vintage magazine

When was the last time a thing of beauty landed in your real-world mailbox? Mine is usually crammed unattractively with solicitations and bills I can't obliterate into paperlessness without risking late charges. But recently it was graced by Vintage Magazine.

Vintage is based on the short-lived but legendary Flair Magazine which wowed discerning readers from 1950-1951, featuring die-cut covers, fabulous foldouts and illustrations, and contributions from the likes of Salvador Dali and Tennessee Williams. The New York Times called it "one of the most extravagant and innovative magazines ever published."

Publisher Ivy Baer Sherman was introduced to Flair at a 2003 retrospective of the magazine and was inspired to create a publication equally extraordinary. Premiere issue of Vintage is a cool-hunter collectible printed on multiple card stocks and bound with red ribbon. Articles include illustrated letters from artist Judith Oksner to her parents when she was a student in Paris in the days before email; long lost recipes from a 60 year old collection; the story of record albums told on pages die-cut to resemble jackets for "45's"; and a fascinating take on the Barbie phenomenon by Adweek's ad critic (and arbiter of pop culture) Barbara Lippert who found out that the doll was modeled on German streetwalkers and originally marketed as a "teen grooming aid."

Sherman calls the bi-annual "a multi-textured foray through history and out into the present." I call it well worth $20. Premiere issue sold out. Subscribe to get on the list for le deuxieme, due this month.