True (magazine)
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| - | '''Gold Medal Books''' is an [[American publishing]] imprint known for their [[hardboiled]] detective novels, [[lesbian pulp fiction]] and other [[mainstay]]s of [[genre fiction]]. Reputable writers such as [[Donald Westlake]], [[Elmore Leonard]], [[Kurt Vonnegut]], [[Jim Thompson]], [[William Goldman]], [[John D. MacDonald]], [[Louis L'Amour]], [[David Goodis]], [[Richard Matheson]] and [[Charles Williams]] have written for [[Gold Medal]], sometimes under a [[pseudonym]]. | + | '''''True''''', also known as '''''True, The Man's Magazine''''', was published by [[Fawcett Publications]] from 1937 until 1974. Known as ''True, A Man's Magazine'' in the 1930s, it was labeled ''True, #1 Man's Magazine'' in the 1960s. Petersen Publishing took over with the January 1975, issue. It was sold to Magazine Associates in August 1975, and ceased publication shortly afterward. |
| - | Launched by [[Fawcett Publications]] in [[1950]], the imprint is known for introducing [[paperback]] originals (instead of [[reprint]]s), a publishing innovation at the time. Fawcett was also an independent [[newsstand]] distributor, and in 1949 the company negotiated a contract with [[New American Library]] to distribute their Mentor and Signet titles. This contract prohibited Fawcett from publishing their own [[paperback]] reprints. | + | High adventure, sports profiles and dramatic conflicts were highlighted in articles such as "Living and Working at Nine Fathoms" by Ed Batutis, "Search for the Perfect Beer" by Bob McCabe and the uncredited "How to Start Your Own Hunting-Fishing Lodge." In addition to pictorials ("Iceland, Unexpected Eden" by Lawrence Fried) and humor pieces ("The Most Unforgettable Sonofabitch I Ever Knew" by [[Robert Ruark]]), there were columns, miscellaneous features and regular concluding pages: "This Funny Life," "Man to Man Answers," "[[strange but true|Strange But True]]" and "''True'' Goes Shopping." |
| - | Roscoe Kent Fawcett wanted to establish a line of Fawcett paperbacks, and he felt original paperbacks would not be a violation of the contract. In order to test a [[loophole]] in the contract, Fawcett published two anthologies -- ''The Best of [[True (magazine)|True]] Magazine'' and ''What Today's Woman Should Know About Marriage and Sex'' -- reprinting material from Fawcett magazines not previously published in books. When these books successfully sailed through the contract loophole, Fawcett announced Gold Medal Books, their line of paperback originals. It was a revolutionary turning point in paperback publishing. | + | ==Editors== |
| + | In the early 1950s, when [[Ken Purdy]] was ''True'''s editor, ''Newsweek'' described it "a man's magazine with a class all its own, and the largest circulation of the bunch." A prolific contributor to ''Playboy'' and other magazines, automobile writer Purdy (''Kings of the Road''), was the son of W.T. Purdy, the composer of "On, Wisconsin!". Ken Purdy committed suicide in 1972 at the age of 59. | ||
| - | William Lengel was the Gold Medal editor, and the art director was Al Allard, who had been employed with Fawcett since 1928. Beginning their numbering system at 101, Gold Medal got underway with Alan Hynd's ''We Are the Public Enemies'', the anthology ''Man Story'' and ''The Persian Cat'' by John Flagg. Writing about the demise of pulp magazines in ''The Dime Detectives'', [[Ron Goulart]] observed, "Fawcett dealt another blow to the pulps when, in 1950, it introduced its Gold Medal line. What Gold Medal specialized in was original novels. Some were merely sleazy, but others were in a tough, [[hard-boiled]] style that seemed somehow more knowing and more contemporary than that of the survivivng pulps. Early Gold Medal authors included [[John D. MacDonald]], [[Charles Williams (U.S. author)|Charles Williams]], and Richard S. Prather." | + | During the 1960s, ''True'' was edited by Douglas S. Kennedy. [[Robert Shea]], co-author of the ''[[The Illuminatus! Trilogy]]'', was an associate editor from 1963 to 1965 before he moved on to [[Cavalier (magazine)|Cavalier]] and [[Playboy]]. Charles N. Barnard and Mark Penzer edited ''True'' during the 1970s. The cover price in 1963 was 35 cents, climbing to 50 cents by 1965 and 60 cents in 1970. Fawcett also did special issues, such as ''True's Football Yearbook'', published annually from 1963 to 1972, and ''True's Boxing Yearbook''. ''True'''s various spin-offs included calendars, such as [[George Petty]]'s ''True Magazine Petty Girl Calendar for 1948'', published by Fawcett in 1947. |
| - | Other 1950 Gold Medal originals included the Western ''Stretch Dawson'' by [[William R. Burnett]], the first [[Lesbian pulp fiction|lesbian pulp]] novel ''[[Women's Barracks]]'' by [[Tereska Torres]] and mystery-adventure novels -- ''Nude in Mink'' by [[Sax Rohmer]] and ''I'll Find You'' by Richard Himmel. After [[Donald E. Keyhoe]]'s article "Flying Saucers Are Real" in ''True'' (January 1950) created a sold-out sensation, with ''True'' going back to press for another print run, Keyhoe expanded the article into a top-selling paperback, ''The Flying Saucers Are Real'', published by Fawcett that same year. | + | ==Books== |
| + | In January 1950, ''True'' went back to press after a sold-out issue in which [[Donald E. Keyhoe]] suggested that extraterrestrials could be piloting flying saucers. The material was reworked by Keyhoe into a best-selling paperback book, ''[[The Flying Saucers Are Real]]'' (Fawcett Gold Medal, 1950). ''True'' did follow-up UFO reports in 1967 and 1969. Frank Bowers edited ''The True Report on Flying Saucers'' (1967). | ||
| - | Fawcett editor Ralph Daigh commented, "In the past six months we have produced 9,020,645 books, and people seem to like them very well." However, hardcover publishers resented Roscoe Fawcett's innovation, as evidenced by Doubleday's LeBaron R. Barker, who claimed that paperback originals could "undermine the whole structure of publishing." | + | The magazine was the source for a number of other books, including ''True, A Treasury of True: The Best from 20 Years of the Man's Magazine'' (Barnes, 1956), edited by Charles N. Barnard and illustrated by Carl Pfeufer, and ''Bar Guide'' (Fawcett, 1950) by Ted Shane and [[Virgil Partch]]. Cartoon collections included ''Cartoon Laffs from True, the Man's Magazine'' (Crest Books, 1958), ''True Album of Cartoons'' (Fawcett, 1960), ''Cartoon Treasury'' (Fawcett, 1968) and ''New Cartoon Laughs: A Prize Collection from True Magazine'' (Fawcett, 1970). |
| - | With an increase from 35 titles in 1950 to 66 titles in 1951, Gold Medal's obvious success in issuing paperback originals revolutionized the industry. While MacDonald, Williams, Prather, [[Louis L'Amour]], [[Richard Matheson]], Bruno Fischer, and [[MacKinlay Kantor]] were joining Gold Medal's roster of writers, other paperback publishers were soon asking agents for original manuscripts. Literary agent Donald MacCampbell stated that one publisher "threatened to boycott my agency if it continued to negotiate contracts with original 25-cent firms."{{GFDL}} | + | ==Television== |
| + | {{see|GE True}} | ||
| + | ''[[GE True]]'', a 1962-63 television series filmed at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank for CBS, featured stories based on the magazine's articles. [[Jack Webb]] was the executive producer, host and narrator. | ||
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| + | The Main Library at the [[University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign]] has a lengthy run of ''True'' back issues. | ||
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| + | ==In popular culture== | ||
| + | A feature in ''[[Mad Magazine]]'' titled "When Advertising Takes Over Magazines Completely" depicted a ''True'' cover story with the headline "A Night of Terror in the Valley of the Jolly Green Giant." | ||
| + | |||
| + | {{GFDL}} | ||
Revision as of 20:57, 27 June 2012
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True, also known as True, The Man's Magazine, was published by Fawcett Publications from 1937 until 1974. Known as True, A Man's Magazine in the 1930s, it was labeled True, #1 Man's Magazine in the 1960s. Petersen Publishing took over with the January 1975, issue. It was sold to Magazine Associates in August 1975, and ceased publication shortly afterward.
High adventure, sports profiles and dramatic conflicts were highlighted in articles such as "Living and Working at Nine Fathoms" by Ed Batutis, "Search for the Perfect Beer" by Bob McCabe and the uncredited "How to Start Your Own Hunting-Fishing Lodge." In addition to pictorials ("Iceland, Unexpected Eden" by Lawrence Fried) and humor pieces ("The Most Unforgettable Sonofabitch I Ever Knew" by Robert Ruark), there were columns, miscellaneous features and regular concluding pages: "This Funny Life," "Man to Man Answers," "Strange But True" and "True Goes Shopping."
Contents |
Editors
In the early 1950s, when Ken Purdy was True's editor, Newsweek described it "a man's magazine with a class all its own, and the largest circulation of the bunch." A prolific contributor to Playboy and other magazines, automobile writer Purdy (Kings of the Road), was the son of W.T. Purdy, the composer of "On, Wisconsin!". Ken Purdy committed suicide in 1972 at the age of 59.
During the 1960s, True was edited by Douglas S. Kennedy. Robert Shea, co-author of the The Illuminatus! Trilogy, was an associate editor from 1963 to 1965 before he moved on to Cavalier and Playboy. Charles N. Barnard and Mark Penzer edited True during the 1970s. The cover price in 1963 was 35 cents, climbing to 50 cents by 1965 and 60 cents in 1970. Fawcett also did special issues, such as True's Football Yearbook, published annually from 1963 to 1972, and True's Boxing Yearbook. True's various spin-offs included calendars, such as George Petty's True Magazine Petty Girl Calendar for 1948, published by Fawcett in 1947.
Books
In January 1950, True went back to press after a sold-out issue in which Donald E. Keyhoe suggested that extraterrestrials could be piloting flying saucers. The material was reworked by Keyhoe into a best-selling paperback book, The Flying Saucers Are Real (Fawcett Gold Medal, 1950). True did follow-up UFO reports in 1967 and 1969. Frank Bowers edited The True Report on Flying Saucers (1967).
The magazine was the source for a number of other books, including True, A Treasury of True: The Best from 20 Years of the Man's Magazine (Barnes, 1956), edited by Charles N. Barnard and illustrated by Carl Pfeufer, and Bar Guide (Fawcett, 1950) by Ted Shane and Virgil Partch. Cartoon collections included Cartoon Laffs from True, the Man's Magazine (Crest Books, 1958), True Album of Cartoons (Fawcett, 1960), Cartoon Treasury (Fawcett, 1968) and New Cartoon Laughs: A Prize Collection from True Magazine (Fawcett, 1970).
Television
Template:See GE True, a 1962-63 television series filmed at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank for CBS, featured stories based on the magazine's articles. Jack Webb was the executive producer, host and narrator.
The Main Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has a lengthy run of True back issues.
In popular culture
A feature in Mad Magazine titled "When Advertising Takes Over Magazines Completely" depicted a True cover story with the headline "A Night of Terror in the Valley of the Jolly Green Giant."
