Remember Position of the Fortnight?
Getting ourselves in a tangle...
In the early 90s I had a job that was the most ridiculous fun. I was Editor of More! magazine, a publication honestly and truly aimed at young women after they’d outgrown teen magazines.
I’m saying this because of course lots of younger readers loved it too, in the way that they might have sneaked a look at their older sister’s/mum’s Cosmo. I adored Cosmo in my late teens, when it was edited by Marcelle D’Argy-Smith. It seemed so sassy and wise - so glamorous.
More! was more cheeky and more fun. At our peak we were selling half a million copies per issue. You’d see it being read on trains and busses - all over the place. The news seller at Liverpool Street Station had a teetering heap ready for young female commuters flooding into the city.
One summer we gave away a little book of erotic short stories. A friend had a copy stashed in her suitcase for her holiday when it was searched at airport security. The security guy picked it up and grinned: ‘Not this again!’
It was the era of The Chippendales - an eye-boggling vision of fake tan and oiled muscles, actual living Ken dolls ripping their kit off. Pecs appeal! (Stop that - Ed). Johnny Depp was dating Kate Moss. People talk about the ‘ladettes’ era now, but More!’s cheeky tone predated that. It was about enjoying being young, commitment-free and having fun.
People talk about More! being full of sex but it was full of humour too. We had great fun writing the coverlines - the words on the cover enticing people to buy.
My favourite: ‘We’re going to orgasm school. Are you coming?’
As our readers seemed to love this stuff, I suggested introducing a regular feature called Position of the Fortnight.
Remember She magazine? It was really good, but a bit overlooked. They had a highly respected medical columnist, Dr David Delvin, who wrote books like this:
I guess he was a male equivalent of Claire Rayner, back in the day - writing about sex in an open, honest and non-coy way, when that still seemed pretty new and refreshing.
I’ve had a bit of a false memory about this time. I actually though Position of the Fortnight was ‘inspired’ (cough) by Dr Delvin’s Function of the Month in She. But a quick google reveals that She actually ran their own Position of the Month. Oops!
Okay - so we blatantly nicked it. When I mentioned this highly original, never-seen-before idea to my boss, she said, ‘That’ll last three issues.’ But it was instantly popular and actually went on for years and years - maybe five? - long after I’d left the magazine.
Many of the early 90s more! team are still friends. I asked them for their Position of the Fortnight memories.
Tony: ‘Sometimes myself and Michael re-enacted complex positions (dressed) to ensure no male extremity might be injured during its completion, and that the instructions were clear.’
Michael recalls that said testing happened ‘on the grubby office carpet.’
Tony: ‘I think the one which may have caused problems for male partners was called “The helicopter”’.
Sue: ‘If that carpet could talk!’
Me: ‘What would that carpet say?’
Michael: ‘Get off me you giggling pervs. A carpet, circa 1994.’
Naomi, our Art Director, remembers commissioning now superstar fashion illustrator David Downton to illustrate the positions. A little later, Sam was in charge of briefing illustrators: ‘Try commissioning those over the phone! The worst thing was when the illustration had to be corrected...’
I think we may have re-used illustrations, turned the other way up to make a new position.
Then - shocker! - FMH nicked the idea we’d nicked, and ran their own Position of the Month, contorting Barbie and Ken dolls to illustrate them. ‘They received a cease and desist from Mattel,’ remembers Tim.
More! is long gone but Position of the Fortnight is fondly remembered, even though we early 90s staffers are in our 50s and 60s now. ‘Now it’d be Position of the Decade,’ someone quips.
‘And all the difficulty ratings are a 5,’ adds another.
Another friend added that her most recent Position of the Fortnight involved clambering up through a tiny hatch to investigate scratching noises in the loft.
‘Mine was trying to erect a 5-person tent in a gale somewhere in Northumberland,’ groans another.
‘Mine was trying to scrape out a rotting camembert that had somehow oozed into a secret cavity under the boot of my car.’
More! readers weren’t, as a rule, encumbered by exhaustion or sciatica. They didn’t have pressing domestic issues, uncooperative camping equipment or teenage offspring living at home.
As time went on More!’s positions became more convoluted as, obviously, the ‘easy’ ones had all been done.
Our readers couldn’t wait for the new issue and a new mind-blogging contortion.
But yes, we did make some parents very cross.
Love,
Fiona xx
PS If your preferred position is curled up all cosy with a gigglesome read - then my brand new novel is out now. The Women Who Ran Away From Everything has already racked up over 35 4*/5* reviews and you can order it here!
Reviewers say:
‘An utterly relatable escapade’ * ‘Devoured in two sittings’ * ‘If you need cheering up this is the book to read’ * ‘I didn’t want it to finish’ * ‘Funny moments and others that make you want to cry - just perfect!’
I’ve mentioned this before but the first published article I ever had was a reader’s story published in ‘More!’
It was called “How I got revenge on my cheating Texan ex” 😂😂
I was so thrilled someone would pay me for telling my salacious little tale😂😂
POTF always made me that weird mix of knowledgeable and insecure.
As a young woman doesn’t everyone want to feel like an up-for-it Karla Sutra?😂😂 But secretly even then I don’t think I could be arsed with some of the more challenging acrobatics. I think I’ve always been more comfortable dusting a lampshade than swinging from it😂
This brings back great memories of feeling grown up reading More! I always loved reading your column, it was so funny!