Saturday Evening Post - alcoholics Anonymous - Norman Rockwell

Issue: March 1, 1941
Cover Artist: Norman Rockwell

Articles:

Alcoholics Anonymous by Jack Alexander

How Strong is the Nazi Economy?

Hillary Clinton on cover of new newsweek cover design. New cover design surely will be copied by others.

It looks like their will be good things to come from Newsweek magazine as far as cover art is concerned. Tina Brown (Vanity Fair Editor & TheDailyBeast.com founder) recently made the rounds displaying the new “newsweek’  cover design featuring Hillary Clinton on the March 14, 2011 issue.  Newsweek is truly an american classic, one of the only magazines to successfully compete with Time magazine for over 70 years.  The new design has kept their well branded logo while slightly reducing it in size.   Designers have also made an excellent choice in lowering the logo and requiring photographers to  account for this in their composition.   This little design change  allows for 1 major headline above the brand – thoughtfully printed in a secondary subdued color allowing the brand to stand out.   An important change for a magazine that that still relies on newstand sales.  Though only the cover article title would have been cleener and more elegant, overall it is a wonderful debut.   Lets hope that the same good “technical” design behind the new newsweek cover will also flow into the  new “editorial” design.  Yes! Editorials  and cover art are often craftily designed and are representative of  the political leanings of the director or editor in charge.  Newsweek is to important of an American institution to be used as a political tool by biased editors. Either from the left, as it has been recently or from the right as was evident  during the 50′s.

Milton Fleitas

Questions, comments -

contact Milton@pretenderstrategic.com

Liberty magazine was the “second greatest Magazine in America” during its publishing run. Published weekly in an effort to go head to head with the other general interest weekly’s of the time – Life & the Saturday Evening Post. Liberty’s original price of only five cents and wonderful cover art helped the magazine to reach the second highest circulation just behind the post. “A Weekly for Everybody” Originally published in 1924 by McCormick-Patterson until 1931, when it was taken over by Bernarr Macfadden until 1942. The WWII years gave the magazine a few extra years of life as they took advantage of their name and published more WWII themed covers than any other magazine at the time. But ultimately the magazine editors generalist and possibly left of center editorials collided head on with their corporate name and image. Ayn Rand in her story notes for the Fountain Head listed the politically ignorant character of Peter Keating as “the type of person who occasionally reads Liberty magazine”.

Acceptable copies   $10, Fine copies $70+

Average  auction sale price $45

#2 January 9,  1968:  John Lennon Cover by Richard Avedon.

Beatles pullout poster

Acceptable copies $10, Fine Copies $60+

Average auction sale price $35

#3  Flying Saucers 1967 Special Issue

Acceptable copies $10, Fine Copies $50+

Average auction sale price $25

Look Flying Saucers Special issue

Man’s Life was published by crestwood publishing from 1953-1971.  Originally a Men’s action and adventure story magazine, Man’s Life ran the gammut of pulp fiction ultimately devolving and mirroring american culture through the 1970′s with some of the funniest off the wall sex stories.  There was core anchor to Man’s Life through out the 1950′s and 1960′s, Awesome Pulp illustrations including the infamous “Weasels ripped my flesh” cover by Will Hulsey that inspired Frank Zappa’s Album and cover of the same name.