BODYBUILDING FITNESS GEAR, TITS & ASS
Joe Weider vs Hugh Hefner
Sep
Weider’s smut magazines: Jem, Monsieur, and Fury
Two of my idols fighting each other. No, it wasn’t in a wrestling ring, an MMA cage nor a boxing ring. It was the battle of the porn publishers!
Jem “skin” magazine was founded by bodybuilding kingpin Joe Weider as a high budget competitors to Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Magazine.
Joe Weider also launched the similar imprint Monsieur.
Interesting fact, at the time “skin” magazines gave equal billing to Hollywood celebrities and erotic stars (the porn stars of yesterday). Something we do on PYGear.com.
The scans below are from the very first issue of Jem magazine, published this month in 1956.
As seen above, Joe Weider featured his own wife Betty Brosmer in his smut magazines.
As you can see, Betty Brosmer was an extremely beautiful woman. She was the highest paid pin up girl of the 1950’s.
Mysteriously, Joe Weider said he was never very interested in its viability.
Weird!? An heterosexual preferring to peedle gay porn instead of naked women?!!?
Jem magazine’s First Issue was on November 1956 and ceased publication in 1968.
Not too bad for an uninterestingly viable magazine.
Joe Weider’s “Monsieur” men’s magazine
Weider turned Fury, his biggest pulp magazine, into a smut magazine
Fury , the men’s adventure Pulp magazine, turned into a Smut magazine from one month to another. Which would be the modern-day equivalent of National Geographic turning into Playboy the next month.
Joe Weider’s dream of replacing Hugh Hefner as the King Of Smut Magazines was derailed.
As a Canadian publisher Joe Weider was prohibited from importing and exporting smut. Weider spent a lot of money in legal fees finding this out.
Weider moved his operations from Montreal to Hollywood.
Adios Canada!
Nonetheless, his three porn mags were bland in an already oversaturated market.
So, the almighty Hugh Hefner’s status as Undisputed Smut King was never in any danger.
Hugh Hefner WON!
Weider Publications’ flirt with heterosexual porn:
- Jem (1957-1968)
- Monsieur (1958-1968)
- Fury (1953-1968)
Closing all three magazines was most likely a strategic move to acquire mainstream respectability.
The Weider organization was moving mainstream as a whole. In 1973 Weider brought out Natural Fitness, aimed at general public instead of his usual meathead niche market.
Overall, Joe Weider was an publisher extraordinaire, an exceptional business man and empire builder.
After all, Weider Publications was the third legs of his empire. Initially, Weider Barbell Co. (sporting goods) and Weider Global Nutrition were his first businesses. Publication was just a compliment, and most likely, a promotion tool of his two manufacturing businesses. Nonetheless, he went on to create dozens of successful magazines. Several remaining popular to this day.
Now let’s take a look at Weider’s much more lucrative gay porn publications.
Sources:
https://pulpinternational.com/pulp/entry/cover-and-interior-scans-from-gem-magazine-published-november-1956/
https://archive.org/details/jemvol01no01november1956/page/n11/mode/2up
https://hilglewonderblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/magazines-by-weider-pulp-history.html
https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=36231518