Publisher John Johnson (1918-2005) had a vision for a magazine for the Black market, his first effort was the Negro Digest in 1942, the next was the highly successful monthly Ebony in 1946 (and also the weekly Jet in November 1951). This sumptuous coffee-table book celebrates the magazine with all the print edition covers up to June 2020, though it had been reduced to bi-monthly editions from October 2016.
The book is really in two parts, firstly, 273 pages have whole page and smaller covers looking at civil rights, family, man, woman and music, second, the remaining pages show all the covers as large thumbnails (so all the previous section covers are repeated). I wish the publishers had gone the extra mile and included a selection of inside pages as the Ebony obviously covered significant events for Black Americans over the decades. The only spreads from the inside are sixteen pages of the August 1968 March on Washington that appeared in the November issue. Fortunately, the reproductions allow the text to be read.
Obviously, all the covers feature various Black personalities from the world of politics, sports and entertainment, a curiosity is the June 1972 cover showing white actor Carroll O'connor with the headline 'Is Archie Bunker the real white America?'
For those who remember the monthly Ebony, this excellent book will give some instant nostalgia as you look at the covers.
No comments:
Post a Comment