Gallery (magazine)

Gallery is an adult sex magazine published by Magna Publishing Group. It is one of the more popular "skin" magazines that arose on the Playboy magazine pattern in the 1970s.

Gallery
CategoriesMen's magazines
FrequencyMonthly
PublisherMagna Publishing Group
FounderRonald L. Fenton
Year founded1969
First issueNovember 1972
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish, many others
Websitewww.gallerymagazine.com
ISSN0195-072X

Publication history

Gallery was launched by Ronald L. Fenton and trial attorney F. Lee Bailey in Chicago, Illinois.[1] The first issue appeared on newsstands in November, 1972 bearing an uncanny resemblance to Playboy magazine, even using the same style font for the cover. Many people therefore assumed Gallery was also published by Hugh Hefner as a companion publication to Playboy. [2] After Hefner sent a letter to Bailey pointing out the magazine's similarities, the layout of Gallery was quickly changed.[3]

Financial difficulties plagued the magazine from the start, causing Bailey to leave during its inaugural year.[1] Following publication of the January 1974 issue, Fenton was forced to forfeit ownership of the magazine to its distributor.[4]

Montcalm Publications, based in New York, eventually acquired Gallery and added it to its portfolio of periodicals.[5] Montcalm also published The Twilight Zone Magazine in the 1980s, apparently in imitation of Penthouse magazine's offshoot Omni.[6]

Montcalm Publishing went bankrupt in March 2008, owing many photographers and models unpaid wages; some were owed as much as $100,000.[7] Andi Land (Andi Pink) twice won Gallery's Girl Next Door of the Month.

On April 30, 2008, Gallery magazine was purchased by the Magna Publishing Group.[8] On December 22, 2015, Magna Publishing Group was acquired by 1-800-PHONESEX.[9]

Articles

In addition to pornographic content, Gallery also published articles related to current events and JFK assassination conspiracy theories, most notably by L. Fletcher Prouty.

Features and format

Gallery has long featured a "Girl Next Door" contest in which photographers submit pictures of amateur models (similar to Hustler's "Beaver Hunt.") From each group of monthly entries, one model winner is selected. At the end of the year, one is crowned "Girl Next Door of the Year" and awarded a cash prize of $25,000. The most famous winner is retired porn star Stacy Valentine; at the time of her selection she was Oklahoma housewife Stacy Baker.[10]

References
  1. "Magazine Tightens Its Belt". Tucson Daily Citizen. United Press International. 5 December 1973. p. 13.
  2. Latham, Aaron (27 November 1972). "Rabbit Run: The 'Penthouse' Assault on 'Playboy'". New York. 5 (48): 54. ISSN 0028-7369.
  3. "F. Lee Bailey as Publisher: How to Grin and Bare It". Life. 73: 97. 17 November 1972. ISSN 0024-3019.
  4. Rosenkranz, Patrick (2008). Rebel Visions: The Underground Comix Revolution. Fantagraphics Books. p. 198. ISBN 978-1560977063.
  5. Vinciguerra, Thomas (24 April 1985). "A Gallery Man Takes a Close Look". Columbia Daily Spectator. 15 (5).
  6. Wolfe, Peter (1997). In the Zone: The Twilight World of Rod Serling. Popular Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-0879727307.
  7. "Models and Photographers Owed Thousands". AVN Media Network.
  8. "Magna Publishing Group Acquires Fox, Gallery & Lollypops Magazines & Websites". AdultFYI. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  9. "1-800-PHONESEX Acquires Leading New York-Based Adult Publisher". Yahoo! Finance. PR Newswire. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
  10. Sheid, Christopher (12 May 2000). "The Sad Story of Porn Told by 'The Girl Next Door'". The Times of Northwest Indiana.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.