Fan Magazine Collection (1911-1947)
Fan magazines gave audiences a way to experience the magic of the movies beyond the theatre. The magazines also gave producers a way to promote their stars and coming films. You can observe a shifting in emphasis across the historical span of this collection. Whereas the volumes of Motion Picture Story Magazine (1913-1914) and the British Picture Stories Magazine (1913-1914) reproduced the stories of films, the fan magazines of the late-teens and beyond focused on the most important audience draw — the stars. Our own greatest draw in this collection is our extensive run of Photoplay, which showcases the influential magazine during its height in the 1920s and 1930s.
February 2012 Update: We are pleased to add one hundred magazine issues digitized by Bruce Long to our Fan Magazine Collection. Bruce Long’s collection includes issues of some of the best known early fan magazines, such as Photoplay, as well as rarer titles that cover theatre and other forms of popular culture in addition to movies. Bruce Long utilized many of these magazines, which include Broadway Brevities, Pantomime, and Captain Billy’s Whiz Bang, in the production of his own fanzine, Taylorology.
July 2012 Update: We are pleased to present a near-complete digital edition of 25 years of Photoplay — the most important fan magazine of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Scanned from the original color magazines, the MHDL’s collection of Photoplay begins in 1914 and extends through 1940. Our digital edition of Photoplay is the cumulative result of three years of coordination and digitization — with 24 volumes going online just this month. Thank you to the collections that provided copies for scanning: Karl Thiede, Bruce Long, the Museum of Modern Art Library and the Pacific Film Archive Library and Film Study Center. Funders include Domitor, an anonymous donor (in memory of Carolyn Hauer), Richard Scheckman, and David Sorochty.
Extensive Run of Photoplay
Photoplay (1914-1943)
Description
The leading Hollywood fan magazine of the 1920s and 1930s. Photoplay offered readers portraits of their favorite movie stars and stories about their into personal lives. The magazine played an important promotional function for the Hollywood industry, but its editors and reviewers could also be highly critical of Hollywood. Beginning in 1921, Photoplay bestowed its annual “Medal of Honor” for the film readers voted as the best of the year. Scanned from the collections of the PFA Library and Film Study Center and Karl Thiede. Funded by an anonymous donation in memory of Carolyn Hauer.
1915
Jan 1915. Vol 7, No. 2 | Read | Download | IA Page
Feb 1915. Vol 7, No. 3 | Read | Download | IA Page
Mar 1915. Vol 7, No. 4 | Read | Download | IA Page
Apr 1915. Vol 7, No. 5 | Read | Download | IA Page
May 1915. Vol 7, No. 6 | Read | Download | IA Page
Jun 1915. Vol 8, No. 1 | Read | Download | IA Page
Jul 1915. Vol 8, No. 2 | Read | Download | IA Page
Aug 1915. Vol 8, No. 3 | Read | Download | IA Page
Sep 1915. Vol 8, No. 4 | Read | Download | IA Page
Oct 1915. Vol 8, No. 5 | Read | Download | IA Page
Nov 1915. Vol 8, No. 6 | Read | Download | IA Page
Dec 1915. Vol 9, No. 1 | Read | Download | IA Page
Select Holdings of Other Fan Magazines
Broadway Brevities (1921-1922)
Cap’n Joey’s Jazza-Ka-Jazza (1922)
Captain Billy’s Whiz Bang (1920-1922)
Cinema (Hollywood) (1947)
Film Players Herald and Movie Pictorial (1916)
Hot Dog: Regular Fellows Monthly (1921-1922)
Jack Dinsmore’s Joy Book (1922)
Motion Picture Classic (1920-1922)
Motion Picture [Magazine] (1914-1941)
Motion Picture Story Magazine (1911-1914)
Movie Action Magazine (1935-1936)
Movie Classic (1931-1937)
Movie Pictorial (1914-1915)
Movie Weekly (1922)
Movie Weekly Index | Read | Download | IA Page
Mar 4, 1922. Vol 2, No. 4 | Read | Download | IA Page
Mar 18, 1922. Vol 2, No. 6 | Read | Download | IA Page
Mar 25, 1922. Vol 2, No. 7 | Read | Download | IA Page
Apr 1, 1922. Vol 2, No. 8 | Read | Download | IA Page
Apr 8, 1922. Vol 2, No. 9 | Read | Download | IA Page
Apr 15, 1922. Vol 2, No. 10 | Read | Download | IA Page
The New Movie Magazine (1929-1935)
New Zealand Theatre & Motion Picture (1922)
Pantomime (1921-1922)
1922
Jan 21, 1922. Vol 2, No. 3 | Read | Download | IA Page
Feb 18, 1922. Vol 2, No. 7 | Read | Download | IA Page
Feb 25, 1922. Vol 2, No. 8 | Read | Download | IA Page
Mar 11, 1922. Vol 2, No. 10 | Read | Download | IA Page
Mar 18, 1922. Vol 2, No. 11 | Read | Download | IA Page
Mar 25, 1922. Vol 2, No. 12 | Read | Download | IA Page
Apr 1, 1922. Vol 2, No. 13 | Read | Download | IA Page
The Photodramatist, also known as The Story World and Photodramatist (1921-1923)
The Photoplayers Weekly (1914-1915)
The Photo-Play Review (1915)
Picture Stories Magazine (1914-1915)
Picture-Play Magazine (1922-1938)
