7.30.2007

Town Magazine







Publication: Man about Town (Shortened to Town in 1955)
Dates: 1952 -1968
Editor: John Taylor, Michael Heseltine & Clive Labovitch
Art Direction: Tom Wolsey, Roy Carruthers, Dennis Bailey, Ronald Schenk, John Donaldson
Photography: Frank Horvat, Donald Silverstein, James Mortimer

Man about Town started as a trade magazine for men's clothes before being revamped into one of the first sophisticated monthly magazines for men. The 1961 feature spread; Leaders of the Tory Party (March 1961) is such an incredibly striking opener that I always remember this publication. I also particularly like the ever changing contents page. I would love to own some copies of this magazine as I think there is something quite special about it.

5 comments:

anti said...

To me it feels hand-made and I like it. I've no idea if this is from the time of real cut-and-paste, but there's something very physical about the type. I have a romantic vision of them scalpel in hand, late at night, composing: a tension when they're cutting tiny type and squeezing it into the grid; a freedom when they're cutting out huge letters for the headline. Maybe it's not so nice to have all this computer precision and measurements so close at hand.

Anonymous said...

The whole thing was letterpress printed believe it or not which makes some of the layouts even more impressive when you think of how hard they must have been to achieve.

Anonymous said...

There's a case study of Man About Town at Magforum.com
http://www.magforum.com/manabouttown.htm
Also, Haymarket celebrates 50 years this year, so it's likely to be covered in magazine and press retrospectives.
Tony@magforum.com

Christopher de Beer said...

Flipping helll, I'd never eard of TOWN magazine, its brilliant looking, so gald i came across it at your blog.
kudos to you.

love the contrast of the mag too. great post.

Anonymous said...

Think the makers of the new Monacle had Town in mind?