The flash press : sporting male weeklies in 1840s New York / Patricia Cline Cohen, Timothy J. Gilfoyle, and Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz ; in association with the American Antiquarian Society.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cohen, Patricia Cline.

Contributor:

Gilfoyle, Timothy J.

Horowitz, Helen Lefkowitz.

American Antiquarian Society.

Series:

Historical studies of urban America

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Men's magazines--New York (State)--New York--History--20th century.

Men's magazines.

Sensationalism in journalism--New York (State)--New York--History--20th century.

Sensationalism in journalism.

History.

New York (State)--New York.

Physical Description:

278 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2008.

Summary:

Obscene, libidinous, loathsome, lascivious. Those were just some of the ways critics described the nineteenth-century weeklies that covered and publicized New York City's extensive sexual underworld. Publications like the Flash and the Whip-distinguished by a captivating brew of lowbrow humor and titillating gossip about prostitutes, theater denizens, and sporting events-were not the sort generally bound in leather for future reference, and despite their popularity with an enthusiastic readership, they quickly receded into almost complete obscurity. Recently, though, two sizable collections of these papers have resurfaced, and in The Flash Press three renowned scholars provide a landmark study of their significance as well as a wide selection of their ribald articles and illustrations. Including short tales of urban life, editorials on prostitution, and moralizing rants against homosexuality, these selections epitomize a distinct form of urban journalism that forever changed the debate over public sexuality and freedom of expression in America's most important city.

Contents:

Part I The Flash Press

1 Beginnings: Rivalry and Satire 17

2 Sexual Politics 55

3 Trials and Tribulations 77

4 Legacies 109

Part II Flash Press Excerpts

1 Purposes 130

2 Libertinism 130

3 Brothel Life 136

4 Heterosexuality 158

5 Gossip, Vituperation, and Blackmail 176

6 Racism, Anti-Amalgamation 186

7 Homosexuality 192

8 Indictments 198

9 Sports and Theater in the Flash World 207

10 The Illustrations of John H. Manning 216.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780226112336

0226112330

9780226112343

0226112349

OCLC:

173509415

Online:

Contributor biographical information

Publisher description