QT - Concord Publications

QT was first published towards the end of 1956. My best guess is that the first issue was in November and, as far as I am aware, it ran for 94 issues. There is nothing in the magazine to indicate that this is the last issue, but I have never seen one beyond No 94. None of the books are dated, but, if it were published monthly as stated in No 1, then the last issue would have been in the summer of 1964.

QT was published by Concord Publications Ltd, Wardour Street, London. It stayed under their control for every issue, which was unusual in the late 50’s and early 1960’s; so many other magazines at this time seemingly changed publishers on a regular basis. Russel Gay was a major contributor to the magazine, and is credited for all colour pages up to No 77.

It has taken me some considerable time to gather a full collection of books - all except for No 55. After talking to several collectors of QT, there seems to be a strong possibility that there never was a No 55; I have been searching, but no one that I know has ever seen one. Having said that, neither No 54 nor No 56 have any mention of a missing book. So, if anybody knows differently then I, and I am sure many others, would love to know, so please do contact me.

QT is a really nice magazine. It is quite different from the very popular selection of ToCo books that were really starting to dominate the newsagents stands at the end of the 1950’s. It was more produced and had a more professional look about it; it would have certainly stood out from the crowd! Additionally, it had more pages - 58 compared to Spicks 44 - and a colour, fold out, triple centrefold up to issue No 56. Most noticeably, though, was the quality of the printing and paper used, which was much better than a lot of the competition at this time. It had near topless models in issue No 1, and fully topless models from issue No 2, but this quality and racier content came at a cost; in 1957 Spick would have set you back 1/3, whereas QT was priced at 2/6 - so you could have had bought two ToCo magazines for every QT purchase. This may have something to with the fact that QT’s are generally harder to find - possibly due to the fact that it had a smaller circulation.

I am personally very fond of QT. It has a quality feel to it, boasting a good mix of more professional models whilst at the same time introducing many new names to us. The photography and composition are good and, although it does have the odd article, for the most part it is all about the girls - which is, of course, is what we were all after anyway!

Below are QT’s own words, extracted from The Best of QT - published possibly in the spring of 1958. It is the only QT Best Of that I have; I’m not even sure if there were any more. It essentially just covers the first 6 issues.

FANTABULOUS!

That's the only word for QT-fantabulous! It needs an extraordinary word to sum up this extraordinary magazine. There's nothing to match QT in the glamour world. Proof of that lies in your hands now. The first six issues of QT sold out as soon as they hit the bookstalls. So great was the demand for these issues-now collectors' pieces that the pick of the series have been reprinted in this book, THE BEST OF QT '. Now that you're reading it, you'll know why men everywhere clamour for their copy of QT each month. Only QT can offer such beautiful girls; only QT can offer you such provocative poses; only QT can capture both with crystal-clear photography that has you holding your breath. Give yourself something to look forward to each month. Don't be satisfied with inferior imitations. You deserve the best, but you've got to be quick off the mark to get it. The demand each month for QT is tremendous. It's soon sold out. So make sure of your copy of QT now!