Greenleaf: The Golden Age Of Erotic Novels
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Infamous owner of Greenleaf Publishing (sometimes referred to as Greenleaf Classics), William L. Hamling gained notoriety during the 1960s and into the 1970s for court cases regarding the advertising, selling and publication of adult books of erotic literature. Some of which are still considered controversial to this day.
Hamling and his wife Francis, a sci-fi author, starting publishing Imagination a fantasy and sci-fi magazine in 1951, after they bought the magazine from another publishing company. It was relatively successful, and Hamling published a companion magazine Imaginative Tales from 1954. The 1957 close-down of the distributor American News Company forced Hamling to cease publication of the two magazines to concentrate on the publication of his men's magazine Rogue, which was a direct rival to Playboy. |
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Rogue magazine was published between 1955 and 1967, and featured a number of prominent writers of the time. Harlan Ellison was a regular contributor to Greenleaf's publications, as was Robert Silverberg, often writing under pseudonyms. Hunter S. Thompson's first two published articles, both appeared in Rogue in 1961. From the late 1950s, Harlan Ellison wrote erotic manuscripts for Hamling, secretly releasing them covertly through a company called Blake Pharmaceuticals. The company was a front for the publishing of the Nightstand Books pulp novels, starting in 1959. For a while there, Ellison was the secret King Of Pornography, as the books were sold through elicit post office box drops. They changed the name of the supposed publisher of these erotic pulp novels often, using a variety of fake names. One example was the first book published under the Nightstand Books title, Love Addict in 1959. The cover claims that the story was written by someone called Don Elliott, which was a pseudonym for the sci-fi writer Robert Silverberg.
Things weren't kept secret for long, as authorities attempted to clamp down on the sale and distribution of the novels. Hamling came to the help of bookstore clerk Robert Redrup, when he was arrested for selling two Greenleaf books called Lust Pool and Shame Agent in 1965. A police woman in plain-clothes had requested the 75 cents books from Redrup, who was unaware of the nature of the books as he was only filling in at the store for a sick friend. As soon as the transaction had happened, the police woman revealed her badge and arrested Redrup under Section 1141 of the New York State Penal Law, selling a lewd, obscene and indecent book. Hamling financed the defense case for Redrup, the appeal for his conviction on obscenity charges went to the Supreme Court of the United States, where it was overturned in 1967. |
Hamling was no stranger to obscenity charges, during the Nixon Administration, Hamling published an illustrated edition of Presidential Report of the Commission on Obscenity and Pornography, featuring the very pornographic images the commission had considered obscene. This one step too far saw Hamling and his editor given a one-year prison sentence for distributing the book. Some people think that the prison sentence was the government's revenge for losing the Redrup case. This case, followed by another obscenity case in 1974 (Hamling Vs. United States ) was the nail in the coffin for his business. When Hamling was convicted of obscenity, he was forced out of the business publishing in 1974, a new management team took over the publishing company.
Over it's time publishing these books, Greenleaf touched on various taboo subjects. It was one of the first publishers of gay erotic fiction, it often published BDSM novels and most controversially a series of novels under the series title A Pet Book. These were mostly published after Hamling left the company, and centred around bestiality. Some of the A Pet Book titles were suggestive of their content while others pulled no punches when it came to spelling out exactly what they were about. And with this the depths of depravity had been reached, and the golden age of erotic fiction was at and end, when renowned writers of the 50s and 60s were making more cash from their erotic writing than they were from their more serious works of sci-fi, that they would be heralded for in the subsequent decades. Fans little knowing at the time, that there "other" works were selling in the hundreds and thousands for the titillation of men all across the United States.
Over it's time publishing these books, Greenleaf touched on various taboo subjects. It was one of the first publishers of gay erotic fiction, it often published BDSM novels and most controversially a series of novels under the series title A Pet Book. These were mostly published after Hamling left the company, and centred around bestiality. Some of the A Pet Book titles were suggestive of their content while others pulled no punches when it came to spelling out exactly what they were about. And with this the depths of depravity had been reached, and the golden age of erotic fiction was at and end, when renowned writers of the 50s and 60s were making more cash from their erotic writing than they were from their more serious works of sci-fi, that they would be heralded for in the subsequent decades. Fans little knowing at the time, that there "other" works were selling in the hundreds and thousands for the titillation of men all across the United States.
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