The First 60 Years of True West Magazine

by TW Editors | Dec 10, 2012 | Uncategorized

true west magazine 60 years

Joe Small followed a hunch. Every time he ran a letter about Old West badmen in his Sporting Magazine, his mailbox would bulge with responses, so he decided to create a new magazine that told the truth about the history of the American frontier.

His first issue hit the newsstands in April 1953. The magazine took a while to catch on with readers, but when it did, it really took off.

All during 2013 we will celebrate our 60 years producing articles and magazines about the period

we love and telling the truth about it, warts and all.

To get started, here is an overview of the first 60 years, told in pictures and snippets lifted directly from the pages of the magazine.

Photo Gallery

We might quibble with the “great” adjective, but who wouldn’t want to see what Yucca House had to offer?
Give me land, lots of land, for plenty cheap. Many folks were lured west by these ads.

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Fringe is still with us, along with fancy boots. Some things never change.

Gus Walker has produced some amazing maps and graphics over the past 12 years. The Mapinator, as we call him, spent a good week on this cutaway graphic of Wild Bill’s Last Card Game, which ran in our September 2001 issue.

Here’s a department we had a bunch of fun creating. It didn’t always work, but when it did, you had to laugh.

One of our more successful sidebars on illustrating the difference in size and how it mattered on the frontier.

True West has featured some talented illustrators. One whose career spanned five decades is Al Napoletano.

Volume One: 1953

Aug.-Sept. 2003
The only time we had to yell “Stop the presses!” As news broke of the Billy Dig, we traded out a cover on Pancho Villa for this.

February-March 2001
We hit the jackpot with this sold-out issue. Back issues have sold for as much as $300 each.

October 2000
New logo and a new direction. This is the first issue published by the current owners.

July-Aug. 1963
The magazine has featured some provocative covers; look at this rattlesnake getting ready to strike.

Sept.-Oct. 1977
An attempt to return to its pulp roots, which only hastened the slide.

March-April 1962
A striking cover from the early successful phase of the magazine.

March 1989
As the magazine wandered toward its fifth decade, covers got a tad bland.

May-June 2001
This is the only issue we have gone back to press on. We printed an extra 5,000 and sold them all.

Still a staple in the magazine, the gun ads have become more colorful.

Nov.-Dec. 1958
A striking cover that would sell today.

Nov.-Dec. 2011
This recent issue contains just about every buzz word we could dream up. Sales were brisk.

October 2006
An extremely successful issue, which celebrated the 125th anniversary of the O.K. Corral gunfight.

Sept.-Oct. 1969
A strong image, but this is when the sales started to sag. Some blame the Vietnam War.

September 1984
A spirited effort to reclaim the glory of the early years is apparent in this cover.

Spring 1954
Very fifties look, also aping Time magazine.

Meanwhile, we saw ads and fads promoted to our readers, but nothing hit harder than “authentic coonskin cap” ads. More than a million were sold.

Only one advertiser has been with us from the very beginning and through thick and thin. That is Blevins Stirrup Buckles.

Fringe jackets were all the go in the 1950s, with this classic ad showcasing a stylish lass.

Fancy boots have always been a mainstay in the magazine.

Some ads we ran sort of defy gravity. Make your own pistol? For $3.50? Really? We’d like to see one of those!

Some concepts don’t travel well, and many of the cartoons from the past now leave us scratching our heads.

Winter 1953
The magazine hits the ground running. Notice the logo changing over the years.

In the beginning, the history business had three mainstays, at least in the True West firmament. These were: Fred Gipson, J. Frank Dobie and our founder Joe Austell Small, from left, circa 1955.