Men's magazines: an A to Z

Man (Australia) [closed]

Man About Town (Aus) [closed]

Man About Town (1950-60s) [closed]

Tailor & Cutter, 1952-1968 (as Town)
Man About Town was an offshoot of the trade journal Tailor & Cutter. It was launched in 1952 by editor John Taylor. MAT mainly covered fashion but included other areas of lifestyle and became a cult publication. It counted Gerald Scarfe, Michael Heath, Calman, John Arlott, Raymond Postgate, Mark Boxer and Gilbert Harding among its contributors. It was sold in 1960 to Clive Labovitch and Michael Heseltine. As Cornmarket – later Haymarket – Publishing, this duo made a great success of weekly trade magazine Campaign and applied a formula of stylish photography, writing, editing and design to news weekly Topic and then MAT. The title was later abbreviated to About Town and then Town. At one stage it became a quintessential 1960s magazine, under art director Tom Wolsey, helping to establish photographers such as Terence Donovan and Don McCullin. However, like IPC's Nova, and Jocelyn Stevens' Queen it was not profitable and closed in 1968.
Man About Town case study
Haymarket profile

Man About Town (2007-)

Fashion, twice a year, Autumn 2007-
Man About Town is a men's fashion title published twice a year. Like Wonderland, it is backed by Peter Jones from TV's Dragons' Den. The first issue cost £5 and had a reported a print run of 140,000. Most of the advertising is for upmarket fashion brands.
1960s Man About Town case study

Man About Town (US 1939) [closed]

Man About Town (US 1958) [closed]

September 1958-?
No advertising in the first issue of this near-A4 title. Its contents covered 'entertainment for men' with 'fiction, photography, articles and ribaldry'. Extensive use of colour inside. A reprint, Man on the Town, was published in the UK.

Man and His Clothes [closed]

1931?
Man and His Clothes was distributed through tailors and men's outfitters.

Man Junior (Australia) [closed]

Man on the Town (UK) [closed]

Man Senior [closed]

Maxim (UK)

Dennis sold Maxim and most of its other titles outside the UK to Alpha Media in the US in August 2007. It carried on publishing the title in the UK and the website under licence.

It was a different story from 1997 in the US. International expansion continued apace after the astounding success of the US edition.

Guardian interview with Felix Dennis
Dennis profile

Maxim (US)

Dennis, 1997-
Felix Dennis was never slow to spot a trend, so took Maxim to the US in 1997. Just like the UK industry before the launch of Loaded, American publishers were sniffy about the concept of the lad's mag. Sean Elder on the Salon website quoted Art Cooper, editor of GQ: '[Maxim] is aimed at losers... Their advertising is beer, underwear and condoms. I always wonder why there is so much condom advertising because their readers are all masturbators.' The detractors were soon scraping egg from their faces as Maxim trounced the established titles, tripling GQ's sales by 2003.
In February 2000 Emap provided competition by launching a US edition of FHM. Maxim had set its 'rate base' (the guaranteed circulation on which its advertising rates were based) at 950,000. In comparison, GQ and Esquire each promised just 650,000 sales and Details 475,000.
Dennis used the Maxim brand in the US to spin off Maxim Fashion, and Maxim's 'younger brother' Stuff (although the company had sold the UK original to Haymarket). It also used the brand on its music magazine Blender in 2002.
In a Guardian interview (15 August 2005), Felix Dennis foresaw brand extensions for Maxim in the US, such as steakhouses and nightclubs. In October 2006, Maxim announced that a chain of restaurants in the US would carry its name. The first of 15 steakhouses would open in spring 2007, with the rest to follow within five years.
Dennis profile
Guardian interview with Felix Dennis