The Flash Press

Sporting Male Weeklies in 1840s New York

Patricia Cline Cohen, Timothy J. Gilfoyle, Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz , American Antiquarian Society

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English

University of Chicago Press
15 May 2008

Serials, periodicals, abstracts, indexes; History: specific events & topics; Gender studies: men

Series: Historical Studies of Urban America

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. Here, in addition to providing a thorough overview of this colorful reportage, its editors, and its audience, the authors examine nineteenth-century ideas of sexuality and freedom that mixed Tom Paine’s republicanism with elements of the Marquis de Sade’s sexual ideology. They also trace the evolution of censorship and obscenity law, showing how a string of legal battles ultimately led to the demise of the flash papers: editors were hauled into court, sentenced to jail for criminal obscenity and libel, and eventually pushed out of business. But not before they forever changed the debate over public sexuality and freedom of expression in America’s most important city.

By: Patricia Cline Cohen, Timothy J. Gilfoyle, Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz, American Antiquarian Society
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 23mm, Width: 15mm, Spine: 2mm
Weight: 397g
ISBN: 9780226112343
ISBN 10: 0226112349
Series: Historical Studies of Urban America
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 15 May 2008
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Patricia Cline Cohen is professor of history at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the author of The Murder of Helen Jewett. Timothy J. Gilfoyle is professor of history at Loyola University Chicago and the author of City of Eros. Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz is professor of American studies and history at Smith College and the author of Rereading Sex.

Reviews for The Flash Press: Sporting Male Weeklies in 1840s New York

A fascinating survey of the long-forgotten 'flash' newspapers of the 1840s and of the raucous urban sexual cultures, explosive sexual scandals, and heated debates over sexual liberty and morality those newspapers chronicled, provoked, and lampooned. - George Chauncey, author of Gay New York The Flash Press is a virtuoso production on many levels, combining first-rate introductory essays, major archival discoveries, and meticulous care in selecting and organizing the primary documents. More than any collection I know, The Flash Press opens up entirely new vantage points on the nineteenth-century metropolis. - James W. Cook, author of The Arts of Deception: Playing with Fraud in the Age of Barnum