With the possible exception of Ace Doubles, my favorite vintage paperbacks are the under-appreciated Fawcett Gold Medals.
In 1950, Roscoe Fawcett launched a line of original paperbacks - he was prompted by a somewhat restrictive contract that prevented him from launching original books, and he felt that paperbacks could be snuck out the door without violating the agreement.
The books took off like wildfire - Fawcett effectively launched the American paperback originals industry (the Penguin of the States), and, with it, the careers of hundreds of new authors. (On the downside, Gold Medal probably killed off the struggling pulp magazines. Sorry.)
For no particular reason, here's an utterly arbitrary list of the best five authors to have published original fiction in the Gold Medal line:
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