A look at men’s magazines in the days before centerfolds
Originally published in Nowheresville: Death by Starlight #3, 1995
If you want to know what a historical era was really like, examine the literature of the day. For the Elizabethan era, you read Shakespeare. For the Jazz Age, you read Fitzgerald. And for the 1950s, you read magazines like “Stag,” “All Man” and “21.”
These were the magazines Hugh Hefner invented Playboy as a response to. Printed on cheap pulp and filled with sleazy, chubby models and sweaty, overblown articles, they made sex seem like something, well, dirty. Hef cleaned up the nude models and added lots of articles about how to mix the perfect martini, but though his magazine boasts of “Entertainment for Men,” it’s never been as entertaining (or, for that matter, as manly) as the guys mags it replaced.
The fascinating thing about mags like “Modern Man” is that they painted a perfect picture of what it meant to be male in an era when males ruled the Earth. As the editor’s note in the “Modern Man” annual, says, “When push comes to shove, it still takes the brain-and-brawn fraternity that wears the pants to get things done… it is still the man who runs the world – whether it’s in the category of biceps or binges, boudoirs or bicarbonates.” (Huh?) And what di the brain-and-brawn fraternity want to read about? Well, sex, of course, but not the touchy-feely, mutual pleasure sex of today. Who cared about pleasing a woman back then?
Nope, sex in these mags came in two forms: extremely tame pictures of semi-naked woman and articles about bizarre sex practices around the globe. The photos were much milder than anything you’d see today. As a matter of fact, a guy could read these magazines for years and not realize that woman actually have genetalia.
And as for those articles? Just listen to this sample from a few choice magazines: “Why Men Swap Their Wives,” “Sex on the American Plan,” “Is Ava Gardner Too Much Woman?,” “Older Gals Make Better Lovers” and, of course, “Nude Bicycling in Public.”
Articles like these served two purposes: They provided cheap thrills for the reader (of course) and maintained the status quo by describing every offbeat sexual practice as completely bizarre and alien to normal American males. You could read about the weirdos, then go home and make good, clean American love to your wife.
But sex was only part of the picture. A large part, to be sure, but men back then had other, manly things to think about. Things like hunting and fishing and, of course, Nazis. For some reason, Nazis were featured frequently in ‘50s mens mags. Maybe it’s because Nazi articles could always feature some weirdo angle (like the “Nazi King of Torture” article in “All Man.”) Or maybe it’s because Nazi-themed covers always featured some buxom babe sporting a swastika. What do you think?
The articles about more mundane subjects are even more bizarre. Dry, dull articles about Eisenhower’s fly fishing, target shooting clubs and new model cars look extra surreal when they’re sandwiched in between nude shots of “artistic models” and exposes of swingers colonies. But it was all part of the lifestyle for the he-man male in the ‘50s. He liked sex, but he also liked Ike.
So where can you dig up these sleazy time capsules today? Well, keep an eye out at flea markets and comic book shows. Issues featuring famous models like Betty Page are expensive, but usually a dealer will have some run-of-the-mill issues for a few bucks apiece, and these are just as entertaining. If you can’t find the genuine article, check out “Cad: A Handbook for Heels” that Feral House published a few years ago and should still have copies of. It’s a compilation of actual articles and pictorials mixed with new material, including an interview with Russ Meyer and artwork by Dan Clowes and Coop. It’s not quite as sleazy as the real thing, but it will take you back to those thrilling days of yesteryear when men were men and magazines were just plain unbelievable.