PSR on MAN Magazine
By Phoebe Hamilton
What
can you find out about the circulation of the magazine? How would you
characterise the circulation--was it limited, or popular? Can you find out if that was considered
expensive?
MAN magazine became immediately popular after its release in 1936. It was developed by Kenneth Murray who was no doubt influenced by American magazines such as Esquire. It was a monthly magazine and in its first year of circulation expanded from 5000 to 20,000; by 1946 it had grown to a circulation of 100,000. When MAN was first released it cost only two shillings which was considered a “suicidal” price. Throughout its publication it continued to be a cheap and affordable magazine.
Editor:
Does
the magazine have the same editor for a range of time? Can you find out
anything about this person? What is her
or her background, education, training? If the editor writes for the magazine,
what kind of things does he/she write?
Frank S. Greenop was the editor of the magazine from 1936-1955. He had a background in fictional writing and that, along with Kenneth Murray’s background in advertising, may have been the reason behind the magazine’s heavy story, cartoon, and illustrative content.
Implied Reader:
After
studying thoroughly a single issue of the magazine--ads, articles, stories,
everything--consider its target reader implied by the magazine’s contents: age,
sex, economic class, intellectual class, race, political position, and anything
else that seems important
The MAN magazine was intended for a male audience of young men. It contained many stories and cartoons which would appeal to the bachelor type and contained many explicit images of young women. It did also, however, contain educational information about world events and affairs; so, it also appealed to businessmen who prided themselves on staying informed about such matters.
Contents:
a. In
a single issue, what kind of content gets the most pages (creative: fiction,
poetry, drama, visual art, music/ critical: cultural, aesthetic, social,
political/ informative: travel, biography, history, news)
Most of the content in MAN were articles, both fictional and non-fictional, along with cartoons and many illustrations. It contained many risqué images of young women, and cartoons. Its plush image made it popular with the public and it employed many renowned artists, writers, and photographers to fill its pages.
b. Advertising: Ratio of advertising to other aspects of the text. What kind of advertising gets the most space? Anything else significant about advertising?
The types of items advertised within MAN magazine were modern or fashionable, it appealed to “worldly” men who had money and liked to spend it on themselves. Some examples of this are advertisements for cars, wirelesses, overseas travel, and alcohol. It rarely contained advertisements for the home, or everyday purchases.
c. If
the magazine attends to social, political, or cultural issues, is there
anything that helps you describe its position?
Prior to WWII MAN magazine had an anti-war, progressive stance. Mobility and new technologies were common topics for discussion in its pages. It also often depicted women in a negative light, or as “playthings” for men. In todays society MAN magazine would surely have been seen as misogynistic and sexist rather than progressive.
Format:
How
many average pages per issue? Did it use colour? How much?
Photography? How much? How are
images used? Do they illustrate stories
or article? If there are illustrations,
how do they make the magazine feel?
MAN
magazine had colourful, glossy pages and was a stark contrast to the many
black and white magazines circulating when it was first produced. It had on
average 100 pages per issue and was of a high print quality. The magazine was a
mixture of engaging entertaining cartoons and stories, and informative
articles.
References:
Ray, G. (2020). MAN Magazine, Published By K G Murray.
[online] Collectingbooksandmagazines.com. Available at: http://www.collectingbooksandmagazines.com/man.html
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