Is Turkey Red Too Red?

Back in the early 19th century, Turkey Reds, aka Adrianople Reds, were a madder based dye with Turkish origins. These patterns were only printed much later by an Alsatian who solved the problem of over printing on the intense color.

I'm way out of my comfort margin here but I love the patterns and if anything ever said, "Go to Hell," or worse, it's Turkey Red. I'm not a 100% on this but I'm thinking about it. With a black velvet dinner jacket at a New Year's party… I might. Would you?

American Fabrics Magazine

(click on images to enlarge)

There was a vacant old house up the hill from my great grandparents farm where I played as a kid. Old magazines were strewn everywhere among feed, rusted tools and other by products of rural NC I was happy to remain ignorant of. I do remember the colors of the 40s magazines and how the 50s issues toned the garish intensity of the prior decade down.

A month ago I found five issues of American Fabrics Magazine in a used NYC bookstore and the colors and design threw me back to that old house. This is the Summer - 1951 issue and while the 40s are hanging on - you see the 50s barreling down the road in clean modern design about to run over the garment trade who were its readers.

Gentry Magazine (Winter '52 to Spring '57) was a men's fashion outgrowth of American Fabrics complete with monotone pictures, blazing color ads and hand glued fabric swatches. In fact, this issue announces Gentry for the first time and offers charter subscriptions of four issues a year for a whopping eight bucks or $70 according to my CPI calculator.

Published by a fascinating Macon, GA native, William Segal, American Fabrics Magazine measures 11" x 14 1/2" and that makes things difficult when your scanner bed is 8 3/4" x 12" hence the two part cover. I did what I could to get you a decent image but like most books the vibrancy of the magazine has to be seen and held for full effect.

Gentry, like most men's fashion ephemera, is a tough find largely because men threw their magazines away (Unlike one man I know who has moved 64 issues of 'M' Magazine nine times). But because women saved their fashion magazines there's ample availability on eBay where they run between $40 to $55 an issue. Get off the beaten path and you should be able to find American Fabrics under $25.