First Love Illustrated #9

Harvey Publications delivers a heartfelt dose of mid-century romantic drama with this June 1950 entry in their First Love Illustrated series. Al Avison's cover art pulls you into two charged scenes at once — a couple sharing a close, tender kiss in the foreground while, behind them, a woman in a red dress dabs her tears at a restaurant table across from a brooding man in a blue suit, the text asking pointedly, "Can First Love Be True Love?" The tagline "I trusted him — gave him my money and my love — but he misused both and, foolishly, 'I Paid for Love!'" sets a bittersweet, emotionally rich tone that made these true-love anthology titles so compelling to readers in 1950.