In 1965 the H&E (Health & Efficiency) magazine, Britain's leading promoter of naturism, moved from their offices in Carlisle Road to 38 North Audley Street in the centre of London to become under the editorial of Leslie Bainbridge. Bainbridge was to rule the roost for more than 10 years, and clearly thought that there was more to the subject that tired discursives on what was premissable at naturist sites. His controversal beliefs would, initally at least, hugely increase the magazine's popularity, resulting in record sales of the fortnightly publication in 1972! Also controversal was his battle against censorship, H&E becoming the first magazine to show unretouched nude photographs in 1968.

The first move, though, was to launch a new publication. When Girl Illustrated Number 1 appeared in late 1966 it's look was far removed from the pocket sized H&E, initially measuring larger than modern day A4) and abounding in the highest quality colour and black & white photographs of well known and not so well known models in various states of undress. Indeed, the abundance of colour photographs was highly unusual for magazines at this time - many reserving the medium for the front cover and, if you were lucky, the centre pages. The philosophy as Girl Illustrated however, was to minimise the words and maximise the pictures. Initially writing was resticted to the model's name, statistics, and film career! Printing was to an excellent standard and was carried out in Switzerland.

Girl Illustrated provided aspiring amateur camera club and freelance photographers the opportunity to have their pictures published alongside the professionals, Reveille newspaper [ The Sun's for-runner] offered similar. Gloria Lomax appeared in both, she tells us about her first professional shoot with Harrison Marks

Beautiful Britons, Spick, Span and 66 were all produced during the 50's 60's and early 70's by Town and Country Publications. They have probably become the most well known titles amongst the many "pocket sized" publications that were available from this era, and also one of the most collectable. The fact that they were produced on a regular basis, with each edition having a number and a date, all combine to the attraction of these beautifully produced little magazines. Although the early editions featured a well known glamour figure from the stage or screen, (such as Diana Dors, Belinda Lee, Sabrina, Mamie Van Doren, Joan Collins, Anita Ekberg, Joanna Dru, Shirley Heaton, Jane Russell, Jeanne Crain, Sheree North, Pipa Laurie to mention just a few) this was soon replaced by what they became famous for, the typical "girl next door", a type of girl that all males could identify with. Looking through the pages of these editions, they appear to be incredibly innocent compared with the explicit glossies available today. Again, another reason why they are now, so hard to come by and very collectable.

pseudonym

noun [C]

a name which a person, such as a writer, uses instead of their real name, especially on their work:

You'll find few models who keep their real name, and plenty of reasons for changing them, heres some. Anonymity, usually from boyfriend/husband: can lead to problems when their workmate discovers your on the cover of Mayfair magazine. Disguise: parents/family: clearly not what Pops wanted for his daughter, equally likely that the "also known as" isn't pay tax, and finally, to add impact to an otherwise boring/strange/foreign name.

The transition from "under the counter" to the "top shelf" starts as early as 1950. Here we see renound photographer John Everard's 1951 book Artist's Model. Full of beautiful images, but still adering too strict censorship laws, no pubic hair and a lack of glamour. These and similar books were only sold in exclusive shops or through mail order.