These publications were usually sensationalist men's and boys' adventure magazines. The classification of publications as "pulp" began early in the century and referred to the cheap paper stock-from the least expensive wood pulp-on which they were printed. Pulp fiction is not a precise term, and it is often used loosely for books that have very different geneses and markets. The term "pulp fiction" is itself used in a variety of contexts. The reality of gay pulp fiction is far more complex and significant. They have become, in essence, a form of consumer camp, kitsch items from the past signifying an aspect of LGBT history that is, seemingly, disposable and ultimately irrelevant. The resonance and popularity of these images is attested to by their pervasiveness on commercial products such as greeting cards, postcards, address books, advertisement for bars, and refrigerator magnets. The bold, striking images on these covers, which range from the elegant to the crudely drawn, were almost always overtly or suggestively sexual. Though "gay pulp fiction" is a well-established literary genre in contemporary gay male culture, it is popularly linked with highly recognizable visual images associated with the cover art of paperback novels published from the 1950s to the 1970s.
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