Blueboy: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:35, 28 May 2021

Background

Adapted from Blueboy® Archives & Cultural Arts Foundation:

Blueboy® magazine was founded in 1974 by editor and publisher Donald Embinder. Embinder came across a small black and white journal called Blueboy. He purchased the journal and soon after reinvented it as a full color glossy magazine.

Blueboy® debuted in 1974 and touted itself as, "The National Magazine About Men," a tag line the publication maintained for decades. The inaugural cover was a playful parody of the Blueboy painting by 18th century master Thomas Gainsborough. By the fourth issue, Embinder was the first gay magazine to secure national distribution and the success of Blueboy® lead to a new visibility for Embinder.

Blueboy® quickly established itself into a lifestyle brand due to Embinder's experience with product advertising campaigns. Various extensions of the magazine included an array of personal accessories, clothing, beauty products and home furnishings. The magazine's outreach included branded ventures such as Blueboy Library, a collection of gay themed novels and Blueboy Forum, the nation's first weekly, live, sponsored forum from a gay perspective. Blueboy Forum debuted on October 25, 1976 on WKID-TV in Hallandale Florida and also aired as a late-night Manhattan talk show on UHF Channel 68.

Embinder also published Torso, Numbers, Jock, and Stars. He also created For Women Only, geared to a straight female audience and marketed for its lifestyle columns and male pictorials.

Blueboy® was a pioneering national men's lifestyle magazine that went from being sold at adult bookstores and gay bars to being front and center at pharmacies and mainstream book & magazine shoppes across the country. Features included lifestyle columns, film and music reviews, excerpts from nonfiction authors, lush original illustrations, celebrity interviews, discourse on politics and gay rights, and gay popular culture. Noted contributors, artists and interviews included Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, William S. Burroughs, Edmund White, John Rechy, Patricia Nell Warren, Christopher Isherwood, Randy Shilts, Mel Odom, George Stavrinos, Robert W. Richards, and Emanuel Schongut. Blueboy® featured stories on Harvey Milk, Ed Koch, Anita Bryant and the AIDS epidemic.

Blueboy® paved the way for gay monthly publications. Its focus was on an affluent, urban gay market that extended its presence in unexpected places. It was the first gay public corporation in the U.S. and traded on Wall Street. The magazine even found its way into the opening lyrics of Cyndi Lauper's hit song, She Bop! Blueboy's success made the magazine a template for which other gay magazines styled their content. During its heyday it was one of the largest selling gay magazines in the marketplace. Blueboy® ceased operations with its final issue in December 2007.

Typography

Cover typefaces

Interior typefaces

Collected issues

Blueboy, 4 (January-February 1976)
Blueboy, 5 (April 1976)
Blueboy, 6 (May-June 1976)
Blueboy, 7 (July-August 1976)
Blueboy, 8 (September-October 1976)
Blueboy, 11 (April-May 1977)
Blueboy, 17 (February 1978)
Blueboy, 25 (October 1978)
Blueboy, 39 (January 1980)
Blueboy, 44 (June 1980)
Blueboy, 47 (September 1980)
Blueboy, 56 (June 1981)
Blueboy, 68 (June 1982)

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 Adapted from [https://www.bacaf.org/history Blueboy® Archives & Cultural Arts Foundation]:
-Blueboy® magazine was founded in 1974 by editor and publisher [[Donald Embinder]]. Embinder came across a small black and white journal called ''Blueboy''.  He purchased the journal and soon after reinvented it as a full color glossy magazine we know and love.
+Blueboy® magazine was founded in 1974 by editor and publisher [[Donald Embinder]]. Embinder came across a small black and white journal called ''Blueboy''.  He purchased the journal and soon after reinvented it as a full color glossy magazine.
+''Blueboy''® debuted in 1974 and touted itself as, "The National Magazine About Men," a tag line the publication maintained for decades.  The inaugural cover was a playful parody of the Blueboy painting by 18th century master Thomas Gainsborough. By the fourth issue, Embinder was the first gay magazine to secure national distribution and the success of ''Blueboy''® lead to a new visibility for Embinder.
+Blueboy® quickly established itself into a lifestyle brand due to Embinder's experience with product advertising campaigns. Various extensions of the magazine included an array of personal accessories, clothing, beauty products and home furnishings. The magazine's outreach included branded ventures such as Blueboy Library, a collection of gay themed novels and Blueboy Forum, the nation's first weekly, live, sponsored forum from a gay perspective. Blueboy Forum debuted on October 25, 1976 on WKID-TV in Hallandale Florida and also aired as a late-night Manhattan talk show on UHF Channel 68.
+Embinder also published [[Torso]], [[Numbers]], [[Jock]], and [[Stars]]. He also created ''For Women Only'', geared to a straight female audience and marketed for its lifestyle columns and male pictorials.
+''Blueboy''® was a pioneering national men's lifestyle magazine that went from being sold at adult bookstores and gay bars to being front and center at pharmacies and mainstream book & magazine shoppes across the country. Features included lifestyle columns, film and music reviews, excerpts from nonfiction authors, lush original illustrations, celebrity interviews, discourse on politics and gay rights, and gay popular culture.
-Blueboy® debuted in 1974 and touted itself as, "The National Magazine About Men," a tag line the publication maintained for decades.  The inaugural cover was a playful parody of the Blueboy painting by 18th century master Thomas Gainsborough. By the fourth issue, Embinder was the first gay magazine to secure national distribution and the success of Blueboy® lead to a new visibility for Mr. Embinder.
+Noted contributors, artists and interviews included Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, William S. Burroughs, Edmund White, John Rechy, Patricia Nell Warren, Christopher Isherwood, Randy Shilts, Mel Odom, George Stavrinos, Robert W. Richards, and Emanuel Schongut. Blueboy® featured stories on Harvey Milk, Ed Koch, Anita Bryant and the AIDS epidemic.
+Blueboy® paved the way for gay monthly publications. Its focus was on an affluent, urban gay market that extended its presence in unexpected places. It was the first gay public corporation in the U.S. and traded on Wall Street. The magazine even found its way into the opening lyrics of Cyndi Lauper's hit song, ''She Bop''! ''Blueboy'''s success made the magazine a template for which other gay magazines styled their content. During its heyday it was one of the largest selling gay magazines in the marketplace.
-Blueboy® quickly established itself into a lifestyle brand due to Embinder's experience with product advertising campaigns.  Various extensions of the magazine included an array of personal accessories, clothing, beauty products and home furnishings. The magazine's outreach included branded ventures such as Blueboy Library, a collection of gay themed novels and
+Blueboy® ceased operations with its final issue in December 2007.
-Blueboy Forum, the nation's first weekly, live, sponsored forum from a gay perspective.  Blueboy Forum debuted on October 25, 1976 on WKID-TV in Hallandale Florida and also aired as a late-night Manhattan talk show on UHF Channel 68.  Embinder published regional LGBTQ nightlife magazines titled Knight Life in both NYC and LosAngeles.
-His collaborative ventures were just as rich and diverse as the pages of the magazine.  Donald spent his free time at town meetings across the country in support of Gay Pride events and as a speaker on equal rights for the LGBTQ community.  These included
-Town Meeting I - held at Houston's Astroarena.  It was the first organizational meeting to establish a national gay lobby.  The Gay Rights National Lobby would later emerge as The HRC (Human Rights Campaign)  His support of the community shined through in political endeavors such as this and more.
-Donald even served as Executive Producer to several music singles released by dance artist Steven Paul Perry and published The Daily Dope.
-Other gay men's magazines soon followed.  Embinder published the wildly successful titles Torso, Numbers, Jock and Stars.  The gay market wasn't his only foray into magazines. He created For Women Only, geared to a straight female audience and marketed for its lifestyle columns and male pictorials.
-Blueboy® was a pioneering national men's lifestyle magazine that went from being sold at adult bookstores and gay bars to being front and center at pharmacies and mainstream book & magazine shoppes across the country. Features included lifestyle columns, film and music reviews, excerpts from nonfiction authors, lush original illustrations, celebrity interviews, discourse on politics and gay rights, gay popular culture and of course ... handsome nude male models.
-Noted contributors, artists and interviews included Andy Warhol, Truman Capote,
-William S. Burroughs, Edmund White,
-John Rechy, Patricia Nell Warren,
-Christopher Isherwood, Randy Shilts,
-Mel Odom, George Stavrinos,
-Robert W. Richards and Emanuel Schongut. Blueboy® featured stories on Harvey Milk,
-Ed Koch, Anita Bryant and the AIDS epidemic.
-Blueboy® paved the way for gay monthly publications. Its focus was on an affluent, urban gay market that extended its presence in unexpected places.  It was the first gay public corporation in the U.S. and traded on Wall Street.  The magazine even found its way into the opening lyrics of Cyndi Lauper's hit song, She Bop!  Blueboy's success made the magazine a template for which other gay magazines styled their content.  During it's heyday it was one of the largest selling gay magazines in the marketplace.
-Blueboy® ceased operations with its final issue in December 2007.
-Drawing on the richness of over four decades, Blueboy® returns as an annual magazine in FEBRUARY 2022.  As we begin our work at The Blueboy Archives & Cultural Arts Foundation, it is with deep gratitude that we thank Donald Embinder and Kenneth Gregory for their support.
-A portion of sales from Blueboy® 2022 will be donated to BACAF for research, archiving of Blueboy® and various outreach projects.
 == Typography ==