In New York mid 20’s Leonard Burtman (1921-1994) emerged as a true pioneer of fetish publishing. If you’ve already explored my post on Exotique (check it out here), you know it was his crown jewel: A glossy celebration of femdom fantasies that ran for 36 issues from 1955 to 1959. But Burtman was far more than a one-hit wonder. As the driving force behind Burmel Publishing Co. (a sly mashup of his name and partner Ben Himmel’s), he built an empire of underground magazines, booklets, and photo sets that fed the growing hunger for BDSM visuals in post-war America.
The dominant woman is the eternal fascination, the queen who commands with a glance, her power absolute and intoxicating. In her world, submission is not defeat, but the sweetest surrender.
Written as Dr. S.M. Asmodeus in Exotique #1, 1955
From Hustler to Fetish Mogul: Burtman’s Early Days
Born around 1915 in New York, Burtman started as a small-time distributor in the 1940s, peddling pulp novels and cheesecake mags. But it was Irving Klaw’s bondage photos and John Willie’s Bizarre that lit the spark. By 1955, Burtman had pivoted hard into fetish territory, launching Burmel with Exotique as its flagship. Under aliases like “Lenny” or “Dr. S.M. Asmodeus,” he didn’t just publish, he wrote articles, shot photos often featuring his wife, burlesque star Tana Louise.
She wasn’t just a muse; she modeled, wrote columns, and hosted infamous swinging parties in their apartment, turning Burtman’s home into a real-life fetish salon.
Burtman curated content that blended high fashion with hardcore dominance. No nudity, sure, but the leather corsets, towering heels, and implied power plays were enough to scandalize the era’s moral watchdogs.
Burmel’s output was prolific: digest-sized mags distributed nationwide via newsstands and mail-order, dodging obscenity laws with a veneer of “fads and fancies.” Key collaborators included fetish legends Eric Stanton (whose dynamic femdom comics defined the look) and Gene Bilbrew (ENEG), whose curvaceous illustrations of bound slaves added that glossy, pin-up edge. Burtman’s enterprises were larger than any of his predecessers, including Irving Klaw. Burtman was the first to employ a professional, nationwide distribution network, unlike Guyette, Klaw and Coutts (John Willie)….or he pirated their content.
In 1953, Burtman and John Willie collaborated on a photo narrative, which Willie briefly sold through his mail-order business. This narrative of thirty photographs involved a woman who ties up another woman to steal her bizarre (i.e., fetish) boots, and it comprised Burtman’s first attempt at “photo-fiction,” a concept he would exploit in many future publications.
In 1953 Burtman produced his first semi-legitimate risqué project: “Cinderella’s Love Lesson” was an eight-minute theatrical short, featuring cabaret/burlesque legend Lily St. Cyr.
Using the alias “Leon Brenner,” Burtman produced his first magazine. It was named Exotica. The cover was more than a homage to Irving Klaw: it featured actual Klaw content (pirated). Inside, was mild S&M fiction, a pseudo-scientific essay on “fetichism,” and reader’s correspondence not to mention more pirated imagery: six Klaw-published Stanton illustrations, artwork by John Willie, and a photo of Bettie Page that appeared that same year on the cover of Willie’s Bizarre. His ‘creative’ use of others content might explain why Burtman preferred to use many different aliases.
According to the FBI Burtman operated under at least seventeen identities.
The Raid-and-Rebound: Censorship’s Heavy Hand
Burtman’s golden run crashed in 1957–1959. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service (then a de facto censorship arm) raided his warehouses, tailing employees and seizing stock. Local NYPD, egged on by the Catholic Church, hit him with arrests for “obscene materials.” A 1959 conviction (later overturned) on three illustrated booklets (The Wheel of Violence, Come-On Girl, Virgins Come High) forced Burmel to shutter.
It echoed Klaw’s downfall, but Burtman? He pivoted like a pro.Under the new imprint Selbee Associates (1959 onward), he rebooted with New Exotique (issues 37–38) and spun off a torrent of titles. By the 1960s, Selbee was pumping out full-sized mags that pushed boundaries further: photo-fiction stories, comics, and reader letters that built a community. He even revived Exotique in the 1970s via Eros-Goldstripe. His reach extended to one-shots like Correspondence Digest (fan letters turned erotica) and pioneering spanking zines.
Burtman’s Lasting Empire: A Quick Rundown of Key Publications
Burtman’s output spanned imprints (Burmel, Selbee, S-K Publishers, Unique Publications) and themes—from transvestism to medical play. Here’s a snapshot:
| Title | Imprint & Years | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| Exotique | Burmel, 1955–1959 (36 issues) | Femdom bible; Stanton/Bilbrew art; Tana Louise covers. |
| New Exotique / Masque | Selbee, 1959–1961 | Reboot with heavier bondage; 4 issues of masked dominas. |
| Bizarre Life | Selbee, 1966–1970s | Lifestyle mag for kinksters; full-size, with reader subs and parties. |
| Corporal | Selbee/Consolidated, 1960s–1970s | First U.S. all-spanking mag; OTK scenes galore. |
| High Heels / Unique World | Selbee, 1960s | Heel fetish focus; photo sets of stiletto torment. |
| Connoisseur (C-1 to C-24) | Selbee, 1960s | Numbered one-shots: Mistress of Desire, Queens in Drag. |
| Spanking Nurse / Spanked into Submission | Selbee, 1965 | Photo-fiction booklets; nurse-domme classics. |
Into the Frames: Burtman’s Fetish Films
Burtman didn’t stop at stills. He extended his vision into motion pictures, producing a series of short, silent (or minimally narrated) fetish films from the late 1950s onward. These were low-budget loops (5–15 minutes each), shot in black-and-white on 8mm or 16mm film, and sold via mailorder catalogs alongside his magazines and photo sets. Themes mirrored Exotique: dominant women in latex and leather tormenting bound men, with spanking, whipping, and role-reversal fantasies at the core. Tana Louise starred in many, often as a whip-wielding dominatrix, bringing her burlesque flair to the screen.
Unlike hardcore porn (which exploded later in the ’70s), Burtman’s films stayed “softcore” to skirt obscenity laws, no explicit sex, just implied power dynamics and fashion-forward kink. They were distributed under imprints like Selbee and Eros-Goldstripe, with titles like Mistress of the Lash or Bound for Pleasure (exact names vary in archives, as many were untitled loops). By the 1960s, he ramped up production, collaborating with photographers like Bunny Yeager for more polished shoots. These films influenced the stag film scene and even early adult theater loops, but raids in 1959 seized much of his stock, surviving prints are rarities today.
| Title | Imprint & Years | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| Cinderella’s Love Lesson | 1953 | Lily St. Cyr; 8-min risqué short |
| Satan in High Heels | 1962 | Meg Myles; 70-min feature; banned in UK |
| Mistress of the Lash | 1950s–1960s | Tana Louise; 10–15 min bondage loop |
| Bound for Pleasure | 1960s | Tana Louise; 5–10 min role-reversal loop |
Burtman’s Shadow Side: Piracy, Plagiarism, and the Price of Underground Fame
Leonard Burtman didn’t just publish fetish—he borrowed it. Early issues of Exotique lifted bondage photos straight from Irving Klaw’s archives without credit or payment. Charles Guyette’s custom corsets and restraints appeared in Burtman’s pages as if they were his own designs. Even John Willie’s signature “bizarre” aesthetic got recycled in photo-narratives that ended in bad blood.The artists felt it hardest.
- Eric Stanton: “I hate that son-of-a-bitch more than anyone I ever met.” Burtman delayed royalties, kept originals, and pushed Stanton to churn out comics while “starving” for the next check.
- Gene Bilbrew (ENEG): Delivered hundreds of plates, but died broke in a Times Square bookstore—his legacy scattered across Burtman’s imprints.
- Tana Louise & Jenifer Jordan: Burtman’s wives starred in films and covers, but their labor often went uncredited beyond the glamour shots.
No lawsuits ever stuck, underground rules didn’t allow for copyright court. But the resentment lingered. Burtman survived by rebranding (Burmel → Selbee → Eros Goldstripe), always one step ahead of the feds and the artists he’d burned.
Notable Connections
- Irving Klaw: Source of pirated bondage stills
- Charles Guyette: Uncredited costume supplier
- John Willie: Brief collaborator, bitter fallout
- Eric Stanton & Gene Bilbrew: Core illustrators, lifelong love-hate ties
- Bettie Page: Featured model, pre-Klaw crossover
In the end, Burtman’s empire was built on borrowed dreams and the artists paid the tab.
Legacy
In a pre-internet world, Burtman was the underground’s Amazon: he democratized kink, commissioning artists who shaped modern BDSM aesthetics and creating spaces (literal and printed) for exploration. Despite the raids, the piracy, and the burned bridges, he published into the 1980s, influencing everything from underground comics to today’s ethical porn
Where to discover publications by Burtman:
Webarchive – Fetish Nostalgia – Petticoatpunishment – Vintage Fetish Book Covers – True Burlesque
