Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Men's Adventure Magazines in Postwar America by Max Allan Collins and George Hagenauer

Men's Adventure Magazines by Max Allan Collins and George Hagenauer (from the Rich Oberg Collection) and distributed through Taschen is quite an enjoyable read. This book highlights hundreds of colorful covers from the heyday of the 1950s and 1960's and also includes must-have articles on the history of these pulps with a revealing piece on Bernarr Macfadden, the father of the men's magazines.

The following images made me chuckle. It's from the first chapter titled "When Animals Attack." I know the animal kingdom can be dangerous but talk about whew!









10 comments:

sandra seamans said...

Don't laugh, but these covers remind of the "bodice ripper" romance covers. Minus the attacking animals, of course.

Corey Wilde said...

That one lady's got the most serious case of crabs in medical history.

Anonymous said...

"Masculine inadequacies drive women nuts!" on the last cover is a riot.

Don Ward

Charles Gramlich said...

I've got a big book about the Men's Adventure mags as well, which is 90 percent covers. Amazing how often they portrayed Nazis as the ultimate evil. I notice all the women are wearing "red." almost all.

David Cranmer said...

Sandra, I have never heard of "bodice ripper" romances. It sounds oddly intriguing.

Corey, Ha! Didn't look at it that way.

Don, I also like "rammed in the gut and dying."

Charles, I didn't notice the red but you are right. I flipped through more of the book and red is definitely the color most women are wearing. Interesting...

Barbara Martin said...

David, are those water beasties supposed to be muskrats?

All the old Harlequin romances and other romance published books in the 50s, 60s and 70s were known as "bodice rippers", because that's what was always on the cover. Now there are photos of bare chested men with no body hair. I think they wax it off.

I read in a woman's magazine late last year that to attract a man's attention the best colour to adorn a wardrobe with was: RED. It rivets a man's eyes.

Thanks for the nice comment on my last post.

Sarah Hina said...

Awesome.

Rabid animals, naked torsos, and straining cleavage. What more could someone ask for? ;)

Those were a treat. Thanks for sharing, David. I think I'll avoid the rivers, just in case...

David Cranmer said...

Barbara, I've done a search of "bodice ripper" since Sandra mentioned it and those are some great covers. Very similar to the pulps I read.

Sarah, That's a good idea and avoid wearing red.

Cormac Brown said...

Corey beat me to it, but there is another thing about that crab cover that confuses me...if they are "cannibal crabs," why are they feasting on man?

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