Pin-Up – Jasmit Publications

Pin-Up was published by Jasmit Publications, Grimshaw Street, Burnley. It had a run, as far as I can work out, that went from May 1956 until late 1962. It moved address a few times but was always based in Lancashire.

It was not that dissimilar to others that could be found on the newsagents stand towards the end of the 1950’s. It started out with a Beauty Competition that had a first prize of £25; the Beauty Competition ran for the life of the magazine but the prize money, as with all competitors, was greatly reduced towards the end of its life.

Pin-Up was packed with both young aspiring models and those that were more established; what I particularly like about it in preference some of the others that were around during this time, was that it always had the model’s name and the name of the photographer. It also frequently included a few lines of information about the model, which has now become invaluable to those who collect these books and enjoy piecing together history of the girls that appeared in them.

Again, we are blessed with many familiar names and faces who were also appearing in competing magazines at this time, with some of those names going on to be very popular during the 1960’s.

Pin-Up had a far better run than a lot of its direct competition, being found on the newsagents stand for more that 6 years. That, to me, says a lot about the quality of its content. But, as we all know, ToCo titles were now well established and had content that, at the time, was saucier and included girls that appeared to be more attainable to the reader.

EDITORIAL – Pin-Up No 1 May 1956

“At a time when there are numerous photo magazines on the market, we have released this first issue of ‘Pin-Up' because we believe we can give excellent value for money in this field of entertainment.

Should we meet with your approval and a reasonable circulation can be attained, we promise a substantial increase in the number of photographs published, together with an endeavour at all times to improve the standard for your enjoyment.

One of the best assets which a publication can have is the letters from readers and we would like you to write giving us your candid opinion and constructive criticism.

In announcing our beauty competition on page 45 of this issue, we trust this will find favour with both sexes and become one of the most successful features of Pin-Up.

We have launched Pin-Up into the sea of magazines, and we hope you will wish her " bon voyage " by giving us your support.”

JASMIT.