When editors were gods

JFK Jr. covers for George, 1996

On this day (July 30) in 1996, John F. Kennedy, Jr., publicly defended the latest cover of his magazine, George. The cover featured a photograph of Drew Barrymore channeling Marilyn Monroe in her famous 1962 Madison Square Garden appearance, where she sang a sultry rendition of "Happy Birthday" to the junior Kennedy's father. In case anyone might have missed the reference, the major coverline was "Happy Birthday, Mr. President."

Young Kennedy, who seems to have had a knack for attention-getting magazine covers, insisted, "I don't see what possible taste questions could be involved. If I don't find it tasteless, I don't know why anyone would."

For those interested in more about the photo shoot, "JFK Jr., George, & Me," by the magazine's creative director at the time, Matt Berman, covers it in some detail.

 

 

When magazines had friends in high places, 1911

“I believe the editors and publishers of magazines are the greatest educators of our time.” — Rep. Champ Clark (D-Mo.) addressing the annual dinner of the Periodical Publishers of America, 1911. 

Clark was, at that point, Speaker-elect of the House, and he would narrowly miss becoming his party’s presidential nominee at its 1912 convention.

The 3-D craze hits the magazine racks, 1953

On this day (July 25) in 1953 newspapers announced the forthcoming debut of 3-D Screen magazine, an early attempt to cash in on the 3-D craze of the 1950s. The magazine, published by the Kable Printing Company of Mount Morris, Illinois, came complete with a pair of cardboard 3-D glasses, with red cellophane for one lens and blue for the other.

Issue #1 of 3-D Screen seems to have featured an assortment of female Hollywood stars, including Marilyn Monroe, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Janet Leigh. Pictured on the cover was the famously busty actress Jane Russell, across from the memorable coverline, "So Real You Can Almost Touch Them."

Good news for starving magazine writers, 1907

"A magazine writer asserts that death by starvation is not painful, and it would be difficult to find anyone better fitted to give expert testimony than the average magazine writer." — The Washington Post, April 3, 1907.

A Mad view of reader surveys

“We haven’t ever taken reader surveys. To tell you the truth, I don’t want to know who I’m publishing for.” — William M. Gaines, publisher of Mad magazine, interviewed by William V. Thomas in the Baltimore Sun in 1982.

Spiro T. Agnew attacks magazine for election-delay "hoax," 1970

It was on this day (July 21) in 1970 that Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, frequent attacker of the nation’s news media, set his sights on Scanlan’s, a lively but short-lived radical magazine edited by Warren Hinckle and Sidney Zion.

The reason for Agnew’s agita was Scanlan’s publication of what purported to be one page of a four-page memo leaked from the VP's office. The memo discussed an alleged Rand Corporation study, sponsored by the Nixon White House, on the potential impact of postponing the 1972 election and repealing the Bill of Rights.  

Agnew denounced the memo as “completely false” and a “hoax.”

Editor Zion countered that, “We do not hesitate to submit our credibility against his.”

A movie magazine editor's sad final scene

It was on this day (July 8) in 1934 that A.A. Beecroft, age 56, rented a rowboat in Mamaroneck, N.Y., rowed out about 100 yards, stood up, and shot himself in the head. Beecroft, who seems to have gone by the name Jim, had served as a writer, editor, and business executive of the Exhibitors Herald, a movie industry trade magazine.

"Two years ago the publication ended its career and Mr. Beecroft has been idle since," the New York Times noted in an obituary."This idleness, coupled with a separation from his wife two years ago, caused him to be despondent."

An Associated Press account of the incident said that,"Beecroft first fired a shot in the air, apparently to attract the attention of persons in other boats." The United Press didn't mention a first shot but said the event played out in front of "a beach crowded with bathers." 

In addition to his journalism career, Beecroft seems to have been involved in movie production and even served as an occasional extra. The show business paper Variety reported that, "He was widely known and well-liked but never seemed to find himself after his departure from the Herald."

 

 

 

Rejected? Well, join the club, 1934

"The candidate must possess 100 legitimate rejection slips, must have at least five manuscripts in the process of completion, and must prove that his record is clear of any manuscript sales. A prospective member with one manuscript sale on his record may become a non-voting member." — From an article on the formation of the "first Rejection Slip Collector's Club in the United States," in the St. Joseph (Missouri) Gazette, Dec. 23, 1934. The article goes on to catalog the various types of magazine rejection slips and their desirability to collectors. The author of this still very readable spoof is, unfortunately, anonymous.

PS: For younger readers who may be unfamiliar with rejection slips, they were printed forms that magazines once attached to rejected manuscripts before returning them. Usually they carried a brief, polite note thanking the writer for the submission but saying it was unsuitable for the publication at that time.

The modern equivalent is dead silence.

The sincerest form of editorial flattery

"Editors know a good idea when they steal one." — Charles Trueheart, writing in the Washington Post, 1987. Trueheart was discussing such widely imitated magazine features as the Harper's Index.