Does Anyone Remember 16 Magazine?

Confession time!

I was talking to my new minister friend last night and we started reminiscing about things we remembered from adolescence. I told him all about my junior high years and the fact that I willed myself to not show any physical response to having showers in physical education...over the summer of 1970 -- between the end of 6th grade and the start of 7th Grade (Jr. High).

I then confessed that I loved 16 Magazine that old fan magazine from the 1960s and early 70s that used to feature everything from Dark Shadows, Barnabas Collins to Bobby Sherman, David Cassidy and the Partridge Family. I had to laugh when the minister told me he had two Partridge Family LPs.

My favorite thing about the magazine was its wacky covers. It would have face pictures of all the current teen sensations (with a few famous hot adults for fun) that were glued to colorful drawn cartoon bodies doing outlandish things like surrounding the Easter Bunny who was in a top hat, or the issue of all of them swimming or in a rowboat 'manned" by an owl and a kitty cat; or surrounding a big St. Bernard.

These were eye-catching for sure.

One of the things I most remember was when the editor, Gloria Stavers introduced the Adonis Gallery. This is where she ran pictures of these celebrities shirtless. Since the magazine's target audience was teenage girls, this was alright....but there were a few teenage boys who read it to. I really enjoyed reading it from cover to cover, but when the Adonis Gallery column began running regularly, it certainly spiced up my nocturnal emissions and masturbatory fantasies!

For whatever reason, most of the teen idols didn't affect me "that" way. I tended to really get into the older men and had secret crushes on real people in my life. I enjoyed David Cassidy because of his affiliation with the Partridges....and of course Jonathan Frid of Dark Shadows fame....but it was just because I loved the series' so -- not because of any sexual attraction.

However, one person really got to me "that way." The thing that triggered it was a pinup of Bobby Sherman. For the uninitated, Bobby was a singer and his first gig was to be host of the old 1960s dance program SHINDIG. He then went on to act in the ABC-TV series, "Here Comes The Brides". From there he launched into a full-fledged recording career and he appeared in a spinoff of the Partridge Family called "Getting Together." Now I think he's an EMT in LA.

Anyway, in this particular issue of the magazine, he was the adonis centerfold. Oh....my....goodness. There he was: shirtless....lying on his belly, with a red background and a red covering on the floor where he was prone. The picture ended very far down on his waist (he must have had on underwear or hip huggers), it left me breathless wondering what he looked like naked. He had a muscular chest...perfect hair......and a doe like quality to his facial expression that drove me nuts. I kept that magazine forever...and drooled over that picture for months. I did a quick search on the Web for that picture, but couldn't find it.

That must have been at the peak of my hormonal period....

My conversation with the minister brought back all those old....and somewhat painful memories of the past and just how hard it was to keep my feelings of being different bottled up inside.


Can you imagine what it's like for someone who is 10, 11, 12 or 13, who is struggling with these feelings? You can't figure out why it's you. You feel like you're the only freak on the planet. You certainly can't talk to anyone about it. Most of all, it's unacceptable....it's considered wrong.....something is wrong with me. No one talked about it.

At least now people are a whole lot more accepting.

I surfed the Web and found some scans of covers of 16 Magazine. If you remember it, enjoy!

Am I the only guy who read it?