Imports and Translations Hillman-Curl cast a fairly wide net when it came to seeking sources of material. Some of this was a continuation of their Imported Sleaze trend, some of it adjunct to their previous academic business and some of it appears to have been stabs at breaking into the literary market. |
A Penny for the Poor (Bertolt Brecht as translated by D. I. Vesey and C. Isherwood) A novel by certifiable pinko playwright Bertolt Brecht. This novel is itself an adaptation of Gay’s Threepenny Opera. The Magnificent Montez (Horace Wyndham) ‘From Courtesan to Covert’ says it all. Men lived for her and men died for her. The best smut is true. |
Natural History (Charles Tate Regan) Written by the director of the British Museum, this was the last academic work ever published by the group. Weighing in at 896 full sized pages, containing 16 color plates and over 1000 black and white photographs, it was easily the most expensive book that Hillman-Curl attempted to produce. |
Sir Malcolm Campbell’s Book of Famous Motorists (R.S. Lyons) A 176 page history of auto racing, covering Sir Malcolm's personal recollections of significant auto events and personalities. Hair- breadth escapes and tragedies in famous races and hill-climbs, with over 40 photos, mostly of races and racers. |
Panorama (“by an Unknown Novelist”) Francis Iles of the London Daily Telegraph deemed this novel a masterpiece, and compared it to "The Way of All Flesh.” And if that sounds like a snow job, it’s only because it was. Hillman’s first import. As was the case with most of this publisher’s first attempts at cracking into a new genre, not a success. |
Conservative Bomb Throwing Expanding from Godwin’s offerings, the Hillman-Curl imprint became the literary home of Conservative thinking. Some of Alex Hillman’s most creative work was done in this genre, reflecting his obvious passion for the evolving cause. |
Scientific Method (F.W. Westaway) Essentially the same book as The Joy of Ignorance, only this time with scientific backing. First it explains the scientific method and then applies it to the same fashionable notions, not always with the same results as The Joy of Ignorance. |
This Labor Union Racket (Edward Dean Sullivan) Discusses racketeer labor leaders and gangster thugs who are abusing power, money and union members. "Industry anxious to go ahead after six weary years of depression held in leash, harassed and blackmailed by labor union inciters of stabbings, shootings and killings. Details brutality and violence being employed in the terrorizing of union membership, while employers are so cowed that they fear to testify." |
Keedle (William and Deirdre Conselman with drawings by Fred L. Fox) A children’s book explaining the negative implications of Hitler and the rise of Nazi ideology. Truly a first. |
Russia 20 Years After (Victor Serge) A relentlessly negative— and accurate—portrait of the worker’s paradise. Could also be classified as part of Hillman-Curl’s Modern History line which branched out from this theme. |
God In A Rolls Royce: the rise of Father Divine; madman, menace or messiah. (John Hoshor) An expose of the charismatic black evangelist of the 1930's Father Divine, who proclaimed himself the manifestation of God. Despite its tone (the text is ‘of a time’), it should be noted that all existing copies of this book came from the Commuter Library market. Hillman-Curl knew it had an extensive Black audience. |
The Hillman-Curl Self-Investment Library This series weirdly dovetailed out of Godwin and Hillman-Curl’s anti self-help exposes. Many of these probably would have worked better in paperback, a format that didn’t exist at the tune. Only a few of them are labeled as part of the Self-Investment Library series, a trademark that was added on later. Almost all of these releases were intended for distribution to the Commuter Library market. It was the imprint’s own proprietary genre. |
Diet and Die (Carl Malmberg) Published in 1935, this is the first of Hillman-Curl’s specific anti self-help books. Is not so much a defense of being fat as it is an expose of the dangers of short cut methods. Oddly as true today as it was the day it was written. |
Let Yourself Go (Fred B. Barton) “A Book for Those with the Courage to live Their Own Lives-The Greatest Adventure on Earth.” How to live your life free from the fashionable notions of others. Zen for libertarians. |
Health in Youth and Age: A Guide to Keeping Fit in Mind and Body (L. Ernest Hawkins) If you really must know, at 562 illustrated pages, all you need to know. Why Salesmen Get Fired (H.M. Appel, Sales Manager of the Allen-A Company) Ten common failings lose most jobs! Plan your work. Work your plan. Start Your Own Business (Harold S. Kahm) The first of the business basics series. |
The Diary of a Prudent Investor, A Program for Financial Security (Merryle Stanley Rukeyser) The author (father of Louis Rukeyser) was the inventor of financial journalism. This 1937 publication is actually a work book. |
The Road to Happiness (Charles Grey Shaw) Part of the author’s comprehensive guide to being a well rounded person. They Sold Themselves – A Practical Guide to Personal Achievement (Howard Stephenson and Joseph C. Keeley) More explorations of the ‘sales is everything’ theme. 99 New Ways for Women to Make Money at Home (Elita Wilson) As time went on, these books became very specific. The Complete Fortune Teller (Diana Hawthorne) This how-to manual is either proof that the business theme had its bridges too far, or it’s really part of the next series. |
Proto Paperback Themes These are themes common to modern paperbacks or coffee table books. Like the above, they dovetailed out of the Conservative Bomb Throwing trend. Some are odd travelogues, of interest only to people of a certain right leaning bent. Other travelogues seemed to follow. The rest are instruction manuals of the non-money making kind. |
Let’s Make Mary (Jack Hanley) We have to start here. Alex Hillman kept Jack Hanley’s guide to trapping and taming the fairer sex in print for 25 years. Times changed, Mary didn’t. |