Jackie Magazine

One of the best things about being a young girl in the 70's was the girl's mags we used to have. And one of the most popular was of course, Jackie. Almost every girl growing up in the 70's in the UK read Jackie mag at some point! It was really good, with articles and all sorts of things for us pre-pubescent and post-pubescent girlies. So what was so good about it? Why did girls go out and buy it? (of have it delivered by the paperboy if they were fortunate to have parents who were loaded!?) Well, it's simple. There was something for everyone. It was interesting. There were stories of romance or problems that we could relate to, there were letters from readers who were around our age, there were pages filled with all sorts of things from cartoon stories to clothesmaking ideas to info about boys. There was a fashion section which often gave patterns for making interesting clothes and other things. Then of course the most important thing. There were pictures and articles on pop singers and pop groups - which was the one reason why many girls bought it I suspect - me included! There were articles on groups and singers, but also posters that we could hang on our wall. I used to love going into the newsagents and seeing piccies of my favourite popgroup staring back at me from this (or any other) magazine. Cor.. they were just so gorgous. Did I ever fancy them!!!!!! Ahem.... erm.... anyway, yeh Jackie was a really good mag! There was the Cathy and Claire page which answered readers questions. I must admit I'd completely forgotton the name of this page. I knew there was a problem page but didn't remember the names 'Cathy and Claire'. Don't think I really read that page much that's probably why. There were articles about skin care for those worried about spots or acne, there were articles about relationships and boys, boys and erm.... more boys! (which was great for us. Boys were always so baffling when I was at school. It was really tricky at times!) Jackie was a great read. And there were also many others like Fab 208, Pink, Mirabelle and Diana. (did Diana form from Jackie. Not sure) I used to get them all. I think we were actually blessed with great magazines for girls in the 70's. It was a far more innocent era, and all the media, including girl's magazines reflected this.

Jacke Magazine On TV

Recently a documentary came on the TV about the 70's mag 'Jackie'. It was called "Jackie - A Girl's Best Friend' which was very interesting. Learned stuff I never knew or hadn't remembered (like the Cathy and Clair page). Also that the mag was produced in Scotland! Had absolutely no idea, thought it was London. That was a bit of surprise. The programme was great, so nostalgic. It bought back great memories. But just one gripe. I felt they dwelt on David Cassidy way too much. It was ridiculous. Towards the end I felt they went on about the Osmonds and David Cassidy far too much, well especially DC. It became like a DC love-fest. Especially when that Nina whats-her-name started drooling all over him. Omg, that Nina whatever-her-name-is just about made my stomach turn! Anyway, as far as I'm concerned there was way too much time spent on talking about DC. But even if they did choose to talk about him (I didn't mind them talking about him I was glad they did) they should have at least made the show a little more balanced and talked about other pop singers or pop groups that were popular in the 70's and given them the same amount of time. Anyone would have thought DC had been the only one to appear in Jackie mag! What about the BCR? Where were they? They didn't feature the BCR at all which I thought was a bit of a cheek! (but they didn't mind featuring BCR fans and pretending that they had been DC fans which I thought was a real cheek! It really was. That was just wrong) When I bought Jackie way back then, the Rollers were in it a lot, but the documentary makers chose to ignore this fact and fawn all over DC (who is bigheaded enough as it is in my honest opinion) Now don't get me wrong, got absolutely nothing against DC, in fact he seems a really nice and charming chap - but I do think the fame may have gone to his head a little at some point. I was actually a David Cassidy fan in the 70's, but it was because I sensed some big-headedness that I went off him. There were all sorts of pop singers and groups in Jackie mag from David Essex to Hello, Slik, David Soul, The Rubettes, Sweet, Gary Glitter...... Erm.... ok, forget GG. Yes, if only we could.