''Stag'' was the name of various American

men's magazines This is a list of men's magazines from around the world. These are Magazine, magazines (periodical print publications) that have been published primarily for a readership of Man, men. The list has been split into subcategories according to the t ...

published from the 1930s through at least the 1990s.

Publication history

First publication

The first ''Stag'', published by Leeds Publishing Corp., beginning with vol. 1, #1 (June 1937), was a 25-cent, 96-page, digest subtitled "A Magazine for Men" and which included articles and stories by such writers as Carleton Beals, Elsa Maxwell, Bernard Sobel, and Hendrik Willem van Loon. It covered a range of topics, including literature, music, sports, and theater, along with stories on male-female relationships, sexual issues, and such topics as

striptease A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner. The person who performs a striptease is commonly known as a "stripper", "exotic d ...

Second publication

A second ''Stag'', published by Official Com. Inc. and edited by Noah Sarlat, appeared circa 1951 as a 25-cent, 82-page, standard-sized men's adventure magazine. This version, containing ostensibly "true-life" fiction of men in wartime or in rugged adventure mode, continued through at least volume 22 in 1971. In 1958, Martin Goodman took over the magazine, using first his Atlas Magazines imprint, and then switching to his

Magazine Management Magazine Management Co., Inc. was an American publishing company lasting from at least c. 1947 to the early 1970s, known for men's-adventure magazines, risqué men's magazines, humor, romance, puzzle, celebrity/film and other types of magazines ...

imprint circa 1970 with the cover price rising to 50 cents. In 1953, the publisher at the time threatened fledgling magazine founder

Hugh Hefner Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles. Hefner extended the ''Playboy ...

with a

trademark infringement Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attached to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees (provided that such authorization was within the scope of the licence). Infringement may occ ...

lawsuit unless he changed the name of his planned men's magazine, ''Stag Party''; Hefner redubbed the magazine ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

''. Goodman also published the

annual publication Annual publications, more often simply called annuals, are periodical publications appearing regularly once per year."Annuals", in '' Encyclopedia of library and information science'' (1968), vol. 1, pp. 434–447. Although exact definitions may v ...

''Stag Annual'', starting in 1964. Writer Dorothy Gallagher reminisced in 1998 that by the early 1960s, when Magazine Management occupied the second floor at 60th Street and Madison Avenue, Cover illustrators included Frank Soltesz. Bruce Minney, and Mort Kunstler.

Transition to pornography

''Stag'' transitioned to become a men's

pornographic Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolved from cave paintings ...

magazine, published by Goodman's son Charles "Chip" Goodman at Magazine Management's successor company, Swank Publications. The Magna Publishing Group bought ''Stag'' and its sister publication '' Swank'' from that company in 1993.

References

{{reflist

External links

''Stag'' magazine covers 1949-78 at Galactic Central
Pornographic magazines published in the United States Men's magazines published in the United States Pornographic men's magazines Men's adventure magazines Magazines established in 1937 Magazines with year of disestablishment missing Defunct magazines published in the United States