Movie Star News • 134 East 18th Street • NYC
Originally begun as a used bookstore and magazine shop in 1939 by Irving Klaw Movie Star News was originally located at 209 East 14th Street.
After discovering that teenagers that people were tearing out photos from his movie magazines, he started selling movie star stills and lobby photo cards. Customers could order by item number from catalogs of sample photos. These sold so well that he stopped selling books and moved the store to a the street-level storefront at 212 East 14th Street and renamed the business Movie Star News.
A thriving side business was mail-order. Klaw sold many cheesecake photos of movie stars. This branched out to fetish photography of photos that Irving and his wife Paula produced in tier storefront studio.
The business became success with photos of burlesque dancers like Blaze Starr, Tempest Storm and the great Betty Page.
A wave of media censorship in 1957 put an end to business and most of the Klaw's negatives were destroyed.
Irving Klaw died on September 3, 1966. His nephew Ira Kramer, son of Paula and Jack Kramer, currently runs the family business, Movie Star News, which is now located at 134 East 18th Street.
You can still get great photos at great prices. If you can't make it over to the stor, check out their website for lots of fun photos.
