''Escort'' is a British men's

adult magazine Pornographic magazines or erotic magazines, sometimes known as adult, sex or top-shelf magazines, are magazines that contain content of an explicitly sexual nature. Publications of this kind may contain images of attractive naked subjects, as is ...

which contains

softcore pornography Softcore pornography or softcore porn, is commercial still photography or film that has a pornographic or erotic component but is less sexually graphic and intrusive than hardcore pornography, defined by a lack of visual sexual penetration. Sof ...

and

erotica Erotica is literature or art that deals substantively with subject matter that is erotic, sexually stimulating or sexually arousing. Some critics regard pornography as a type of erotica, but many consider it to be different. Erotic art may use a ...

. It is published by

Paul Raymond Publications Paul Raymond Publications is a British publisher of softcore monthly pornographic magazine titles, including '' Escort'', '' Club International'', ''Mayfair'', '' Men Only'', '' Men's World'' and '' Razzle''. The company's lawyers scrutinise the ...

. Paul Raymond Publications releases a number of magazines similar to ''Escort'', including ''

Club International ''Club International'' is a British softcore pornographic magazine published by Paul Raymond Publications that features pictures of nude women. It is a sister magazine of American magazine ''Club''. History and profile ''Club International'' was ...

'', ''

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

'', ''

Men Only ''Men Only'' is a British magazine title that originated in 1935 as a pocket-sized men's magazine. It became a standard-sized pin-up magazine in the 1950s and was relaunched in 1971 by Paul Raymond Publications as a soft-core pornographic maga ...

'', ''

Men's World ''Men's World'' was a British soft-core pornographic magazine founded in 1988. The final issue was Volume 24 issue 13, in December 2012. It was released every four weeks and its content mostly consisted of nude pictorials of well-known erotic ...

'', and '' Razzle''. The origin of these titles lies in businessman Paul Raymond's expansion from

strip club A strip club is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease or other Erotic dancing, erotic or exotic dances. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or Bar (establishment), bar style, and can also ...

management into magazine publishing in the 1960s.

Publication history

A monthly pin-up magazine with the title ''Escort'' was published between 1958 and 1971 by

City Magazines City Magazines was a British publisher of weekly comics and men's magazines that operated from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s. The company's most notable publications were comics magazines based on licensed television properties, including ''TV Ce ...

. The title was acquired by Raymond, and from 1971 to 1980 was incorporated into another title he had acquired from City Magazines, ''

''. In 1980, Raymond began publishing ''Escort'' as a top-shelf magazine with the revived title. By 2012, ''Escort'' was in its 32nd year, or volume. The magazine is also sold in digital format. Initially this was via the Paul Raymond digital newsstand from 2013 until that website closed. Subsequently it has been available digitally from the publisher's main website.

Content

The magazine's content is a combination of photographs and text, with the photographs almost entirely being those of partially or completely nude women. ''Escort'' specialises in pictures of amateur (i.e. non-professional) models, some of which are sent to the magazine by readers – these are described as "readers' wives".Karl Simms, "Ethics and the subject", ''Critical studies vol.8'', Rodopi, 1997, , p.208 It often features photo-shoots taken in an "ordinary" location like a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, or outdoors at a place familiar to British readers. In 2008 Stephen Bleach, who had worked as publishing director for

, described ''Escort'' as "cheerfully brazen" in contrast to ''Club International'' and ''Men Only'', which he described as "pseudo-glamorous". In 2013 ''Escort'' was described by Pierre Perrone, a former magazine editor for the company, as "downmarket". Up to and including vol. 15 (1995), ''Escort'' had a distinctive 'cut-out' cover, which folded out into a poster; this 'cut-out' design allowed a few smaller pictures on the contents page to be visible, thus giving a preview of other women posing in the magazine; one of these smaller pictures was usually that from the magazine's regular ''Girls of ...'' feature showing women posing at various locations of that issue's chosen town. ''Escort'' is widely available in British newsagents, although some larger retailers require a modesty bag in order to protect minors from seeing partial nudity on display on the cover. ''Escort'' also has a digital identity on the official Paul Raymond website, where the hardcore imagery not found in the print version is also shown.

References

External links

*
Official digital newsstand of Paul Raymond Publications
{{British pornography Men's magazines published in the United Kingdom Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Pornographic magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1958 Magazines established in 1980 Softcore pornography 1980 establishments in the United Kingdom

Publication history

Content

See also

References

External links