Teen Magazines Of The '60s and '70s: Mad About The Boys!

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Mickey Dolenz catches up on his reading with 'Tiger Beat's Official Monkee Spectacular' on the set of the television show 'The Monkees' in May 1967 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Magazines like 16, Teen Beat and Tiger Beat were fixtures of grocery-store checkout aisles and magazine racks of the '60s and '70s. From strategically placed magazine racks, the handsome and wholesome faces of The Monkees, The Beatles, Herman's Hermits, Bobby Sherman, David Cassidy, Leif Garrett and more stared at their young female fans, who had an insatiable hunger for inside knowledge of their celebrity crushes. Cluttered covers promised features on and interviews with dozens of heartthrobs of the music, TV and film scene. At the height of their popularity, these magazines practically flew off the shelves thanks to the access they offered young women to their favorite stars.

These magazines had interviews, gossip, and centerfold posters of the cutest boys of the day. Photos and mentions in the pages of teen magazines were part of the well-oiled celebrity-building machine, and for those who played ball, stardom awaited. For young women, longing for a personal connection with stars they might never meet in person, stacks of treasured teen magazines were the next best thing.