In an interesting article for Mental Floss, Claire Cock-Starkey looks back at 11 Retro Celebrity Magazines. All are now long gone but in their heyday, Marilyn appeared regularly in most of them – from early cheesecake covers to gossip about her love affairs and speculation over her untimely death.
“CONFIDENTIAL // 1952–1978
Confidential was one of the first magazines to feature lurid gossip, exposés, and celebrity scandals. In 1954, the magazine’s scoop on the breakup of Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio’s marriage gave a boost to its circulation. Publisher Robert Harrison would later boast of a readership of over 4 million.”
You can read more about Confidential‘s Marilyn stories here.
ON THE Q.T. // 1955–1964
On the Q.T. (an abbreviation of ‘on the quiet,’ meaning a secret) ran with the tagline, ‘The CLASS magazine in its field.’ Yet this bimonthly publication largely focused on spreading salacious celebrity gossip. Mid-century headlines that caught readers’ eyeballs included ‘The Secret Disease That Killed Monroe.'”
LAFF // 1940S AND ‘50S
Billed as ‘The Humorous Picture Magazine,’ mid-century Laff featured photo spreads of celebrities. Especially notable was the January 1946 edition, which featured an early photo of up-and-coming Marilyn Monroe in a bikini captioned as ‘Norma Jean Dougherty.'”
The Marilyn Report 