Man's Daring

Man's Daring was another of those US men's magazines that eventually made the transition into a full fledged pin up magazine. Indeed, it did it earlier than most, transforming into just Daring with the February 1967 issue, abandoning the lurid cover paintings in favour of photo covers at the same time.  That, however, was still some way in the future when this, the May 1963 issue, hit the newsstands.  Just for a change, instead of the usual cover illustrations of semi-naked and bound women being menaced and tortured by Nazis/Commies/'savages', this one has them at the mercy of juvenile delinquents (JDs).  This was actually something of a recurrent themed for Man's Daring covers, which included several variations on this theme, with girls being abused variously by biker gangs, surfer gangs and the like.  Here, it is illustrating 'Nympho JD's Hayloft Terror' - both title and illustration titillating the reader with implications of sadism and rape.  The staples of the genre.  

Another recurrent theme of the magazine and its covers is represented by the other featured story: '"TNT" Tucker's Naked Joy Girl Guerilla War Against the Nazi Torturers'.  Tales of shapely female resistance fighters taking on Nazis/Japs/Commies etc, while clad only in their underwear, was a favourite subject matter for men's magazine war stories.  Of course, as they are the weaker sex, they always have be led by some burly, usually shirtless, US serviceman who has somehow become trapped behind enemy lines.  Obviously, the term 'Joy Girl' is a euphemism for prostitute, guaranteeing that the story will involve the hero hiding out in a brothel, where his manliness persuades the occupants to rise up against their oppressors.  The cover also highlights 'It Would Take a Big Warm Blooded Man to Thaw Out the Deep Freeze Virgins of The White Hell'.  I'd venture a guess that this has something to do with another of those manly guys stumbling into a town full of sex starved women in one of the remotest parts of Alaska.  The rest of the story writes itself.  Finally, there's the obligatory pseudo science 'real' sex report - in this case 'Ultrasonics: A Boon to a Better Sex Life'.  Presumably based around the idea that if the crude vibrations from an idling bus engine can induce erections in male passengers, then ultrasonic vibrations will undoubtedly induce multiple orgasms in both men and women.  It's a scientific 'fact'.

Man's Daring survived in a men's magazine format from 1959 to 1966.  In its Daring incarnation, it ran from 1967 to 1975, in this softcore format, it also published a roughly quarterly series of 'specials' between 1969 and 1976.  (Man's Daring shouldn't be confused with Man's Daring Adventures, which was an earlier men's magazine from a different publisher, which put of four issues 1955-56).