The Price of Salt

Spring Fire, the first lesbian pulp fiction hit, satisfied censors with its unhappy ending – but its 'forbidden love' reflected real desires

Retrieved on: 
Sunday, May 14, 2023
Well, Rape, Dinky Hocker, Heterosexuality, Gold medal, The Price of Salt, Male, Hair, Gold Medal Books, Lambdas, Interview, Life, Atmosphere, Claire Morgan, Culture, Homosexuality, Cate Blanchett, Marriage, Fear, Woman, Obsessions, History, Sensation, Drinking, Literature, Spring Fire, Man, Grief, World War II, Association, Love, NPR, Knowledge, Meaker, Relaxation, Death, Book, Erotica, Female, Toy, Entertainment, Nightclub, Mail, Mobile phone, Loneliness

In 1952, Marijane Meaker, under the pseudonym Vin Packer, had the first pulp fiction hit with a purely lesbian plot.

Key Points: 
  • In 1952, Marijane Meaker, under the pseudonym Vin Packer, had the first pulp fiction hit with a purely lesbian plot.
  • Enter the lesbian … The book’s cover reads:
    A story once told in whispers

    Now frankly, honestly written
    A story once told in whispers Now frankly, honestly written

Burning to tell

    • Its novels “were intended as reliable, disposable entertainments: fast, short, and full of action”.
    • She was recruited by Gold Medal editor-in-chief, Dick Carroll, to write Spring Fire, her first book.
    • “What kind of story is a young girl like you burning to tell?” Carroll asked.
    • She had wanted to attend one because
      I had heard homosexuality ran rampant in places like that.
    • I wanted to find out if my suspicions were right, that I was one of those.

Queer New York life, with Patricia Highsmith

    • Highsmith, best known for her Ripley novels, wrote one lesbian novel, The Price of Salt, under a pseudonym (Claire Morgan), also published in 1952.
    • Meaker’s memoir, published after Highsmith’s death, gives a glimpse into queer life in 1950s New York.
    • Read more:
      Friday essay: hidden in plain sight — Australian queer men and women before gay liberation

Lesbian pulp fiction and unhappy endings

    • Pulp fiction did not appear in hardcover and was designed to be read quickly.
    • As Ann Bannon, another writer enlisted by Meaker to write lesbian pulp noted, “You could read them on the bus and leave them on the seat.” Censorship had to be avoided.
    • And the one she’s involved with is sick or crazy.” It set the tone for the denouement of much lesbian pulp fiction to come for at least the next decade.
    • So the lesbian pulp fiction genre began.
    • Lesbian fiction author Katherine V. Forrest describes her own first encounter with lesbian pulp at the age of 18:
      Overwhelming need led me to walk a gauntlet of fear up to the cash register.
    • Perhaps the most enduring of lesbian pulp writers, Ann Bannon (pseudonym of Ann Weldy), managed to depict lesbian lovers who survived beyond the ending.

Spring Fire confirmed readers’ desires

    • Spring Fire offers the pleasures of female same-sex activity, while ostensibly shutting down the possibility of lesbian life and love.
    • She has a history of crushes on and obsessions with girls and women.
    • Nevertheless, countless women read Spring Fire as confirmation of their own desires, taking it into over 15 printings.
    • Read more:
      Fifty shades of erotica: how sex in literature went mainstream

Speaking in a double voice

    • Lesbian pulp speaks in a double voice.
    • Same-sex attracted women could see their own desires reflected, while the plot’s ultimate condemnation of lesbianism satisfied the censors and those concerned with public morality.
    • Until Leda, there had been no one who had set her whole body pulsing with the sweet pain and the glory in the end.

New Carol's Daughter Goddess Strength Collection--Get The Strength You Need For The Length You Want

Retrieved on: 
Monday, March 30, 2020
Fiction, Literature, Carol Peletier, Carol's Daughter, The Price of Salt

Like all Carol's Daughter products, the line was created with the consumer in mind and the desire to make her feel like a goddess at all times: beautiful and strong.

Key Points: 
  • Like all Carol's Daughter products, the line was created with the consumer in mind and the desire to make her feel like a goddess at all times: beautiful and strong.
  • The Goddess Strength Collection boasts product formulations that support the strength of hair as it gets longer by fortifying strands from root to tip and helping to prevent breakage and split ends so hair can keep its length.
  • "When I think of the term goddess, I think of a woman who is strong in the face of all life's tests.
  • That kind of strength is undeniable and unique," states Lisa Price, founder Carol's Daughter.

Carol's Daughter Introduces "True To Your Roots," A Celebration of the Power of Mother-Daughter Relationships

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, May 8, 2019
Fiction, Literature, Carol's Daughter, The Price of Salt, Carol Peletier, Ed

For Founder Lisa Price, her mother was the driving force that encouraged her not only to embrace her natural curls, but to ultimately create Carol's Daughter.

Key Points: 
  • For Founder Lisa Price, her mother was the driving force that encouraged her not only to embrace her natural curls, but to ultimately create Carol's Daughter.
  • The connection they shared remains at the core of the Carol's Daughter brand today.
  • Born out of a celebration of the various hair types, cultures, and maternal relationships that exist globally, Carol's Daughter shares each family's hair tradition, no matter what that may look like.
  • Featuring a real mother and daughter at launch, the authentic, family-centric campaign will evolve to also capture the emotional power of multi-generational families.