Evening star., 1938-03-06
Bv NC. r.

~ 10 fOfmat Tor better or worse a
couple Of years ago. opens new series
Of articles in its March issue whick
seems to promise well. It fs no less
than . critical estimate Of Serb.
ner's competitors, promised sue.
cession Of pieces given over to dis
cussing the characteristics Of current
magazines that, SELL" as the edi-
torial description puts It, The first
one is now appearing and is called
sex, Esq" One hardly needs to add
that this deals with the leading con-
tender in that newly opened field.
the field Of so-called mems periodicals.
The author Is Henry p. Pringle.
Mr.. Pringle Is not particularly kind
about Esquire. Without being abso-
lutely nasty, he still strikes some
what sour note. 1T Is designed" he
says. "for people who can't or don't
read" And then he adds, 1T has
other priceless assets" and mentions
duly that the Esquire list Of literary
contributors contains some very fine
names. indeed.
But" he continues, ut isn't because
Of the short stories of DR.. Mann that
clients of the better barber shops, who
once pored over the Police Gazette,
now seek the shops copy Of Esquire
while undergoing tonsorial beautifica-
ton. It is, to put it bluntly. for the
salacious pictures with which the
magazine abounds."
Well, that. Of course, is hardly
profoundly subtle discovery. One has
suspected as much at times-in mo-
ments of jaundiced cynicism as 1t
were. On the other hand, however,
it seems likely that the readers stolen
from the Police Gazette by no means
make up the whole of Esquire's public.
If they are lamentably immune to the
finer influences of DR.. Mann's fiction
it 10 still possible that another Sec
tion OF the magazines devotees ap-
preciates the rather choice literary
fare which Esquire offers, and gives
only 4 passing smile to the aforesaid
pictures which, to the sophisticated
taste, are certainly more monotonous
than amusing.
1t Is of course true, too, that some
of Esquire's printed matter is no diff
ferent in tone from the illustrations,
for which Mr.. Pringle has used an
accurate adjective; indeed, the maga-
zine has hardly an issue without its
offensive story or article. But one
doubts that such pieces, even in con-
junction with the pictures, account
for the magazines immense popular
ity. For II they were its sole attrac-
ton to the public why should Esquire
outdistance in subscriptions those
periodicals which are solely of the
smutty variety?
Mr.. Prinsle has an answer for this.
He says that.earlier entrepreneurs in
the field made the mistake Of put
ting their "salaciou" pictures on
cheap paper. But, he notes, "Messrs.
David A. Smart and Arnold Gin
grich, publisher and editor Of Es-
Quire, used slick paper and lot more
color. So the advertisers. knowing
that slick paper made almost any
Nhing respectable. bought space And
here, he seems to say, we have the
success secret.
II he is right about it, it is a nice
little note on the Nations taste-to
say nothing OF those standards of
''respectability." Readers can decide
for themselves whether . combination
Of smart production methods and
endless repetitions Of the Oldest joke
in the world really outweighs and
renders worthless the appeal Of the
extraordinarily good material (as
compared with the average magazine,
that ~ which Esquire handles.
| A 6 TO this good material, however,
Mr.. Prinsle is no more hattering
than he is to the rest of the maga-
zine. He Jumps it largely under the
head Of "famous-name material and
recounts that the first issue of the
magazine got its contributions from
the eminent by the sorry trick of
writing to other publications and ask
ing them II they had in their files
any pieces by prominent authors.
Every editor has at least one such
story" continues Mr.. Pringle, which,
after purchase, seems too daring or
somehow contrary to policy. So
Esquire was able to pick up manu-
scripts for q few hundred dollars
which had originally cost from $1,000
to $4,000 each"
Mr.. Prinele further implies that
Esquire is a sort Of dumping ground
for rejected scripts by famous authors,
for, he says, the magazine is willing
to print virtually anything that
famous author offers"
All in all, his piece is not kind
one, and not the least disillusioning
Of his revelations is the fact that this
magazine, which now advertises its
appeal to sophisticates. began as
quarterly designed to impart fashion
news to style-hungry males and that
its publishers got their start in the
literary world by bringing out maga-
zines devoted to the garment trade.
In view of which the reviewer says
they have done, somewhat better than
might have been expected.
THE fashion of criticizing periodi-
| CAlS eGCulo W VIC 8AOWAA6, ~ AiAy
be mentioned here. Scribner's is not
the first magazine to take q critical
view of its competitors. The Ameri-
can Mercury recently examined the
case of our so-cAlled liberal" week.
lies, the Nation and the New Republic,
and the Nation itself went after Time
and Fortune a while back. On the
whole, it seems to be q healthful
sign. There is great and truly terrible
stodginess in the magazine world; .
constant reader, indeed. gets the i'm
preston that each individual editor,
having struck (by accident, as it
seems) 4 well-selling vein, Is pro-
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