January of Janus: rare spanking art

As I worked my way through the archives of Janus, Februs and other classic spanking magazines on the Spanking Art Wiki, it was amazing to discover so many artworks by Hardcastle, Paula Meadows and others that I hadn't seen before.

Presumably the reason that many of these artworks have rarely been seen online before is because they were introductory scenes to stories from the classic spanking magazines, rather than showing any explicit action. They are still delightful to discover though, especially when they show an attractive lady contemplating her punishment - such as this woman sitting in the same chair over which she was spanked during 'The Request' (Janus 134), remembering her time staying with her strict aunt while she was at university, when she was punished for heinous crimes such as smoking or talking to boys...

And even spanked in front of a boy she had a crush on, and his father!

Grimm was a regular contributor to the earlier issues of Janus. In 'Alotted Clothing Will Be Worn' a young journalist is sent undercover to investigate a correction service for errant young women... with predictable results!

It's later revealed that her editor regularly spanks his female journalists , but hasn't been able to with her because she is the boss's daughter. The image of the young lady journalists 'starting out on their careers [getting] their bottoms warmed after hours, knickers down and privacy assured, squealing as their bottoms jiggled' is rather delicious!

Not all the stories were winners, even if the art was still great. 'Up-Market' (Janus 36) is a somewhat generic tale about a girl who moves to London and fails to find fortune until she meets a dominant older man...

In an illustrated poem, Janus 51 shows how 'Sandy Learns the Hard Way' that lying will not be tolerated...

Though sometimes the stories were sadly lacking in artwork. This is the only illustration for 'The Enigma' (Janus 70), an otherwise enjoyable tale about a Yorkshire lass who moves to London and dates a man with an interest in CP. When he shows her a few 'home videos', she is determined to take the same punishment as his former lovers!

Even if the introductory images don't show any spanking action, they are often excellent for getting a better look at the participants...otherwise we might only ever see them from behind!

These images are from 'Graduation Marks' (Janus 110), where a university professor assists young women who are struggling with their studies... by caning their bare bottoms!

The opening image of 'The Awakening of Alice Morgan' (Janus 120) presumably shows the protagonist after the end of the story.

A lost young woman seeks out her old housemaster to atone for the theft of the princely sum of fifty pence during her schooldays... and much to their surprise she experiences a violent climax during her subsequent caning!

The female spankers in Janus could often be just as sadistic as the men. In 'A Suitable Case for Treatment' (Janus 119) two posh ex-public schoolgirls exercise their interest in corporal punishment by manipulating their two friends into taking the cane from them on a weekly basis... 

One after her kleptomania is discovered...

And the other to ensure her husband's insider dealing remains under wraps!

Of course, no spanking magazine could be complete without illustrations featuring women (and men) in uniform or other formal clothing. In 'Where There's a Will...' (Janus 131) two sisters must spank each other in order to decide who will inherit their deceased aunt's house...

They hate each other (well one of them is 'a bit of a tart' who slept with the other's fiance) so the contest is prolonged, and as it occurs immediately after the funeral, both are dressed appropriately...

We return to the hard discipline of the Middle East for 'Entente Cordiale' (Janus 128), where three stewardesses are caught smuggling alcohol into an Arab country and agree to take the same punishment as the girls in the Sultan's harem rather than be sent to a Middle Eastern jail!

At 'The Captain's Table' (Janus 121) on a ship bound for the Antipodes, the Captain and two gentlemen conspire to spank a young trollop who has been cheating and blackmailing their well-to-do friends - with the Captain dishing out the discipline, just as he does for his daughters! Though I think we can agree that the alternative punishment – being handed over to North African port authorities to be publicly caned and thrown in jail – would have been even more satisfying.

The fact that the young lady spends the rest of the voyage at the Captain's table gives a hint as to why he allowed her the easier option...

Janus also featured plenty of gleeful accounts of wives and girlfriends squeezing into school uniforms for a taste of their husband/headmaster's hand/slipper/strap/cane. In 'Welcome to the Pleasure Dome' a divorcee dresses up for her older lover to indulge in their mutual spanking fantasies.

In 'Changing the Guard' (Janus 148) the new headmaster at a debutantes' finishing school gets a demonstration of the school's strict discipline policy with the assistance of the sadistic Head Girl...

Clearly I'm not the only one to realise the benefits of Finishing Schools as a venue for spanking scenarios!

A spoiled young lady is extremely unimpressed with the uniform for her new Finishing School in 'Coming to Terms' (Janus 140)... before discovering she has much bigger things to worry about!

At least it isn't the first time she's been caned...

The ladies in the two parter 'A Novel Idea' (Janus 129) and 'Redbrook Revisited' (Janus 132) go even further to re-create the glory of their schooldays.

An author happens upon an old boarding school where former pupils return monthly to re-enact the events of their younger years. After witnessing a caning and learning the story of an uppity American boarder who was soundly spanked by the headmistress for sucking off the local lads, the author is inspired to write a novel featuring the shenanigans...

This leads to an altercation with a TV presenter and humiliating punishments for herself and two former teachers at the school!

Judging by the editorials and letters pages, Janus seems to have struggled throughout its existence with the appropriateness of school uniform scenes... but female members of staff were always fair game for a spanking!

In 'An Education for Miss Dyer' (Janus 159) a new headmaster reintroduces corporal punishment...starting with his newly recruited Head of Sixth Form!

From what I can tell, this was actually the last original artwork to appear in Janus. A few more stories appeared that re-used drawings from older stories, before art and drawings disappeared entirely from the magazine's final issues.