Essence Über Alles
By Dian Hanson. Excerpt from the book 'History of Men's Magazines, Vol. I'
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Made of wood fiber softened with acid, it was sturdier than newsprint, far cheaper to make than rag, and essentially self-destructing, as the acids used in its production quickly consumed it. Pulp was too coarse for good image reproduction, but just perfect for the kind of cheap fiction much in demand at the turn of the century. From 1900 through the 1950s hundreds of millions of lurid and sensational novels and fiction magazines on subjects including detectives, western adventure, romance, science-fiction and sex, would be affordably delivered to the public on cheap pulp paper. To give the titles newsstand appeal the inferior internal pages were wrapped in a glossy, vividly painted cover, usually featuring a voluptuous woman in skimpy clothing, even when the subject was sci-fi or romance. "Pulps", as the whole genre came to be called, catered to thrill-seekers of both sexes, at a time when photographic thrills were heavily censored.
Meanwhile, in turn-of-the-century France, words were more likely to be prosecuted than photos, if those photos pretended to be art. The French had historically held art in higher regard than the Americans and were above being alarmed by a bit of bosom. They pioneered the "nude study" art magazine, which showed completely naked women, when America was still scrubbing lampblack with bread for a peek at a stocking top. There was considerably more censorship of magazines that admitted their purpose was titillation, but La Vie Parisienne, founded in 1863 and relaunched just before World War I, managed to mix discreet nudes with spicy fiction and humor and still gain widespread acceptance because it was reasonably sophisticated, a quality nearly as respected in France as art.
Germany was the third country preparing for a rich erotic future in 1900, while struggling with its own peculiar moral issues. The degenerative effects of recreational masturbation were widely publicized there as in America, but Germany had the counterforce of Sigmund Freud warning that sexual repression was just as dangerous. There was also the issue of Germany's Industrial Revolution, which brought undesirables into the country and ill health upon its citizens. This inspired a fast-growing eugenics cult and the rise of early socialism. Out of this stew came the Beauty Movement and its magazines, worshipping all that was lovely, but particularly young, naked female Aryan bodies. As in France, it was all in the context; nudity was accepted when presented asexually. Of course, as any boy will tell you who's ever taken pleasure from the underwear ads in the catalogue for Victoria's Secret or in fact, that of Sears, context is crap; but if we assume many censors through the ages have been consciously or unconsciously in on the game - that they, in fact, want to see nudes as much as any man but can't admit it - then we see what an ally context has been for all concerned. In Germany the concept of context vis-à-vis nudity would be tested as nowhere else in the first three decades of the 20th century. When the Weimar Republic fell in 1933, there were hundreds of magazine titles in Germany that included nudity as part of dozens of philosophical packages, none of which admitted sexual titillation as any part of their purpose.
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Made of wood fiber softened with acid, it was sturdier than newsprint, far cheaper to make than rag, and essentially self-destructing, as the acids used in its production quickly consumed it. Pulp was too coarse for good image reproduction, but just perfect for the kind of cheap fiction much in demand at the turn of the century. From 1900 through the 1950s hundreds of millions of lurid and sensational novels and fiction magazines on subjects including detectives, western adventure, romance, science-fiction and sex, would be affordably delivered to the public on cheap pulp paper. To give the titles newsstand appeal the inferior internal pages were wrapped in a glossy, vividly painted cover, usually featuring a voluptuous woman in skimpy clothing, even when the subject was sci-fi or romance. "Pulps", as the whole genre came to be called, catered to thrill-seekers of both sexes, at a time when photographic thrills were heavily censored.
Meanwhile, in turn-of-the-century France, words were more likely to be prosecuted than photos, if those photos pretended to be art. The French had historically held art in higher regard than the Americans and were above being alarmed by a bit of bosom. They pioneered the "nude study" art magazine, which showed completely naked women, when America was still scrubbing lampblack with bread for a peek at a stocking top. There was considerably more censorship of magazines that admitted their purpose was titillation, but La Vie Parisienne, founded in 1863 and relaunched just before World War I, managed to mix discreet nudes with spicy fiction and humor and still gain widespread acceptance because it was reasonably sophisticated, a quality nearly as respected in France as art.
Germany was the third country preparing for a rich erotic future in 1900, while struggling with its own peculiar moral issues. The degenerative effects of recreational masturbation were widely publicized there as in America, but Germany had the counterforce of Sigmund Freud warning that sexual repression was just as dangerous. There was also the issue of Germany's Industrial Revolution, which brought undesirables into the country and ill health upon its citizens. This inspired a fast-growing eugenics cult and the rise of early socialism. Out of this stew came the Beauty Movement and its magazines, worshipping all that was lovely, but particularly young, naked female Aryan bodies. As in France, it was all in the context; nudity was accepted when presented asexually. Of course, as any boy will tell you who's ever taken pleasure from the underwear ads in the catalogue for Victoria's Secret or in fact, that of Sears, context is crap; but if we assume many censors through the ages have been consciously or unconsciously in on the game - that they, in fact, want to see nudes as much as any man but can't admit it - then we see what an ally context has been for all concerned. In Germany the concept of context vis-à-vis nudity would be tested as nowhere else in the first three decades of the 20th century. When the Weimar Republic fell in 1933, there were hundreds of magazine titles in Germany that included nudity as part of dozens of philosophical packages, none of which admitted sexual titillation as any part of their purpose.
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
Special Price: $ 29.99
Save $ 30.00!
Special Price: $ 29.99
Save $ 30.00!
The definitive annotated and illustrated history of girlie periodicals (1900-World War II)
Glamour Photography, USA, 1957