Categories Men's magazines Year founded 1969 | Frequency Monthly Founder Ronald L. Fenton First issue November 1972 | |
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Gallery is a men's magazine published by Magna Publishing Group. It is one of the more popular "skin" magazines that arose on the Playboy magazine pattern in the 1970s.
Contents
Publication history
Gallery was launched by Ronald L. Fenton and trial attorney F. Lee Bailey in Chicago, Illinois. The first issue appeared on newsstands in November 1972 bearing an uncanny resemblance to Playboy magazine. When Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner sent a letter to Bailey pointing out the similarities, the layout of Gallery was quickly changed.
Financial difficulties plagued the magazine from the start, causing Bailey to leave during its inaugural year. Following publication of the January 1974 issue, Fenton was forced to forfeit ownership of the magazine to its distributor.
Montcalm Publications, based in New York, eventually acquired Gallery and added it to its portfolio of periodicals. Montcalm also published The Twilight Zone Magazine in the 1980s, apparently in imitation of Penthouse magazine's offshoot Omni.
Montcalm Publishing went bankrupt in March 2008, leaving many photographers and models empty handed; some were owed as much as $100,000. Andi Land (Andi Pink) twice won Gallery's Girl Next Door of the Month.
On April 30, 2008, Gallery magazine was purchased by the Magna Publishing Group. The first issue under their ownership came out in July 2008. On December 22, 2015, Magna Publishing Group was acquired by 1-800-PHONESEX.
Features and format
Gallery has long featured a "Girl Next Door" contest in which photographers submit pictures of amateur models (similar to Hustler's "Beaver Hunt.") From each group of monthly entries, one model winner is selected. At the end of the year, one is crowned "Girl Next Door of the Year" and awarded a cash prize of $25,000. The most famous winner is retired porn star Stacy Valentine; at the time of her selection she was Oklahoma housewife Stacy Baker.