Repeat Titles- Who's Who (in Motion Pictures, of the Screen, in Movies)

I get a kick out of title's that repeat over time and demonstrate the continuum of American magazines. "Who's Who" is a very popular recurring theme. The earliest reference to the term I can find is from a British publication in 1849. I just bought the 1964 magazine on ebay for a little over $20, to go along with my 1915 and 1931 versions.

There were quite a few others, though I suspect the 1915 version was the first of the bunch.

Here's a few non first issues currently for sale on ebay.

It really is amazing how much information you can get today with a PC and a mouse!

R.I.P. Gourmet Magazine 1941-2009

Masonic Magazines. Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol".

With the phenomenal success of Dan Brown's latest book "The Lost Symbol", this seems a pretty good time to talk about masonic magazines. Likewise, there is another great magazine connection. With all the intrigue about the clues pertaining to the map of Washington, D.C., it should be noted that the original map of L'Enfant's plan of the capital first appeared in Universal Asylum (a continuation of Columbian Magazine, and a title perhaps appropriate title to house all somewhat insane collectors such as yours truly) in March 1792.

Here's a fragment of the original front wrapper (no hidden symbols!), the title page, the map and the text of the article that appeared in the magazine, one that Washington himself likely read.

Here's some of the present day web material, using the map as a backdrop for the theory of a hidden masonic code.

In fact, if you read the original 1792 article that accompanied the first printing of the map, you will find that the city was indeed laid out on specific geographical meridians. Why?

That's the reality. I'll leave the secret codes to Mr. Brown and his millions of readers to ponder.

Now, as promised, (drum roll, please) THE MASONIC MAGAZINES.

America's first masonic periodical was Freemason's Magazine and General Miscellany, first published in April 1811. After researching it , I was pleased to find a own a bound copy of volume 1 and that, as of 1965, there were only 8 institutions in America that had one, making it quite rare. There is pressently one disbound copy on the web for sale for $500. I can't remember when and where I got mine or what I paid for it.

Here's the prospectus and half-title page from my volume.

There have been scores of Masonic publications throughout the years. Since my collection focuses on first issues and first volumes, I have a pretty fair sampling, such as this very scarce (8 holdings in the Union List) 1820 title. Of course, eight holdings means any issue or volume, so this first issue in original wrappers may very well be the only one in existence.

Probably the most important masonic periodical is The American Quarterly Review of Freemasonry and its Kindred Sciences, published in 1858. I paid $150 for an elegantlty bound first volume (it lasted for only one other volume). Mott (volume 2) calls it "one of the masonic classics ... its list of contributors included the greatest masonic scholars of the times."

Here's a number of other first issues, in original wrappers, that I own. You will surely not see them anywhere else. Western Free Mason, for instance, published in Iowa City in 1857 by John Kennedy, the first mason initiated west of the Mississippi and north of the Missouri line, is the only known copy of this title. All the others are of great rarity.

The Masons were not without controversy or opposition. The Anti-Masonic Review and Monthly Magazine, a monthly edited by Henry Dana Ward was designed to "take note of the origin and history, of the pretensions and character, and the standard works and productions of free masonry... and to prove thats its pillars of wisdom, strength and beauty are no firmer than chalk charoal and clay."

The Masons were only one of a number of fraternal organizations. Early on, most notably were the Odd Fellows, who had many periodicals of their own.

My original 1995 book lists shows that my collection contains at least five magazine published by this order, including a volume of an otherwise unknown literary miscellany, Talisman and Odd Fellows' Magazine, published in Philadelphia in 1846, edited by Theophilus Fisk.

This is all yet another important aspect of American life and culture that can be uniquely observed though the through the medium of magazines.

A January 1926 Magazine Rack

This post was inspired by seeing a photo of a newsstand on the blog of Darwination (see link on the right hand column of my homepage).

I've always looked for photos of vintage newsstands. There are one or two you see all the time but I'm always on the lookout for new and unique images (if anyone out there in cyberspace has a great one, I'd love to see it). I found this beauty at Brimfield in the mid-90's and it is my favorite.

It dates to January 1926. The key to the puzzle is Movie Magazine, which was only published between September 1925 and April 1926. There are so many wonderful magazines (there's even an incredibly scarce issue of Arizona Highways on one of the bottom shelves), a few titles of which I've never seen (Marriage Problems, for one).

There's also some great advertising, particularly tobacco memorabilia, for those interested in that area of history.

Oh, to be back in the good old days! On second thought, it's pretty good to be around today. If we weren't, I wouldn't be able to share this wonderful image with you!

Next Installment of 2005 Catalog (f-h) Available for Download

In retrospect, I must have had far too much time on my hands between 1995 and 2005!

http://www.scribd.com/doc/20839387/2005-magazine-supplelment-f-h

This format is probably the best way to show you the scope and philosophy of the collection.

Enjoy!

2005 Supplement C-E Available for Download

http://www.scribd.com/doc/20766946/c-e

My favorite in this group is the only known complete run of Celebrities Monthly (see p. 31)

I first learned about this magazine when I supplied a group of magazines for a 1999 exhibition at MOMA (Museum of Modern Art, NYC) entitled "Fame After Photography". http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/1999/fameafterphotography/

(The extremely scarce Film Fun images of Charles Chaplin were the most popular of the ones I supplied)

The organizers of the exhibition told me that Celebrities Monthly was the most important magazine that they were seeking but they didn't have a copy to inspect- nor did I. A challenge to a maniac collector.

Shortly afterwards (too late for the exhibition), I found one issue on eBay for $65 and when I contacted the dealer, I learned to my great glee that he had the entire run, which I proceeded to buy. Further research indicated that the last issue was previously unknown.

I have never seen another issue since. Each magazine contains original photographs, from prime photographic studios (Pach Brothers, for instance) tipped in of each celebrity, all of which are unique to this very rare magazine, a veritable who's who of the end of the 19th Century. Each individual photograph is worth $100 and up- not a bad find for under $800!

The First Fox Magazine. Fox News. Twentieth Century Fox.

I received this item yesterday, after winning it on eBay for $44.77.

The somewhat bizarre cover image reminded my significant other, Katherine, of those created by the prototypical outsider artist, Henry Darger. The magazine is the first issue of the Fox Folks, the in-house publication of Fox Film Corporation, that merged with the newly formed Twentieth Century Pictures in 1934 to form Twentieth Century Fox.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th_Century_Fox

It is listed in my bibiography (available for download on this blog as part of the complete movie book) as beginning in 1915 (the year Fox Films began), based on all available references. I had not seen a copy until now and internal evidence clearly shows that this was the premier effort, inaugurated in May 1922.

Twentieth Century Fox became one of America's six major movie studios and eventually branched out into, among other things, television. So when you tune in to Fox news on your TV or radio, think of the modest little magazine above, the one that goes back to the origin of the whole network.

Are you beginning to believe in the importance of American magazines yet?

A Collecting Day in Allentown. A Bibliographic Conundrum Solved.

As promised, here's a report of my day pursuing collectible magazines. Found a few minor magazines and one more important and very interesting pulp that I paid $250 for,

Spicy Screen Stories.

The Adventure House checklist lists one issue for October 1935 and Tim Cottrill's book has it as "rumored to exist". Both mention that it may have been continued as Saucy Movie Tales. (21 issues, December 1935-January/February 1938).

After a little research, I think we can finally put some lingering questions to rest.

My 66 page issue of Spicy Screen Stories is dated October on the cover though inside it is listed as December 1935 and volume 1 number 3. Somewhat atypically, the first story begins on the back of the front cover and the table of contents (also unusual for being on the last page of the magazine) accurately reflects the contents- so therefore this is definitely not the wrong cover.

So how can we explain the discrepancy?

Research on the web reveals that this issue was followed by three subequent issues, obviously by the same publisher and cover artist, entitled Stage and Screen Stories. In fact the issue that I own of Stage and Screen Stories,volume 1 number 5, March 1936, (no image on the web) confirms this.

Why the title change? The dealer told me that he heard that the title had to be changed because the use of "spicy" was under copyright by another publisher. I can't confirm this anywhere but it it makes perfect sense since there were other "spicy" titles being published at the time.

So. Here appears to be the correct bibliographic information:

Most probably, the anticipated publication date was October 1935 (there may be issues numbered volume 1, number 1 then later corrected, but mine is listed as number three)

Spicy Screen Stories, first and only issue of this title. Cover date October, inside December 1935.

Title changed to Stage and Screen Stories, January 1936, four issues, January- April 1936, ?numbered volume 1 numbers 3-6.

Here for the first time together anywhere!! the images.

Both Cottrill and Gunnison et. al. confirm that Saucy Movie Tales began in December 1935, first issue numbered volume 1 number 3, so this is not a continuation of the other title.

To the uneducated, this all may seem pretty obsessive, but that's really one of the most interesting and cerebral aspects of collecting.

An Illustrated Catalog of My Collection A-B

If you want to get a pretty good idea of the scope and breadth of my collection, check out the pdf file at the end of this post. My first book on magazines was self-published in 1996, reflecting pretty much everything that I'd collected until that time. Its pretty much become the standard refernce for magazine collecting and I've sold or given away a few thousand copies. Its listed on the web for upwards of $100 but I will now be happy to sell it for $40 (they actually cost me $14 each to produce in 1996).

Between 1995 and 2005 I collected an equal amount of new material and kept an ongoing catalog of my new acquistions, which I compliled into a supplementary volume that, for the most part has never been circulated. Its time now to "let the cat out of the bag" so I'll do it in pieces alphabetically. Theres tons of material you simply will not find anywhere else and I think you'll get a pretty good idea from whence this self-admitted maniac comes.

Since 2005, the collecting has by no means slowed down, but a hectic work schedule, this blog and my new book on the health Franklin Roosevelt has prevented me from starting a third supplement.

So now, for your reading pleasure, I present the A and B entries of the 1995-2005 supplement. I think you'll find this work interesting and informative. Enjoy!

http://www.scribd.com/doc/20550511/Magazine-supplement-ab

Two Military Magazines: History Repeats Itself. Norman Rockwell Military Artist.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. I love to collect comparable magazines from different eras. Here's a great example.

Perhaps the first magazine to be published by the American military outside the United States was The Soldier's Letter, published in 1898 in Manila, Philippines. I've seen a few issues over the years and its valued at a few hundred dollars.

Only a few years ago, I came across the first issue of Rank, published in Vietnam by the American military 1969. Its sort of a meld between Playboy and a travel magazine, geared towards the recreational activities of soldiers while on liberty in Japan. There can't be too many of these around. I got it for $14.67 on eBay and am very happy to own it.

During WW1 and moreso during WW2, miniature abbreviated "pony" editions of popular magazines were produced for the use of soldiers overseas. I've seen Time, Newsweek, and New Yorker and the Saturday Evening Postpublished a cute little title called Post Yarns. Here are the covers that were done by Norman Rockwell, in only the way he could, featuring his recurring GI character Willie Gillis (Bob Beck in real life). These images had also appeared previously on the cover of the parent publication.

Rockwell had also done miltary theme covers for various magazines during WW1, especially the old humor Life. He spent his military service during the war as an apprentice painter and varnisher in the good 'ol U.S.A, but basically spent his time illustrating the base newpaper Afloat and Ashore and painting portraits of officers, aside from ongoing contributions to a dozen or so non-military magazines. Here's one the rarest of all Rockwell illustrations on the cover of the pulp fiction Popular Magazine.

Its rarity is testimony to truly ephemeral nature of these magazines. The original circulation must have been in the tens if not hundreds of thousands and in all my years of collecting, I've only seen one of these (bought at a pulpcon in Dayton, Ohio for one dollar!).The bulk of 'em probably went into the paper drives (early 2oth century recycling).

Ain't collecting fun? Going off to one of my favorite paper shows tomorrow at the Allentown, Pennsylvania fairgrounds, right across from a fabulous Amish farmers market- can't wait- I can taste the shoo-fly pie already- and who knows what paper treasures are to be found! Full report to follow.