Section 1
Introduction
Adult magazines from the early 1900s are a treasure trove of ads aimed at men, littered with promises of sexual and marital fulfillment. These ads share the same physical space with pin up posters of nude women, romantic fiction, and in some cases, photographs of murder victims. Some of the ads that one finds in adult magazines such as Follies, Dames, and Bronze Thrills range from weight loss programs, Illustrated Sex Atlases, recorded stag shows, hypnosis courses, and directories of clubs for lonely readers looking for companionship. These magazines also include sections dedicated to letters from lonely readers, detailing their biodata, wanting to be connected to others in similar situations.
These visual artifacts provide us with an opportunity to examine the social, cultural, and political situation of that time. They also allow us to chart shifts over a period of time and investigate how businesses were able to exploit and contribute to that shift. By providing men with content that appealed to their insecurities and sexual desires, they were able to garner an audience that could then have the same insecurities and desires exploited for profit.
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Adult Magazines
The way these magazines packaged content with advertisements provides us with insight into the mindset of the reader. The events that predated the launch of Playboy magazine and these magazines in question give us a good sense of the cultural shift that took place during the great depression. In "America Gets Off: The Great Depression as an Impetus for the Evolution of Pornography", Brick Cullum notes:
"On the surface, American society seemed to be entirely enveloped in hardship and crisis during the 1930s; but deeper, underneath the “shadow,” there was an increasingly vibrant piece of culture flourishing in spite of the economic calamity. Emerging from the smoke-filled rooms of Depression-era bars, the back-alleys of clubs, and on the sides of roads in the middle of nowhere, pornography prospered during the Great Depression. This growth occurred even though numerous Americans were simply hoping for a return to normal conditions, to economic and social stability. Truly, as Morris Dickstein exemplifies, with “values in flux . . . this was the American dream with a dark coloring."
The restrictions on obscenity in American laws. The wisespread but secret consumption of pornography made it hard to be legally acquired. Through groundbreaking court cases that changed the legal understanding of obscenity, pornography began to enter mainstream society. This changing attitude of the population towards sex provides context for the success that the magazines had.
Social Clubs and Loneliness
Adult magazines included classifieds from social clubs promising companionship and love. Much like the dating apps today, these were subscription based models that gave it's subscribers access to lists and pictures of eligible women.
"Remember This... No Single Man Is Ever Happy!" reads one of the headlines to a matchmaker service. "Remember our slogan: "No man is any good without a woman." reads another. The one under it states "300 PRETTY GIRLS $1" reads another. The copy under this headline says "Mail $1 for 300 names and addresses of pretty, single, lonely nurses, teachers, models, widows, farmerettes, etc., ages 18 to 22, that you will be happy to know! Nationwide! Opportunity Knocks! Please Answer! Yours Truly, BEST CLUB."
The "Matrimonial CLERK" page from the magazine "Bronze Thrills" displays letters from the women looking for potential partners. They describe themselves and what they're looking for in a partner. One of them reads:
"I'd love to meet a nice man between the
ages of 59 and 60, a nice working man -
one that will make home for me and take
care of me. I do not care about the religion
or color. My religion is Catholic. I love to
have fun, movies and parties.
Lonely"
The ad on the bottom right of the page states "Send your letters with $2.00 inclosed to handle cost of handling to: BRONZE THRILLS Matrimonial Clerk"
Promises of Sexual Fulfilment
Apart from social clubs, these magazines also included ads for "revolutionary" products, pills, and books promising sexual fulfillment to married men. These ads don't specify if the products are medically approved or not but they're made to sound like they've worked for others. It's a trend that we see on the modern equivalent of adult magazines, adult websites, today.
Pseudoscience and Dominance
It's unusual to see ads stating "Want the thrill of imposing your will over someone? of making someone do exactly what you order? Try hypnotism!", "DO YOU WANT POWER? Power to make you victorious in all you undertake? Power to make people admire you? Power to gain popularity - love?". A closer look of the social situation of the male population during the Great depression gives us an explanation. In "America Gets Off: The Great Depression as an Impetus for the Evolution of Pornography", Brick Cullum explains:
"Though reprieve was certainly an outward goal of those who consumed pornography during the 1930s, there was a deeper consideration made in that many men felt emasculated without jobs, men no longer had a socialized sense of being powerful, and were at a disadvantage compared to their female counterparts. Thus, pornography became a vehicle for the subjugation of women in an attempt to give men a sense of being when they had none; pornography thrived in accordance with this ideal."