12 Crazy Covers From Vintage Tabloids

Before the internet made stories outpace their fact-checking, the biggest purveyors of sketchy or outright misleading "news" pieces were tabloid papers. You see these things every time you go to the supermarket and can spot them by their sensational headlines and promises of scandalous tales. Usually, they involve celebrities and have a habit of, let's say, not letting the truth get in the way of a good story. Of course, those celebrities don't always take kindly to the paper's mudslinging and sue them, but they tend to make enough money that these lawsuits are just part of the cost of doing business.

This industry's most enduring face is the National Enquirer. While they often earn employee of the month at the rumor mill, this isn't a new practice for them at all.

In fact, these 12 vintage tabloid covers suggest the Enquirer and their bedfellows have always been working from the same playbook.

COMMENT and let us know about the wackiest tabloid story you've ever seen.

1. This statement got Sophia Loren and her husband in a lot of trouble.

Not because of the weird phrasing, but because he was still technically married to someone else at the time. The resulting scandal led the pope to threaten to excommunicate both of them, which Loren said was the saddest day of her life.

2. The Enquirer tried their hand at JFK conspiracy theories.

Proving those outlandish theories are as old as the shooting itself, writer Charles Golden tried his hardest to link Fidel Castro to the event. It's true that the Miami murder victim was a person of interest in the case.

Yet, as the Enquirer tells it, he was a Cuban double agent who craftily pretended to flee his homeland so he could be a sleeper agent.

3. They also liked to play matchmaker every now and then.

The Enquirer staff likely figured Elvis' adoring fans would chomp at the bit for a paper saying they had a chance to be with him. So began the paper's obsession with the King that continues to this day.