THE SEX FILES: Dian Hanson’s History Of Pin-Up Magazines Volume 1

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history-of-pinup-magazines-tashen-books-01You put Dian Hanson’s words and research married with publisher Taschen’s  usual splendid visual display and I was certainly set to enjoy Dian Hanson’s History Of Pin-Up Magazines Volume 1.

As you see, THE SEX FILES has a little history with this publisher (Dian and I once joked over the fact that when she worked as an editor at a specific magazine back in the day she rejected lots of my fiction submissions), look here for just one of the times I have reviewed something(s) from them. And if you have never ventured down to their stores in various cities world wide (yes, there are locations in NYC and L.A.) you owe it to yourself to go.

In this latest big beautiful hardcover, Dian takes us through quite the history, explaining how men like Anthony Comstock’s rise to enact legislation in the U.S. that had such far-reaching censorship implications, even still today; how the overseas proliferation of postcards and pics in the late 1800’s led to an industry round the world; well-researched historical overviews of Paris’s contribution to Pin-Ups (Dian calls the city the ‘Cradle of Print Erotica’) from 1900-38, a chapter on the U.S. nearly at the same time and Germany too (with lots of nude covers from them); a great big chapter on nudists in general; one on the influence of the movies in Pin-Ups; a chapter written by Michael Feldman telling of the distribution of men’s magazines, “The Rise and Fall of ‘Model Study’ Magazines”(with lots of nudity again) and a whole chapter on the hot pics that accompanied equally hot fiction back in the day, written by Robert Gluskson…and of course lots and lots more.

As with most Taschen big hard covers, this 147 page book reveals its text in English/French and German. But what’s truly special about Dian Hanson’s History Of Pin-Up Magazines Volume 1 is what’s truly special about these Taschen tomes as a whole (especially those on sexier subjects)…the pictures the publisher has unearthed. You might be an aficionado of the pin-up, but I know there will be covers here you have never seen. Surely 90% of this stuff is drawings and cartoon ladies (one could make a study of the artists alone, surely a history in artwork) but the stuff is damn sexy, even next to the real life photo covers.

Here’s where you can find this and all Taschen books: http://www.taschen.com and I advise that you do check it out if you want as equally an informative fast read as you might a good collection of amazing pin-up covers from decades gone past. Feel free to mourn the loss of garters and the unfortunate invention of pantyhose along the way.

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