Naked as a Jaybird and loving it
A true milestone in fine art publishing. Excerpt from the book by Dian Hanson
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He's referring to The Nudist Vision, which he says amounted to a religion for Sohler, who was promoted to head of American Art's nudist department in 1965. Ed Lange had split with Luros and formed his own company, Elysium Publishing, to produce Sundial. Luros didn't mind; he'd ceased needing Lange. Milt saw that men were buying nudist magazines to see what they couldn't in the girlies, namely pubic hair. He'd make a nudist magazine tailored more to this readership, with less of Lange's tiresome, page-wasting idealism. Still, he needed some nudists on staff to get the photos, which came from the camps and their members. Sohler wanted the job, but he had a hard time swallowing a magazine with the inelegant title of Jaybird. Back in Texas where Sohler's vision had also been poorly appreciated, Jaybird was part of a corny colloquialism that began "Naked as a...". It meant the same thing to Luros, but he had no problem with corny; it sold just fine in his girlie magazines. To cover his shame,
Sohler concocted a story, printed in the first Jaybird magazine, which may even have been true, but no one else quite remembers it. He claimed a housewife had written a letter to newspaper advice columnist Ann Landers, saying she found relief from the drudgery of housework by doing it in the nude and wondered if she was alone in this. Ann had supposedly assured her that this was normal and healthy and was then deluged with letters from similar nude housewives glad for the chance to reveal themselves. At least in writing. The original housewife reportedly signed herself "Jaybird Anonymous".
If it wasn't real it was genius on Sohler's part. The idea that there was a secret underground of nudist housewives across America appealed to nudist and non-nudist readers alike. It also defined Jaybird's mission, which was to get nudism out of the camps and incorporate it into everyday life. Sohler maintained Jaybird was meant to sound more irreverent than other nudist titles, to create a sense of fun and abandon. Jaybirds were not just naked as birds, they were free as birds, as free as the Wandervogel, released from the rigidity of outdated camp culture. The camps didn't like this one bit.
Connie stayed with Stan to make Jaybird. Their first issue, released in July 1965 was called Jaybird Journal.
Jaybird Safari followed a month later. To increase interest in the new magazines, Jaybirds went under many titles, each printing four issues a year. The first Jaybirds weren't that different from standard nudist fare; just happy, naked people frolicking on beaches or hiking in the California deserts, decamped but not debauched, hip but not hot. Connie calls this the Pre-Iowa Period.
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Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
He's referring to The Nudist Vision, which he says amounted to a religion for Sohler, who was promoted to head of American Art's nudist department in 1965. Ed Lange had split with Luros and formed his own company, Elysium Publishing, to produce Sundial. Luros didn't mind; he'd ceased needing Lange. Milt saw that men were buying nudist magazines to see what they couldn't in the girlies, namely pubic hair. He'd make a nudist magazine tailored more to this readership, with less of Lange's tiresome, page-wasting idealism. Still, he needed some nudists on staff to get the photos, which came from the camps and their members. Sohler wanted the job, but he had a hard time swallowing a magazine with the inelegant title of Jaybird. Back in Texas where Sohler's vision had also been poorly appreciated, Jaybird was part of a corny colloquialism that began "Naked as a...". It meant the same thing to Luros, but he had no problem with corny; it sold just fine in his girlie magazines. To cover his shame,
Sohler concocted a story, printed in the first Jaybird magazine, which may even have been true, but no one else quite remembers it. He claimed a housewife had written a letter to newspaper advice columnist Ann Landers, saying she found relief from the drudgery of housework by doing it in the nude and wondered if she was alone in this. Ann had supposedly assured her that this was normal and healthy and was then deluged with letters from similar nude housewives glad for the chance to reveal themselves. At least in writing. The original housewife reportedly signed herself "Jaybird Anonymous".
If it wasn't real it was genius on Sohler's part. The idea that there was a secret underground of nudist housewives across America appealed to nudist and non-nudist readers alike. It also defined Jaybird's mission, which was to get nudism out of the camps and incorporate it into everyday life. Sohler maintained Jaybird was meant to sound more irreverent than other nudist titles, to create a sense of fun and abandon. Jaybirds were not just naked as birds, they were free as birds, as free as the Wandervogel, released from the rigidity of outdated camp culture. The camps didn't like this one bit.
Connie stayed with Stan to make Jaybird. Their first issue, released in July 1965 was called Jaybird Journal.
Jaybird Safari followed a month later. To increase interest in the new magazines, Jaybirds went under many titles, each printing four issues a year. The first Jaybirds weren't that different from standard nudist fare; just happy, naked people frolicking on beaches or hiking in the California deserts, decamped but not debauched, hip but not hot. Connie calls this the Pre-Iowa Period.
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Naked as a Jaybird
Hardcover, 20.5 x 25 cm (8.1 x 9.8 in.), 264 pages
$ 39.99
$ 39.99
Technicolor testaments to a bygone era of free love and pubic pride
