex between two men were also published, though not as many.) Today, these paperback covers are no longer edgy entertainment, having been transformed into retro kitsch suitable for refrigerator magnets and greeting cards. Ryan Richardson of Austin, Texas has turned his collection of this sub-genre of pulpy fiction into strangesisters.com, a visual journey into sapphic lasciviousness. (The site is not related to the book of the same name.) His reasons for collecting these books have little to do with academia. "I feel no need to assign some larger historical importance or deeper social relevance to these books," Richardson writes on his site. "I can think of no other body of visual art so varied, humorous, outrageous, sexy. That this art was the by-product of an industry pandering to our seemingly insatiable appetite for trashiness makes it all the greater in my eyes." Here's what else he has to say about strange sisters and the books about them.

Late '80s. El Paso. Texas/Mexico border. Midnight. Dust in the air. Border patrol whizzing by in pick-up trucks with spotlights and shotguns. A fleeing "coyote" threw a backpack through the window of my Sno Cone stand as I was closing up shop. In the bag among the maps was a torn, water-stained copy of Satan Was a Lesbian. He never came back for it…

Actually, the real story is far more mundane: I saw a reproduction of the Satan Was a Lesbian cover at a friend's house several years ago and said to myself, "I've GOT to find the original book." It was the most insane thing I'd ever seen… and it was over 30 years old at the time! As I began the search, I started finding more and more great covers, and from there it snowballed out of control.

First and foremost, the devil. Oh, and the lesbians.

Aside from praying to the Dark Lord, I also went to paperback shows, wrote to dealers, and bid furiously on eBay.

I think the books are becoming more expensive as more people take notice of them. Believe me, it's a slippery slope from admiring reproductions of the covers to wanting to own the original books.

I have 800+ lesbian titles. For the most part, I limit my collection to illustrated covers with two women on the cover. There are far more titles available that feature photo covers or non-illustrated covers. I have a couple hundred '60s gay (male) covers as well, which I plan to upload to a new website early next year. I just have to find the time to start the whole scan and data entry and website design process all over again.

Early '50s to late '60s with a handful of titles slightly before or slightly after those periods. The lion's share is mid- to late-'60s.

No. The lesbian books were marketed, for the most part, toward libidinous straight men who are rarely in short supply.

Yes, I've learned a lot, especially from a gentleman named Earl Kemp. His pieces on the publishing industry are fascinating, and his website features pieces by and about some of the original authors and artists. Tell him Ryan sent ya: http://efanzines.com/EK/

I'm in it for the covers. The text most certainly could not live up to the covers and so I had committed to not reading ANY of 'em. There are way too many other books I need to read first. Recently, however, I did break down and decide to read the books for which I own the original paintings. First in line was The Queer Sisters which is a late '50s digest with GREAT artwork. I'm a few pages from the end. No lesbians in sight, but I'm still hoping for a surprise twist at the end. So far it's been a tough-guy detective story about some nutty broads and some hard-boiled crooks. Next up on the reading list will be Queer Beach or Suzy & Vera, which promise to be way more on the trashy and explicit side of things. The cover of the latter assures me that a "confirmed lesbian" is part of the main plot.

It's tough to pick, but I will tell you that Brandon House published many of my favorite covers. The Corinth lines of imprints (Companion, Ember, Leisure, Pleasure) are also outstanding. I will, at some point, do a Top 10 or Top 20 on strangesisters.com

I have 600 - 700 books displayed face out in one room of my house. It's pure sensory overload. People come over and could easily spend a couple hours looking at covers. There's always something new to notice among all the books, too. The website was simply a way to share the experience. It also forces me to organize around here and keep track of what I have. I also hope that the site will eventually help me get more information about some of the artists or even lead to further book or artwork acquisitions.

All positive so far. Getting that kind of feedback really makes all the expenses and effort worth it. I especially enjoy hearing from people overseas... I've received e-mails from South Africa, Italy, and even Iceland.

Not that I've run into so far. I've had people of all varieties over, and the response has almost always been one of delight and laughter. Most of the laudatory e-mails I've received via the website have been from women (though none of the e-mails said "I'm a lesbian, and I like your site"). I've seen strangesisters.com written about or linked from gay and lesbian oriented sites, and I don't think that would be happening if these covers were angering or offending people. So many of the covers are so obviously absurd and over-the-top that one would have to be pretty tightly strung to find offense.

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