Men's magazines: an A to Z

The January 1956 issue of pin-up title Carnival cost 2/- for 56 pages. Shirley Anne Field featured in 5 pages of pin-ups. Note the use of spot red on the 'beauty parade contest' winner below

October 1967 cover
of Carnival for 2/6.
Published by City

April 1974 Carnival
published by
Williams at 35p (7/-)

Carnival [closed] To top

Liverpolitan Ltd, Birkenhead, 1955-1969?
A pocket-sized pin-up magazine that featured some topless images.

A feature of the title was the 'beauty parade contest' in which readers could vote for the best photograph sent in by readers. The winner won £50. Voting was done on a postage-paid postcard that was tipped-on the contents page. The same principle is used today in FHM's 'High Street Honeys.'

As with similar titles, only the front cover was in colour, although spot red was used to colour in the lips and bikini won by the competition winner over the centre four pages. Photographer Russell Gay wrote a five-page article for this issue entitled 'Posing the model.'

By 1966, Carnival had been taken over by City Magazines and grown to a sub-A4 format.

By 1974, it was published by Williams.

Knitted cardigans and pipes are essential accoutrements in the faux nostagalic world of The Chap (issue 10)

The Chap Back to top

1998-
The Chap is a 'satirical magazine for modern gentlemen' that harkens back to an era of pipes, slippers and knitted jumpers. Its readers gather, wearing tweeds, deer-stalkers and plus-fours, to protest against the vulgarities of modern life. If you want moustache news and somewhere to buy a monocle, this is the place. The editor of the quarterly is Gustav Temple; the artistic director is Vic Darkwood.

The format of this men's magazine is more akin to an A5 book and it is more likely to be found in the magazine section of a large bookshop than a newsagent.
The Chap website

CKM: the name of this Polish men's magazine was inspired by a machine gun (and it sounds a bit like FHM)

CKM (Poland) Back to top

Verlagsgruppe Jurg Marquard, August/September 1998
Munich-based German group Verlagsgruppe Jurg Marquard launched CKM in Poland. The name comes, just like Maxim, from a type of machine gun, suiting the macho, lads magazine image. VJM runs franchises such as Cosmopolitan and Playboy in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland and Hungary also.
VJM website
CKM website

Club: Raquel Welch on the March 1971 cover

Club [closed] Back to top

IPC, 1970-1971?
IPC tried to crack the men's market with a no-nudes policy but this soon folded. The name Club International, like Men Only, lives on as a top-shelf title from Paul Raymond.
IPC profile

Clubman: March 1955 (issue 51) included four 3D images of circus acts

Clubman [closed] Back to top

Princedale Press, Pelican Passage, 128 Cambridge Heath Road, London E1. 1950?-1955?
Short stories, cartoons and photographs in sub-A4 format.

Clubroom: issue 38 (1953) included 3D images and glasses

Clubroom [closed] Back to top

Bayard Production Ltd produced this sub-A4 format title

Cosmopolitan Man: the one and only standalone issue

Cosmopolitan Man [closed] Top

National Magazine Company, April 1978 (one issue only)
Cosmopolitan publisher the National Magazine Company noted that many men read their partner's magazine and in April 1978 tried a one-off edition of Cosmopolitan Man. This had French actress Aurore Clément and Jack Nicholson on the cover and cost 50p. However, there were no more issues. Also, Cosmo Man was published twice in 1989, as a section inside one issue and then as a banded supplement.
National Magazines profile

Cream, a men's magazine from John Brown as a Bizarre special

Cream [closed] Back to top

John Brown, December 1988-?
The publisher of Bizarre came up with this special 'for men with bottle'.
John Brown profile

Cut: Bauer's attempt at a weekly men's magazine lasted less than six months

Cut [closed] Back to top

H Bauer, 12 August 2005
The German publisher behind popular women's weeklies Take a Break and Bella released tied to break into the booming men's weekly market Cut. It took a different approach from IPC and Emap on the day that official circulation figures showed Nuts and Zoo averaged half-a-million sales a week in their first six months.

The new title took 'the best' from newspapers and magazines (including Emap's Zoo!). This strategy had been used for several years by Dennis with The Week and the Guardian with its Editor supplement. The first issue culled from 54 papers and 185 mags for a mix of news, humour, gadgets, quizzes, sport, cars and, of course, women, although the flesh count was refreshingly low. However, it closed within six months.
H Bauer profile