Rags: 50th Anniversary Archive

Rags

50TH ANNIVERSARY ARCHIVE

"Try as I may, I can't get Rags out of my mind. It was the perfect magazine for the look and the style of the times, just as Rolling Stone was the perfect magazine for the music of the times. The upheaval of society in the sixties and seventies was visible - you could actually see the changes that were going on, not only within the counter-culture but within the Nation at large. With Rags we wanted to reflect those changes on our pages, and in the thirteen issues we produced, we started a dialogue that continues to this day. With this 50th Anniversary commemorative set we want to remember and celebrate the effort of the many talented people who made Rags the influential voice it became."  - Baron Wolman, 2020

In 1970, Baron Wolman (1937-2020) took what he learned from his years as the founding photographer of Rolling Stone magazine and partnered with Mary Peacock, Daphne Davis, and Blair Sabol to publish what he affectionately called "The Rolling Stone of Fashion." The new magazine was called Rags, and though it folded in 1971 after only 13 issues, its seismic effect on the content and style of contemporary fashion magazines is still felt today. 

The inspired editors of Rags went far beyond the conventional fashion editorials of the day by publishing the kinds of features that their readers would never see in any other magazine. Instead of leading their readers as all other fashion magazines of the day were doing, Rags did something that had never been tried before, they held a up a mirror to their readers and showed them what was really happening in the world of fashion and style. Within the pages of Rags, you would find diverse features from fashion and style, to literature, music, fine-art photography... pop culture, tattoo culture, lesbian style, dandy style, fashion of the clergy, prison rodeo clown style, street fashion, and features on individuals such as Jimi Hendrix, Ed Ruscha, Kurt Vonnegut, Janis Joplin, Imogen Cunningham, The Cockettes, Holly Woodlawn, Betsey Johnson, Robert Crumb and so much more! Looking at Rags today, it’s easy to recognize how this ground-breaking magazine was decades ahead of the industry.

To mark the 50th anniversary of this now legendary publication, we are pleased to offer a lavish box set containing exact replicas of all 13 original issues of Rags plus 5 additional issues including facsimiles of both prototype issues, the original prospectus, marketing booklet, and a bonus “archive” issue containing never before published rarities from publisher Baron Wolman's personal archive. The archive is chock-full of photos, letters, promotional material, and other unique, never before published rarities from the Rags archive. In all, you will receive nearly 1,200 pages of content! In addition, you will receive an original 8x10" photo from the pages of Rags, hand signed by photographer Baron Wolman, an original vintage 50-year-old sheet of Rags stationary, and other new collectibles created exclusively for this set: A 4x9" full-color postcard, 2 stickers, a pin, and an embroidered Rags logo patch. 

The entire set of 18 individual magazines, photos, sticker, postcard, pin, embroidered patch, and other rarities come housed in a bespoke clamshell box with silver stamped accents. The box set is limited to only 50 individually numbered sets, each hand-signed by Rags publisher Baron Wolman, and project editor & art director Dagon James.  

RAGS ARCHIVE COLLECTOR BOX SET – Sets numbered 6-50. Each Collector set comes with 30 separate items including modern editions of all 13 original issues, both prototype issues, 3 new editions of rarities from Rags Archive, embroidered patch, 2 stickers, 4x9” postcard, pin, an original 1970 sheet of Rags stationary from Baron Wolman’s archive and a signed 8x10” photo of The Sanchez Twins by photographer and Rags publisher Baron Wolman. Signed by Baron Wolman and Dagon James.

RAGS ARCHIVE DELUXE BOX SET – Sets numbered 1-5. Each Deluxe set comes with 33 separate items including modern editions of all 13 original issues, both prototype issues, 3 new editions of rarities from the Rags Archive, embroidered patch, sticker, 4x9” postcard, pin, an original sheet of 1970 Rags stationary from the Rags Archive and 4 (four) signed 8x10” photos, The Sanchez Twins, Bill & Eloise, Timothy Leary and Robert Crumb by photographer and Rags publisher Baron Wolman. Signed by Baron Wolman and Dagon James.

RAGS ARCHIVE PREMIUM BOX SET – Set number 1. You get everything in the “Deluxe” set - modern editions of all 13 original issues, both prototype issues, 3 new editions of rarities from the Rags Archive, embroidered patch, sticker, 4x9” postcard, pin, an original sheet of 1970 Rags stationary from the Rags Archive, 1 original vintage issue of Rags signed by Baron Wolman and 4 (four) signed 8x10” photos, The Sanchez Twins, Bill & Eloise, Timothy Leary and Robert Crumb by photographer and Rags publisher Baron Wolman. Signed by Baron Wolman and Dagon James. This set also comes with a complete hard cover bound set of every original issue of Rags magazine from Wolman’s personal archive.

PUBLISHER PROOF PROTOTYPE BOX SET – Only one available. The clamshell box and all of the single issues are the very first one of a kind proof copies that were reviewed for approval before printing the final production run. You get everything in the “Deluxe” set - modern editions of all 13 original issues, both prototype issues, 3 new editions of rarities from the Rags Archive, embroidered patch, sticker, 4x9” postcard, pin, an original sheet of 1970 Rags stationary from the Rags Archive, and 4 (four) signed 8x10” photos, The Sanchez Twins, Bill & Eloise, Timothy Leary and Robert Crumb by photographer and Rags publisher Baron Wolman. Signed by Baron Wolman and Dagon James with a letter of authenticity signed by publisher Dagon James. You will also receive the unbound prototype of The Very Best of Rags 1970-1971 softcover book and an abundance of original printed material from the Rags office from 1970-71, sourced from Wolman’s personal archive.

ORIGINAL RAGS 1970-71 COMPLETE PUBLISHER ARCHIVE SET: This is the complete set of all 13 original issuse of Rags magazine from Wolman’s personal archive plus the prospectus “Dummy” issue with the accompanying prospectus letter. Wolman pulled these copies right off the printing press and kept them in his archive for five decades before passing them along to The Waverly Press publisher Dagon James. As a bonus, Wolman hand signed every issue in this set. You will also receive a collection of Rags office rarities from 1970-71 including the 1970 Christmas card, Rags letterhead, poster and assorted press tear sheets from the period that were printed for internal use. The anniversary box set is based off of these very copies and this is the most pristine set of Rags magazine you will ever find after five decades! This institution worthy set comes with a signed letter of provenance from The Waverly Press publisher Dagon James.

NOTE: Box sets numbered 1-5 contain 4 photos from the pages of Rags, each hand-signed by photographer Baron Wolman. The 4 photos are the Sanchez Twins, Robert Crumb, Eloise and Bill, and Timothy Leary!

We are also offering a separate 254-page softcover book, The Very Best of Rags, featuring a new introduction by Rags publisher, Baron Wolman, with an accompanying essay by fashion historian, Laura McLaws Helms. The Very Best of Rags is limited to 250 copies.

THE VERY BEST OF RAGS

SOFTCOVER THE VERY BEST OF RAGS (collector bundle) – 254 pages of carefully selected content from the original 13 issues of Rags, and the 2 early prototype editions. Each copy comes with an embroidered patch, 2 stickers, pin, and an oversized 4x9” postcard. Limited to 250 copies.

Foreword by Baron Wolman.

Introduction by Laura McLaws Helms.

Compiled and Edited by Dagon James.