Mr. Magazine

Chapter Two, Part Two

The 3-D Movement In Magazines

Magazines have always captured trends and movements as though they had a golden net of what would be important and significant to readers. The 3-D movement was something that became very prominent in the movie industry in the 1950s, so, of course, magazines seized their own part of this lucrative medium, with content such as 3-D movie titles, 3-D comics, and just a variety of 3-D entertainment.

Many 3-D buffs consider the 1950s the “Golden Era” of 3-D, simply because some form of the medium has been around for generations. But in the ‘50s, the art took on a different, more vibrant role with the release of the first color stereoscopic feature. It was an amazing process that the public latched onto and loved. And of course, magazines didn’t waste any time in seeing the unique value of this latest trend. Even today that famous picture from Life magazine, the iconic image of a crowded theater with everyone watching a movie wearing 3-D eyeglasses, is a creative piece that is still shown and of interest to people.

Suddenly, the marketplace was consumed with 3-D magazines: 3-D Movie Magazine, 3-D Dimension, 3-D Pinups and 3-D Screen, even Superman himself appeared in his own 3-D magazine in 1953. Magazine publishers knew a great wave when they saw one, and they could ride it better than anything out there.

In December 1953, Harvey Famous Name Comics put out the first issue of True 3D . On the inside page of the front cover of the magazine, the editors announced their excitement in bringing “the most startling magazine produced in three dimensional illustration by our own exclusive process.” Harvey Comics even had a written statement from two optometrists about the visual benefits of reading the 3-D magazine, which came with its own “magic specs.”

Magazines have truly always been ahead of their time in the way they approach the world around us. And in 1953 in particular, 3-D was a vibrant and lucrative way to entertain readers and moviegoers alike, and magazines embraced this old (movies), but new (3-D) technology.

Magazines: The Internet of The 1950s

From Time to Newsweek, the newsweeklies were flourishing; the general interest titles, such as Life and Look were inimitable in their classy style. All of these magazines from 1953 were so dominant and their content so mesmerizing and the designs so stylish, that one couldn’t help but believe the world of magazines was omnipotent in what it did.

And while television (still referred to as the talking piece of furniture in some ads and articles)  was still in its infancy, magazines were really the Internet of 1953, of the 1950s in general. Magazines connected the entire United States and the world. No matter what your interests were, from fiction to science fiction, true crime to celebrity gossip, magazines covered it, no Google necessary.

The Taboo & The Forbidden

At a time when being gay was not something talked about openly, magazines were still exploring their parameters. Disguised as men’s health or fitness magazines, titles such as Muscle Power and Muscle Man, were, for the most part, gay magazines. The readers were primarily gay men who enjoyed looking at the physiques of other men, but because of the times, publishers gave consumers what they wanted in the form of bodybuilding.

And then in January 1953, the first widely distributed publication for homosexuals in the United States published its first issue. One magazine was born during a time when being openly gay was unheard of. A group from Los Angeles, the Mattachine Society, formed by Communist and labor activist Harry Hay and a group of his friends, was determined to protect and improve the rights of gay men. So, in November 1952 they formed ONE Inc. and began publishing the magazine in the new year.

Being a nonprofit organization, ONE Inc. depended on volunteers for its magazine and asked for different variants, such as circulation and advertising representatives, from each city to which the magazine found its way. The magazine paved the way for the OUTs and The Advocates of today.

One ceased publication in 1967 but lives on today thanks to the University of Southern California, where the ONE Archives Foundation—an institution that researches, curates and collects items of importance to the LGBT world resides just off campus.

The magazine reached many landmarks during its existence, including a United States Supreme Court decision for LGBT rights in the United States with One, Inc. v. Olesen in 1958, which was the first time the Court had ever dealt with a homosexual ruling. The Court reversed a lower court decision that declared One magazine had violated obscenity laws. So, for the first time ever there was constitutional protection for pro-homosexual writing. Magazines have never played around when it comes to standing up for themselves.

And when it came to men’s magazines for the heterosexual male, a woman’s naked body was usually described as art or exposed for health reasons. Magazines such as Health and Efficiency, which was touted as the world’s leading naturist journal, and Sunshine & Health were purported to be totally created for health and wellness reasons, but would have naked women on the cover. That is until Playboy came along in December 1953. Hefner pulled no punches, transforming the idea of looking at naked women as artistic into something erotic.

Of course, times were different in 1953, people had different interests and the world, in general, from politics to the politically correct, was totally distinctive from today. But magazines were there to keep the public informed and entertained, just as they are today.

To be continued…