Essence Über Alles
By Dian Hanson. Excerpt from the book 'History of Men's Magazines, Vol. I'
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There would still be no real men's magazines published in America until after World War I, but risqué tabloids began to appear in the 1880s and 90s, and books, photos and playing cards still managed to sneak through customs, despite the best efforts of Anthony Comstock and various newly formed citizens' vice committees. As the volume of "men's interest" literature grew, it became increasingly clear that a large segment of the public had viewed and was viewing this material without becoming physically wasted, imbecilic or insane. In The Secret Museum (University of California Press, 1987) Walter Kendrick notes that by the 1890s American courts were increasingly considering artistic merit when making obscenity determinations. Accordingly, in 1894 a case involving copies of The Arabian Nights, Ovid's Art of Love and Boccaccio's Decameron was thrown out because the Society For The Suppression of Vice found them to be "world renowned classics...unlikely to be sold or purchased, except by those who would desire them for their literary merit..."
This understanding was not extended to publishers catering to a less distinguished clientele:
"In 1896, The United States Supreme Court reviewed two lower court convictions on obscenity charges. The first involved Lew Rosen, publisher of Broadway, an illustrated paper with no pretenses to classic stature. The special "Tenderloin Issue" had contained patches of lampblack, which could be rubbed off with a piece of bread to reveal 'females in different attitudes of indecency'... The Supreme Court upheld this conviction..."
I tried hard to find this choice example of early American erotica, without luck; but I imagine even when it does show up, finding a copy that hasn't been "breaded" is pretty much impossible. Publisher Rosen was one of the first of what would become an American cliché: the urban Jewish pornographer. Most of these early erotic entrepreneurs were immigrants from Eastern Europe with strong literary backgrounds, limited means of making a living in the new world, and none of the dreary Christian anhedonia that dogged men like Comstock. In time, the American men's magazine industry would be nicknamed "The Jewish Mafia", but in 1900 it was just a handful of New York ghetto dwellers, often helped by their wives and children, making porn to make ends meet.
It was around this time, the late 1890s, that pulp paper was introduced. This would soon become a great boon to the budding men's magazine industry and to the print-hungry public. Prior to pulp, all paper was made of rag - often literally recycled cotton clothing - whitened with clay. Paper such as this provides beautiful reproduction and is extremely durable; books printed on it can last hundreds of years. It is also comparatively expensive to produce and makes little sense for printing cheap, disposable magazines upon. Still, until 1890, this is what most magazines were printed on, while newspapers were on thin, so-called newsprint. Pulp paper came out of the new western timber industry.
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
There would still be no real men's magazines published in America until after World War I, but risqué tabloids began to appear in the 1880s and 90s, and books, photos and playing cards still managed to sneak through customs, despite the best efforts of Anthony Comstock and various newly formed citizens' vice committees. As the volume of "men's interest" literature grew, it became increasingly clear that a large segment of the public had viewed and was viewing this material without becoming physically wasted, imbecilic or insane. In The Secret Museum (University of California Press, 1987) Walter Kendrick notes that by the 1890s American courts were increasingly considering artistic merit when making obscenity determinations. Accordingly, in 1894 a case involving copies of The Arabian Nights, Ovid's Art of Love and Boccaccio's Decameron was thrown out because the Society For The Suppression of Vice found them to be "world renowned classics...unlikely to be sold or purchased, except by those who would desire them for their literary merit..."
This understanding was not extended to publishers catering to a less distinguished clientele:
"In 1896, The United States Supreme Court reviewed two lower court convictions on obscenity charges. The first involved Lew Rosen, publisher of Broadway, an illustrated paper with no pretenses to classic stature. The special "Tenderloin Issue" had contained patches of lampblack, which could be rubbed off with a piece of bread to reveal 'females in different attitudes of indecency'... The Supreme Court upheld this conviction..."
I tried hard to find this choice example of early American erotica, without luck; but I imagine even when it does show up, finding a copy that hasn't been "breaded" is pretty much impossible. Publisher Rosen was one of the first of what would become an American cliché: the urban Jewish pornographer. Most of these early erotic entrepreneurs were immigrants from Eastern Europe with strong literary backgrounds, limited means of making a living in the new world, and none of the dreary Christian anhedonia that dogged men like Comstock. In time, the American men's magazine industry would be nicknamed "The Jewish Mafia", but in 1900 it was just a handful of New York ghetto dwellers, often helped by their wives and children, making porn to make ends meet.
It was around this time, the late 1890s, that pulp paper was introduced. This would soon become a great boon to the budding men's magazine industry and to the print-hungry public. Prior to pulp, all paper was made of rag - often literally recycled cotton clothing - whitened with clay. Paper such as this provides beautiful reproduction and is extremely durable; books printed on it can last hundreds of years. It is also comparatively expensive to produce and makes little sense for printing cheap, disposable magazines upon. Still, until 1890, this is what most magazines were printed on, while newspapers were on thin, so-called newsprint. Pulp paper came out of the new western timber industry.
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
History of Men's Magazines Vol. 1
Hardcover, 21.3 x 27.7 cm (8.4 x 10.9 in.), 460 pages
$ 59.99
$ 59.99
The definitive annotated and illustrated history of girlie periodicals (1900-World War II)
Monsieur, USA, 1957