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Mayfair (magazine)
Encyclopedia
Mayfair is a British adult magazine for men. Founded in 1965, it was designed as a response to U.S. magazines such as Playboy
and Penthouse
, which had recently launched in the UK. For many years it claimed the largest distribution of any men's magazine in the UK.
Mayfair was launched by Fisk Publishing Ltd in 1966 with an August cover date. The company was controlled by Brian Fisk and the editor was Kenneth Bound. As well as nudes, Mayfair featured short stories and serious articles on such "male" interests as classic cars, trains and military history.
A regular feature for many years was Quest, "the laboratory of human response," interviews purportedly with ordinary people (each issue featuring separate conversations with two women and one man, and occasionally couples) about sex matters, and graphic descriptions of sexual encounters. Graham Masterton
has described how he came up with the idea for Quest with Fisk after a dinner together. Another regular feature was a long-running cartoon strip featuring the misadventures of Carrie, a nubile blonde who lost her clothes in various embarrassing situations.
In 1968, Mayfair took over rival King, which had been launched in 1964, initially with backing from Paul Raymond.
The December issue of each year was usually double-size, and featured a "review" of the models seen in previous issues, although for many years this was from the previous year, e.g. the review in Volume 16, Number 12 (December 1981) featured the models seen throughout Volume 15 (January to December 1980). In 1982, a separate and nominally annual Best of Mayfair supplement was introduced, reprinting the full photo-sets and other items. This was followed in 1988 by a similar Girls of Summer supplement.
In August 1972 Mayfair featured the regular comic strip adventures of "Carrie" with story and fully painted artwork by famous comic strip creator, Don Lawrence. The strip ran for two pages a month for most issues over the next 17 years. Don Lawrence left at the end of 1975 and Mario Capaldi drew the strip from January 1976 to May 1977. In June 1977 Steve Kingston took over.
Most of the models featured were "girl next door" types who often claimed to be new to such work. Their pictures would be accompanied by descriptions of their everyday lives and jobs, including that of telephonists, secretaries, shopkeeper
s, etc. Page Three girls were also regular features. Some of the early ones would appear full frontal (tabloid papers such as The Sun
only featured topless images), but in the late 1980s most such as Samantha Fox
and Maria Whittaker
would only do topless appearances.
There were the occasional couples, including male and female models and sets that featured two or more girls together (though lesbian
ism was usually implied rather than made obvious).
In March 1982, Robert Maxwell
reached an agreement to buy Mayfair from Yvonne Fisk (widow of founder Brian). However, Bound persuaded Maxwell to let him mount a management buyout instead.
Many aspects of the magazine changed when, after 24 years as editor, Kenneth Bound agreed to sell the magazine to Paul Raymond Publications
. The last issue from Bound/Fisk was Volume 26 Number 1 (January 1990), at which time the magazine had a net paid circulation of 295,646 according to the UK Audit Bureau of Circulations
.
ed figures. The detailed description of the girls' "everyday lives" gave way to explicit descriptions of their sex lives.
The serious content was gradually dropped in favour of an approach more akin to mainstream magazines like Loaded
, while the male interviewees in Quest were dropped in favour of more extreme female-only contributions, including lesbian
ism.
Today Mayfair is published every four weeks along with fellow Paul Raymond adult titles such as Club International, Escort
, Just Girls, Men Only, Men's World, and Razzle
.
described a "child" as "a person under the age of 16". However, the Sexual Offences Act 2003
which came into force in May 2004 redefined a "child" in this context as a person under the age of 18, and retroactively made such photographs illegal.
Nude photo-shoots are scattered between these sections; each photo-shoot will generally consist of 6 to 7 pages of photographs along with a short write-up about the model. Often, but not always, the model will start the set fully dressed and end up fully naked.
The final photo-shoot in the magazine is a classic shoot that is taken from a previous issue of the magazine, typically from the 1980s or early nineties.
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
and Penthouse
Penthouse (magazine)
Penthouse, a men's magazine founded by Bob Guccione, combines urban lifestyle articles and softcore pornographic pictorials that, in the 1990s, evolved into hardcore. Penthouse is owned by FriendFinder Network. formerly known as General Media, Inc. whose parent company was Penthouse International...
, which had recently launched in the UK. For many years it claimed the largest distribution of any men's magazine in the UK.
Fisk Publishing era
A regular feature for many years was Quest, "the laboratory of human response," interviews purportedly with ordinary people (each issue featuring separate conversations with two women and one man, and occasionally couples) about sex matters, and graphic descriptions of sexual encounters. Graham Masterton
Graham Masterton
Graham Masterton is a British horror author. Originally editor of Mayfair and the British edition of Penthouse, Graham Masterton's first novel The Manitou was released in 1976. This novel was adapted in 1978 for the film The Manitou...
has described how he came up with the idea for Quest with Fisk after a dinner together. Another regular feature was a long-running cartoon strip featuring the misadventures of Carrie, a nubile blonde who lost her clothes in various embarrassing situations.
In 1968, Mayfair took over rival King, which had been launched in 1964, initially with backing from Paul Raymond.
The December issue of each year was usually double-size, and featured a "review" of the models seen in previous issues, although for many years this was from the previous year, e.g. the review in Volume 16, Number 12 (December 1981) featured the models seen throughout Volume 15 (January to December 1980). In 1982, a separate and nominally annual Best of Mayfair supplement was introduced, reprinting the full photo-sets and other items. This was followed in 1988 by a similar Girls of Summer supplement.
In August 1972 Mayfair featured the regular comic strip adventures of "Carrie" with story and fully painted artwork by famous comic strip creator, Don Lawrence. The strip ran for two pages a month for most issues over the next 17 years. Don Lawrence left at the end of 1975 and Mario Capaldi drew the strip from January 1976 to May 1977. In June 1977 Steve Kingston took over.
Most of the models featured were "girl next door" types who often claimed to be new to such work. Their pictures would be accompanied by descriptions of their everyday lives and jobs, including that of telephonists, secretaries, shopkeeper
Shopkeeper
A shopkeeper is an individual who owns a shop. Generally, shop employees are not shopkeepers, but are often incorrectly referred to as shopkeepers. Today, a shopkeeper is usually referred to as a manager, though this term could apply to larger firms .*In many south asian languages like Hindi, Urdu,...
s, etc. Page Three girls were also regular features. Some of the early ones would appear full frontal (tabloid papers such as The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
only featured topless images), but in the late 1980s most such as Samantha Fox
Samantha Fox
Samantha Karen "Sam" Fox is an English dance-pop singer, actress, and former glamour model. In 1983, at the age of 16, she began her topless modeling career on Page Three of The Sun, and went on to become a popular pin-up girl...
and Maria Whittaker
Maria Whittaker
Maria Whittaker is a former English glamour model and Page Three girl.-Modelling career:Whittaker made her début as a Page Three girl in British newspaper The Sun in 1985, at the age of 16...
would only do topless appearances.
There were the occasional couples, including male and female models and sets that featured two or more girls together (though lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
ism was usually implied rather than made obvious).
In March 1982, Robert Maxwell
Robert Maxwell
Ian Robert Maxwell MC was a Czechoslovakian-born British media proprietor and former Member of Parliament , who rose from poverty to build an extensive publishing empire...
reached an agreement to buy Mayfair from Yvonne Fisk (widow of founder Brian). However, Bound persuaded Maxwell to let him mount a management buyout instead.
Many aspects of the magazine changed when, after 24 years as editor, Kenneth Bound agreed to sell the magazine to Paul Raymond Publications
Paul Raymond Publications
Paul Raymond Publications is a British men's softcore pornography publisher which releases ten pornographic magazine titles each month; Escort, Club International, Just Girls, Mayfair, Men Only, Men's World, Razzle, Swing Mag, Club DVD and Escort DVD.Paul Raymond had launched his first magazine,...
. The last issue from Bound/Fisk was Volume 26 Number 1 (January 1990), at which time the magazine had a net paid circulation of 295,646 according to the UK Audit Bureau of Circulations
ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations UK)
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, ABC has two roles:* To manage and uphold standards which reflect media industry needs...
.
Paul Raymond Publications era
The change of ownership and the appointment of Stephen Bleach as editor led to more explicitness, more girl-on-girl material, and a focus on established models, mostly with large-breastBreast
The breast is the upper ventral region of the torso of a primate, in left and right sides, which in a female contains the mammary gland that secretes milk used to feed infants.Both men and women develop breasts from the same embryological tissues...
ed figures. The detailed description of the girls' "everyday lives" gave way to explicit descriptions of their sex lives.
The serious content was gradually dropped in favour of an approach more akin to mainstream magazines like Loaded
Loaded (magazine)
Loaded, first published in 1994, is a British magazine for men that is considered to be the "original lads' mag". Its motto is "For men who should know better".-History:...
, while the male interviewees in Quest were dropped in favour of more extreme female-only contributions, including lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
ism.
Today Mayfair is published every four weeks along with fellow Paul Raymond adult titles such as Club International, Escort
Escort (magazine)
Escort is a British men's adult magazine, or softcore magazine, which falls under the description of pornography, or erotica.By 2011, Escort was in its 31st year, or volume. The content is a combination of photographs and text, with the photographs almost entirely being those of partially or...
, Just Girls, Men Only, Men's World, and Razzle
Razzle (magazine)
Razzle is a British soft porn magazine, founded in 1983, published by Paul Raymond Publications. It currently focuses on amateur style pornography, offering cash for any photos of "readers' wives" printed: in the past, however, several notable glamour models were featured, including minor...
.
Legal issues
Up to the 1990s Mayfair occasionally — and quite legally with the models' parental consent — featured nude models who were 16 or 17 years old at the time. These were, legally speaking, adult models, since Section 7(6) of the Protection of Children Act 1978Protection of Children Act 1978
The Protection of Children Act 1978 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.The Protection of Children Bill was put before Parliament as a Private Member's Bill by Cyril Townsend in the 1977-1978 session of Parliament....
described a "child" as "a person under the age of 16". However, the Sexual Offences Act 2003
Sexual Offences Act 2003
The Sexual Offences Act 2003 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland that was passed in 2003 and became law on 1 May 2004.It replaced older sexual offences laws with more specific and explicit wording...
which came into force in May 2004 redefined a "child" in this context as a person under the age of 18, and retroactively made such photographs illegal.
Bans
In common with many soft-core publications, Mayfair was specifically banned in Ireland in 1968, and remained so as recently as 31 December 2003.Contents
Current issues of the magazine (2011) follow a common monthly format which consists of several regular sections and 7 photo-shoots, 6 of which are brand new to print in the UK and the last being a rerun of a classic photo-shoot from yesteryear. The contents below is representative of this format:- Mayfair Male (sic) - This section contains letters from readers.
- Mayfair Presents - A profile of a model or porn star, looking at how they got into the industry and how (and who!) they've been doing since they did.
- 21st Century Toys - This is a light-hearted review of electronic gadgets and gizmos.
- Mayfair Movies - A review of the latest batch of pornographic movies.
- Mayfair Motors - A double-page review focusing on a new car – often featuring high-performance vehicles.
- Quest - Stories about the sexual activities of a trio of young women, each following a general theme given in the previous month's issue.
- Scene - A section containing reviews and write-ups about various differing new releases – typically DVDs and books.
- Gentlemen.. - A page of jokes, generally of a groan-inducing nature.
- Mayfair Intelligencer - A round-up of weird and mysterious facts, coupled with askew glances at the world of celebrity and Hollywood and guides to modern etiquette.
Nude photo-shoots are scattered between these sections; each photo-shoot will generally consist of 6 to 7 pages of photographs along with a short write-up about the model. Often, but not always, the model will start the set fully dressed and end up fully naked.
The final photo-shoot in the magazine is a classic shoot that is taken from a previous issue of the magazine, typically from the 1980s or early nineties.
Featured models past & present
- Joanie Allum (wife of photographer John Allum, she later became a glamour photographer)
- Mel ApplebyMelanie ApplebyMelanie Susan Appleby was one half of the 1980s English pop duo Mel and Kim.Appleby was born in Hackney, London of mixed-race to a Jamaican father and a British mother...
(of Mel and KimMel and KimMel and Kim were a British pop duo, comprising sisters Melanie and Kim Appleby. They achieved success between 1986 and 1988 before Melanie succumbed to cancer.-Biography:...
) - Debee AshbyDebee AshbyDebee Ashby is a former English adult model and actress. She is also known as Debbie Ashby or Debby Ashby.Ashby became well known at the age of 16 years when she was expelled from King Henry VIII School, Coventry on 16 December 1983 because she had posed topless in her school uniform for the...
- Paula Ann BlandPaula Ann BlandPaula Ann Triplett is a former British actress. She is best known for her role as the teenager Claire Scott in the award winning BBC school drama Grange Hill between 1981 and 1985, her final appearance being in the 1985 Christmas Special.She was featured on the cover of the magazine Mayfair in...
- Claire Cass
- Donna EwinDonna EwinDonna Ewin is an English former glamour model and Page 3 Girl....
- Samantha FoxSamantha FoxSamantha Karen "Sam" Fox is an English dance-pop singer, actress, and former glamour model. In 1983, at the age of 16, she began her topless modeling career on Page Three of The Sun, and went on to become a popular pin-up girl...
- Kirsten ImrieKirsten ImrieKirsten Fiona Imrie is a former Page Three girl, glamour model, and television presenter.-Career:...
- Linda LusardiLinda LusardiLinda Lusardi is an English actress, television presenter and former Page Three Girl. She is married to the actor Samuel Kane; they have two children, both born in Enfield, London: Lucy Anne and Jack Francis ....
- Sabrina SalernoSabrina SalernoSabrina Salerno , also known in her singing career as Sabrina, is an Italian singer, television hostess, model, actress and record producer...
- Joan Templeton (wife of Richard BransonRichard BransonSir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
) - TulaCaroline CosseyCaroline "Tula" Cossey is an English model. She is one of the world's most well known transsexual women, having appeared in a James Bond film and been the first to pose for Playboy...
(Caroline Cossey) - Maria WhittakerMaria WhittakerMaria Whittaker is a former English glamour model and Page Three girl.-Modelling career:Whittaker made her début as a Page Three girl in British newspaper The Sun in 1985, at the age of 16...
- Marina Larsen Described on cover Vol.17, No.12 (December 1982) as '...the most beautiful girl we've ever seen'
- Lesley-Anne DownLesley-Anne DownLesley-Anne Down is a British film and television actress, former model and singer.Down achieved fame as Georgina Worsley in the ITV drama series Upstairs, Downstairs...
- Penny IrvingPenny IrvingPenny Irving is a former actress and Sun newspaper Page 3 model. She is best remembered for her roles in the 1970s sitcom Are You Being Served? and in the movie adaptation of The Likely Lads .Penny also starred in the cult director Pete...
Featured Photographers
- Peter Flodquist
- John Allum (whose wife Joanie Allum appeared in some issues of Mayfair)
- Donald Milne
- Ed Alexander
- Jean Rougeron
- Michael Ancher
External links
- paulraymond.com Official website of Mayfair's publishers Paul Raymond Publications