239. Extra! Extra! PRE-WAR PHILIPPINE MAGAZINES

Pre-war magazines in readable and stable condition are so hard to find that when a dealer offered a couple of these publications to me, I grabbed them all--and wanted more! The rarest is perhaps, Lipang Kalabaw, which started as a satirical-political magazine in Tagalog came out in in three different periods: 1907-1909, 1922-24, and 1947-48. It was operated by Lope K. Santos and illustrated by Jorge Pineda. It ceased publication in 1909, but was revived in 1922 as Bagong Lipang Kalabaw--and this magazine example came from that period.

On the other hand, The Philippines Free Press was founded in 1907 by its editor-in-chief, R. McCoullough Dick until the 60s,when Teodoro M. Locsin took over as publisher. This issue dates from December 1925.

Another popular pre-war magazine was published by Ramon Roces--the Graphic-- which was edited by A. C. Fabian. Famous writers who wrote for Graphic include E. Aguilar Cruz, Nick Joaquin. It featured essays and literary pieces in English, plus color sections that reproduced the artworks artworks of  the up-and-coming artists of the period, like Jose Bumanlag David and Carlos "Botong" Francisco.

The Spanish La Vanguardia was an American era publication which came out during the early 20th century, It was part of a newspaper empire founded by Don Alejandro Roces that also included Taliba (in Tagalog)  and Tribune (in English and edited by Carlos P. Romulo) -- hence, the T-V-T periodicals.

174. Seeing Stars: 1951 SONG-MOVIE MAGS

Then and now, weekly entertainment magazines enjoyed wide readership among movie and radio fans, who avidly read the latest activities about their favorite actors. These well-thumbed copies from the early 50s--Literary SONG-MOVIE Magazine--gave the reader updates on the latest movies-in-the-making, happenings in the lives of stars like Efren Reyes, Tita Duran, Lilia Dizon, Rogelio de la Rosa, Lota Delgado and Cesar Ramirez via chatty columns and interviews all for 40 centavos. Colored full-page close-ups of the glamor stars were included in these magazines for collecting and scrapbooking.


Today of course, you can learn about any star's shenanigans not just through printed magazines but also through Twitter, google and facebook. You can watch their sex videos, read about their escapades, illicit affairs and vices with just a click of the mouse. Why, you can even stalk them online! Times may have changed but not our preoccupation with the life and times (and dirt) of popular movie stars.

7. MAN CONQUERS MOON, FILIPINA CONQUERS UNIVERSE!

This week marks the 40th year anniversary of the moon landing, undertaken by the crew of Apollo 11 lunar mission. While Neil Armstrong’s words “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind..” was reverberating in space, Miss Philippines Gloria Diaz was also making waves in Miami Beach by being elected as the 1969 Miss Universe, the first Pinay to win the coveted title. (And that’s how Filipinos became pageant-crazy!).

Both the conquests of the moon and the universe were reported as headlines of this Manila Times newspaper, 21 July 1969 issue, purchased from a collectible shop in Tiendesitas for a hundred bucks, brittle pages and all. (That’s why you should keep dailies with historic headlines—they make good future references as well as great cabinet liners).

Today, Neil Armstrong is 79 years old, and a member of the Astronaut Hall of Fame. Over a dozen schools, buildings, streets and even a song was named after him. As for Gloria Diaz, she is now an endorser of ..., hmm, a geriatric food supplement.