Men Only

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Men Only
Men only logo jan 1984.svg
Men Only magazine cover Volume 57 No 9.png
Men Only cover, Volume 57 No 9, published September 1992
EditorMatt Berry
Former editors R. J. Minney (1950s)
Staff writers Nicholas Whittaker (1970s)
Categories Men's magazine
FrequencyMonthly
Publisher C. Arthur Pearson Ltd (1935–1959)
IPC (1959–1965)
City Magazines (1965–1971)
Paul Raymond Publications (1971–2012)
Blue Media Publishing Group (2012–present)
Total circulation
(1972 [1] )		400,000
Founded1935;89 years ago (1935)
CompanyBlue Active Media Ltd
CountryUnited Kingdom
Website www.paulraymond.xxx/magazines/men-only.html

Men Only is a British magazine title that originated in 1935 as a pocket-sized men's magazine. It became a standard-sized pin-up magazine in the 1950s and was relaunched in 1971 by Paul Raymond Publications as a soft-core pornographic magazine.

Contents

Publication history

1935–1965: Pearson

Men Only cover, March 1944 Menonly.jpg
Men Only cover, March 1944

Men Only was founded in 1935 [2] by C. Arthur Pearson Ltd (at that point an imprint of George Newnes Ltd) as a pocket magazine (4½" x 6½"; 115×165 mm). It set out its editorial stall in the first issue: "We don't want women readers. We won't have women readers...." It sought "bright articles on current male topics." [1]

Humour was at the heart of the title, though from the start it carried fiction (including by P. G. Wodehouse), [3] wide-ranging articles, and plates of "art" nudes. Covers were initially text-only, then carried caricatures of famous people until mid-1958, when photographic covers took over; [1] photographers included John Everard [4] and Joan Craven. It published colour illustrations of models by artists such as Archie Dickens, Blas Gallego, David Wright, and Vargas (as published in Esquire in the US), on a page labelled Let's Join the Ladies. Cartoons were by illustrators such as Belsky, Antonia Yeoman, Carl Giles, Frank Hoar, Keith Waite, [5] and Bernard Hollowood.

When Pearson closed The Strand Magazine in 1950, it was castigated by The Economist for concentrating its resources on London Opinion and Men Only. [6] Men Only had coloured frontispieces and rather trivial main pages. [7] (Men Only absorbed London Opinion in 1954, at that point relaunching the magazine in a racier style.) [1] The magazine was at the height of its popularity in 1955, with some issues reaching 200 pages in size. [1]

Men Only's publisher Newnes/Pearson became part of International Publishing Corporation (IPC) in 1959–1960.

Another pocket title, Hulton's Lilliput , was better known, but Men Only took over Lilliput in 1960. All these titles were affected by the growth of television; it also lost readers to titles such as Haymarket's Man About Town (later Town) and Playboy . In response, in 1963 [1] Men Only adopted a larger format and more pin-ups — but also reduced its frequency to bimonthly. [1]

1965–1971: City Magazines

IPC sold Men Only to City Magazines in 1965 — at that point City Magazines was already publishing the pin-up magazines Carnival , Escort , and Parade . [1] The magazine returned to a monthly schedule, but was still mainly in black-and-white with a colour pin-up centre spread. [1] Cartoonists published in Men Only during this period included Ian Miller, Paul Sample, and Pete Dredge.

1971–present: Paul Raymond Publications/Blue Media Publishing Group

In 1971, Paul Raymond, who ran nightclubs in London's Soho district, acquired Men Only  [8] and relaunched it as the start of a top-shelf publishing empire, [1] increasing its circulation to 400,000 copies a month. [9] It was the main competitor to Fisk Publishing's Mayfair as well as US magazines such as Playboy and Penthouse during the 1970s and 1980s (Raymond latterly took over Mayfair in 1990).

Early issues of Paul Raymond's Men Only often included serious articles and interviews, though since the 1980s these have largely been omitted. Photographers from the early years included Fred Enke, R. B. Kane, Harrison Marks, [10] Bob Carlos Clarke, and more recently Bob Twigg. Models have included Mary Millington, [11] Jo Guest, Anette Dawn, Linsey Dawn McKenzie, [12] and Bobbi Eden. Over the years, models featured in Men Only have also appeared in different photoshoots in Paul Raymond's Club International (a title bought from IPC Magazines). Centerfold models were called Men Only Girl or Men Only Miss. [13]

In September 2012, Paul Chapin purchased the Paul Raymond Publications stable of magazines, including Men Only, Mayfair , and Club International on behalf of Blue Media Publishing Group. [14] Blue Publishing, however, entered administration a year later. [15]

The publishers of Men Only also publish Club International, Escort , Mayfair, Men's World and Razzle . Their magazines are available in most newsagents, although some larger retailers require a modesty bag to protect minors from seeing nudity on the cover.

Men Only is also sold in digital format at the main Paul Raymond website. Digital sales initially took place via the Paul Raymond digital newsstand from 2013 until that website closed. [16]

Related Research Articles

<i>Escort</i> (magazine) British pornographic magazine

Escort is a British men's adult magazine which contains softcore pornography and erotica. It is published by Paul Raymond Publications, a company that also publishes a number of similar magazines, including Club International, Mayfair, Men Only, Men's World, and Razzle. The origin of these titles lies in businessman Paul Raymond's expansion from strip club management into magazine publishing in the 1960s.

<i>Mayfair</i> (magazine) British adult magazine for men

Mayfair is a British adult magazine for men. Founded in 1966, it was designed as a response to US magazines such as Playboy and Penthouse, the latter of which had recently launched in the UK. For many years, it claimed the largest distribution of any men's magazine in the UK. It is a softcore magazine, and thus is available in newsagents, although some larger retailers require a modesty bag to hide the cover.

<i>Razzle</i> (magazine) British softcore pornographic magazine

Razzle is a British pornographic magazine featuring softcore pornography. It was founded in 1983 and is published by Paul Raymond Publications. It currently focuses on girl-next-door style pornography, offering cash for any photos of "readers' wives" printed; in the past, however, several notable glamour models were featured, including minor celebrity Jo Guest. It also includes the traditional feature of sexual fantasy tales presented as "true" stories.

Paul Raymond Publications is a British publisher of softcore monthly pornographic magazine titles, including Escort, Club International, Mayfair, Men Only, Men's World and Razzle. The company's lawyers scrutinise the magazine content before publication to ensure that it is likely to comply with the Obscene Publications Act 1959 since UK law does not allow hardcore R18 imagery to be sold on newsstands. The magazines are generally available in most newsagents, although some larger retailers require them to be sold in bags to protect minors from seeing the cover photographs. The magazines have also been published in digital format since 2013. They were initially available from the dedicated Paul Raymond digital newsstand, but since that closed they have been sold via the publisher's main website which contains both softcore and hardcore pornography. Blue Active Media Ltd. is the parent company.

<i>Club International</i> British mens magazine

Club International is a British softcore pornographic magazine published by Paul Raymond Publications that features pictures of nude women. It is a sister magazine of American magazine Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pornographic magazine</span> Magazines that contain content of an explicitly sexual nature

Pornographic magazines or erotic magazines, sometimes known as adult magazines or sex magazines, are magazines that contain content of an explicitly sexual nature. Publications of this kind may contain images of attractive naked subjects, as is the case in softcore pornography, and, in the usual case of hardcore pornography, depictions of masturbation, oral, manual, vaginal, or anal sex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centerfold</span> Portrait of a model in the middle of a magazine, or the model depicted therein

The centerfold or centrefold of a magazine is the inner pages of the middle sheet, usually containing a portrait, such as a pin-up or a nude. The term can also refer to the model featured in the portrait. In saddle-stitched magazines, the centerfold does not have any blank space cutting through the image.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TI Media</span> British magazine publisher

TI Media was a consumer magazine and digital publisher in the United Kingdom, with a portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year. Most of its titles now belong to Future plc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Raymond (publisher)</span> English publisher (1925–2008)

Paul Raymond, born Geoffrey Anthony Quinn, was an English strip-club owner, publisher of pornography, and property developer who was dubbed the "King of Soho".

<i>Mens World</i> British pornographic magazine

Men's World was a British soft-core pornographic magazine founded in 1988. The final issue was Volume 24 issue 13, in December 2012. It was released every four weeks and its content mostly consisted of nude pictorials of well-known erotic and pornographic actresses. American models feature frequently, and well-known names like Aria Giovanni, Erica Campbell, Devon, and Veronika Zemanová have been cover girls in the past. British models who have been featured regularly in the magazine include Joanne Guest and Abigail Toyne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Arthur Pearson, 1st Baronet</span> British journalist and publisher (1866–1921)

Sir Cyril Arthur Pearson, 1st Baronet,, was a British newspaper magnate and publisher, who founded the Daily Express.

<i>Tit-Bits</i> Former British weekly magazine

Tit-Bits from all the interesting Books and Newspapers of the World, more commonly known as Tit-Bits, was a British weekly magazine founded by George Newnes, a founding figure in popular journalism, on 22 October 1881.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Odhams Press</span> Former British publishing company

Odhams Press was a British publishing company, operating from 1920 to 1968. Originally a magazine publisher, Odhams later expanded into book publishing and then children's comics. The company was acquired by Fleetway Publications in 1961 and then IPC Magazines in 1963. In its final incarnation, Odhams was known for its Power Comics line of titles, notable for publishing reprints of American Marvel Comics superheroes.

<i>Parade</i> (British magazine) British mens magazine

Parade was a British magazine for men. With origins dating back to 1916, the magazine went through a number of different incarnations and different publishers until it went defunct sometime in the mid-2000s. It was originally known as Blighty between 1916 and 1920 and was intended as a humorous magazine for servicemen. Relaunched in 1939, as Blighty Parade, it was turned into a pin-up magazine. Renamed Parade in 1960, by the 1970s content had progressed to topless and nude photos of models, and at the end of the 1990s it went hardcore.

<i>Number One</i> (magazine) British pop music magazine

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<i>Nova</i> (UK magazine) Defunct glossy monthly magazine

Nova was a British glossy magazine that was published from March 1965 to October 1975 It was described by The Times as "a politically radical, beautifully designed, intellectual women's magazine." Nova covered such once-taboo subjects as abortion, cancer, the birth control pill, race, homosexuality, divorce and royal affairs. It featured stylish and provocative cover images.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Newnes Ltd</span> British publisher

George Newnes Ltd is a British publisher. The company was founded in 1891 by George Newnes (1851–1910), considered a founding father of popular journalism. Newnes published such magazines and periodicals as Tit-Bits, The Wide World Magazine, The Captain, The Strand Magazine, The Grand Magazine, John O'London's Weekly, Sunny Stories for Little Folk, Woman's Own, and the "Practical" line of magazines overseen by editor Frederick J. Camm. Long after the founder's death, Newnes was known for publishing ground-breaking consumer magazines such as Nova.

City Magazines was a British publisher of weekly comics and men's magazines that operated from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s. The company's most notable publications were comics magazines based on licensed television properties, including TV Century 21 and Lady Penelope, both of which featured comics based on Gerry Anderson's Century 21 Productions Supermarionation shows.

C. Arthur Pearson Ltd was a British publisher of newspapers, periodicals, books, and comics that operated from 1890 to c. 1965. The company was founded by C. Arthur Pearson, later to be known as Sir Arthur Pearson, 1st Baronet.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Men Only," Magforum. Archived at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved Apr. 20, 2021.
  2. ↑ Justin Bengry (2009). "Courting the Pink Pound: Men Only and the Queer Consumer, 1935—39". History Workshop Journal (68): 122–148. JSTOR   40646167.
  3. ↑ McIlvaine, Eileen; Sherby, Louise S; Heineman, James H (1990). P.G. Wodehouse: A Comprehensive Bibliography and Checklist. New York: James H Heineman. ISBN   978-0-87008-125-5, p. 173, D109.1.
  4. ↑ Marcus Collins (2006). Modern Love: Personal Relationships in Twentieth-century Britain. University of Delaware Press. p. 259. ISBN   978-0-87413-915-0.
  5. ↑ "Keith Waite: Social and political cartoonist whose 50-year career took" . The Independent. 19 May 2014. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  6. ↑ "Timeline: a history of magazines," Magforum.
  7. ↑ some 1954 editions, RobertPriddy.com.
  8. ↑ "Porn baron Raymond dies aged 82," BBC NEWS (3 March 2008).
  9. ↑ Perrone, Pierre (23 April 2013). "My nights of passion with Paul Raymond" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022.
  10. ↑ Tony Sloman (10 July 1997). "Obituary: Harrison Marks" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022.
  11. ↑ Upton, Julian (2004). Fallen stars: tragic lives and lost careers. Headpress/Critical Vision. ISBN   9781900486385, p. 40.
  12. ↑ Men Only Vol. 60, Issue 12 (December 1995).
  13. ↑ "Men Only Girl: Miss Arabella Hart". Men Only. Vol. 40, no. 1. London: Paul Raymond Publications. 1975.
  14. ↑ "Loaded magazine snapped up by multimillionaire 'porn star'". Guardian.co.uk. 29 April 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  15. ↑ Turvill, William (18 June 2013). "Loaded magazine publisher goes into administration". Press Gazette. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  16. ↑ "Sadly, DigitalMagazines.xxx has now closed for good". Paul Raymond Digital Magazine Store. Archived from the original on 6 August 2020.

Sources

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