Thorne Smith Madness in Magazines

Magazines were fond of publishing Thorne Smith even years after his death.

You may not be aware that Playboy reprinted self-contained chapters or excerpts from Thorne's novels during the magazine's early years.   Editor Ray Russell wisely used these pieces in the formative years to associate Playboy with the success of Thorne's saucy, sexy humor.

Other excerpts from novels were used in publications such as Encore, Golden Book, and Dream World, while Reader's Digest used a quote from a novel twice for it's "Toward More Picturesque Speech" feature.

I'm still gathering together more of these items so they can be posted for your reading pleasure.

Below is a listing of titles I am currently aware of:

Sex, Love, and Mr. Owen (in Dream World)

A Horse in Father's Bed (in Encore)

A Horse in the Bed (in Golden Book)

The Adventures of Hector (in Playboy)

The Boss's Breeches (in Playboy)

I have copies of these items and will be adding their covers very soon. Plus I will be adding separate pages for each title and explain which novel the excerpt came from and whether it differs from the original text.

If you've stumbled across any in your travels, please drop me a note at Michael@thornesmith.net to let me know. You'll get credited when it is posted here.  Thanks!

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