Unlike the cover art of Astounding Science Fiction, and most (but certainly not all!) of the cover art featured by its leading competitors, among them The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, if – Worlds of Science Fiction, and Amazing Science Fiction Stories, the cover illustrations of Galaxy Science Fiction, particularly from about 1955 through the early 1960s, was characterized by a sense of humor and whimsy, in the form of (obviously wordless!) visual social commentary.
Of this, the illustration below, by “Emsh” (Edmund A. Emshwiller) – entitled “Milady’s Boudoir”, is an excellent example, needing little elaboration. (-* Ahem.*-) Like other humorous Galaxy covers, the cover art is a “stand alone” image, entirely unrelated to the magazine’s literary content.
