Notwithstanding the cover tag line, "A New and Torrid Group of N.S.L. Romances for Adult Readers", the content was identical to the NSLs. What was different was the cover design and illustration.
Torch 1
Torch 2
Torch 3
Torch 4
Torch 2 back
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Export's Torrid Torch
Toronto's Export Publishing Enterprises Ltd. published two imprints. The main one was New Stand Library (NSL) with 184 books in two series from mid 1948 until January 1951. The other imprint was Torch which lasted four issues and one month - November 1950. There may have been others ready for distribution but Export's plant burned down on December 11, 1950 and that was the end of Export. All the Torch books were editions of American books with the title changed.
Notwithstanding the cover tag line, "A New and Torrid Group of N.S.L. Romances for Adult Readers", the content was identical to the NSLs. What was different was the cover design and illustration.
Notwithstanding the cover tag line, "A New and Torrid Group of N.S.L. Romances for Adult Readers", the content was identical to the NSLs. What was different was the cover design and illustration.
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Interesting that the "torrid" Torch covers appear toned down when placed beside many of the NSL titles. Shotgun Wedding doesn't even feature a girl (though it does mention an "explosive climax"). I'm betting the thought was that they could sell more books by implying that they dare not show more.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting - soft sell is not how I would have ever have thought about Export.
ReplyDeleteClimax had to be one of the blurb writers' favourite words. One day I'll have to count how many times it was used.