Buying Porn Magazines, was it a turn on for you?

[sh987]

Was I turned by the experience of buying a magazine? If by "turn on" you mean a source of anxiety or fear of shame, then I was as turned on as anybody. It was bad enough having to hide my mags, but it was worse buying them.

Being much older now, I feel no embarrassment about going into an adult shop, alone or with my wife, and buying stuff there. As an older teenager, though, it was horrible.

This thread has really brought back memories. With the internet, I rarely find a need to go on "shopping sprees" late at night, which is a shame because I had some interesting experiences.

The first time I actually purchased porn (instead of "reading" copies at friend's homes) was when I was 18, and the purchase was made in a full-blown, hardcore adult bookstore. Our town had several, and this one had the biggest reputation. I hopped on the bus, and walked a few blocks looking over my shoulder to see if anyone I knew saw me before entering. The entryway was a short hallway, lined with magazines. To my young mind, I was in porn nirvana. Being inexperienced, I sadly ignored the good stuff and instead focused on the few P***boy and H**tler titles. I ended up buying P***boy's first issue without staples because of the brunette centerfold and a P*nth**se. My heart was pounding when I paid, asking for change in quarters so I could visit one of their video booths. Needless to say, my throbbing boner didn't last long in front of my first hardcore video!

My most heart-stopping purchase was made a few years later. I was visiting family in a different town and had the urge to get my rocks off. I passed a convenience store (may have been a 7-11 back when they sold porn behind the counter) and decided to get something to sneak back into the parent's house. I was pretty anxious that someone would recognize me though it had been a few years since I'd lived there regularly. Of course, it would be the cashier. I was so focused on seeing what titles were behind the counter, that I didn't realize the clerk was the hottest brunette cheerleader in our graduating class, one that I'd frequently fantasized about! I blurted out my request before realizing who it was. She obviously recognized me and gave me a curious smirk, but didn't say anything. Looking back, I should have made smalltalk and flirted a bit.

But the best purchasing experience of all was one I didn't make. I'd been dating a young woman for a few months when out of the blue she asked me what kind of porn I liked to look at. We'd never had the discussion before, though she knew that I'd occasionally rent movies. By this time my regular purchases had moved on to Club, V*lvet, and High S*ciety - the harder end of the spectrum you could sell in regular stores in the US at the time, which were just starting to show actual penetration. Two days later, she shows up with two and a copy of P*nth**se L*tters and says "Let's read some letters and act out some scenes! P*nth**se L*tters really turns me on!" That... was a lot of fun. It's too bad she was domineering in all aspects of our relationship, not just in bed...

[Charlie Black]

I was about sixteen and had just started work and became intrigued by a sexy looking publication, wrapped in cellophane, high on display at a local newsagent; THE SUMMER HOLIDAY SEX MANUAL. Plucking up courage, I asked the guy behind the counter to get it down for me, but he didn't give me a second glance as he did. It's difficult to put into words what a massive turn on it was. Full of photos, many in colour, of naked couples having fun, happy sex out of doors, it was written and produced by the wonderful Tuppy Owens, with obvious care and commitment. It was a lovely crash course in discovering that porn could be positive and liberating, rather than furtive and seedy. I looked out for more mags featuring Miss Owens' work and discovered ALPHA in which she had a column. She gave a positive review to INSIDE LINDA LOVELACE and though thinking it odds-on as having been ghost written, recommended it for all the sex tips; she also wrote enthusiastically about the thriving American hardcore industry.

Some of Tuppy's positive attitudes towards sex and porn rubbed off on me, so to speak, and at that young age resolved to enjoy both, though I soon discovered that a lot of British porn was crap. I was never embarrassed about buying magazines, taking the attitude that if the shop was willing to sell them, the staff didn't mind. If you're self-conscious it's easy to imagine things; in reality whoever served you has probably forgotten about it within minutes. I never considered myself 'pervy' or 'sad' for liking porn; these negative expressions only came into vogue way into the 1980s, when a puritanical kind of feminism was in vogue.

[engine ear]

there used to be a ton of newstands with hardcore porn in NYC, not really anymore, they are few and far between.

sometimes if im in a different neighborhood ill check different newstands, sometimes they may have the old stuff (gourmet editions, parliament, express, visions of fantasy glossies) and you have to wonder, how long have they been there?

some are from 1986 or so, so theyre almost 30 years old! i get a charge in my stomach if i find a treasure in some corner store, btw if anyone knows where to buy gourmet editions online please let me know...

[kartwood]

This my seem a bit O/T at the start, but stick it out...

I'm really enjoying this thread. I've never really had any mates I felt comfortable discussing this sort of thing with. I have recently figured out that I still bare some guilt and shame over the subject.

As soon as I realized that there was something different and interesting about the opposite sex, I had access to a good sized and frequently replenished supply of "erotica". This was in the late 1950s and early 60s. Our next door neighbor worked at a local news distribution warehouse. He would bring home all sorts of returned magazines, all tied up in string and all without covers. I don't know if he was choosy about what he took or not but a lot of "girly" type magazines ended up in a pile on my father's bedroom closet. I assume other folks got some too.
I wish I could remember actually discovering the cache but it's a bit hazy. I do remember being very young and would not consider taking any items back to my room until much later. I crouched, half in and half out of the closet, terrified of being caught. I can still smell the wool suits, stale tobacco, Old Spice and shoe polish.
I never knew the titles. Some of them were smaller format and could have been Tab or that sort of thing. There was nothing hardcore back in those days. Heck! those ladies didn't even have hair down there!
I have no doubt it's where I first saw Betty Page.
Thanks to everyone who shares so generously here!
More to follow...

[Sadielover]

I always enjoyed it enormously. Rather than buy magazines individually, regularly, I'd visit newsagents every month or so and just pluck five or six magazines off the shelf (usually Paul Raymond titles), head over to the counter and pay for them, regardless of who was serving/buying. The weight and feel of the sheaf of porn in my hands, and the thrill of wondering what models were in them, what they'd be wearing, who'd shot them etc was a real thrill, and is something I rather miss.

[CaptainAmazing]

Not just magazines, but rentals at the video store too:

Usually I'd shy away from a purchase/rental if a woman was at the counter a mainstream magazine/video place that wasn't a full sex shop. I sort of assume most women disapprove of porn or don't think highly of guys who jack off with it. And if they work somewhere that it's sold, I figured those women probably dreaded guys buying it.

Me personally, I was always way more at ease if a guy was behind the counter -- especially if he was the one who managed/owned the place. It was like there was a sort of silent, mutual understanding of "a guy thing".

[bagpuss12]

Originally Posted by dogface999

Ever since I had enough money to buy porn mags I was always turned on by buying them from female newsagents. I was totally porn obsessed from the age of about 14 but was always too skint to buy mags from the newsagent. I would occasionally go to a junk shop called Cambridge resale that had piles of second hand mags for about 20p each and get a few quids worth when I could.

One day I was cycling back from there with about 10 mags in the crappy plastic bags they provided. I had got as far as East road and the bag started splitting. I knew I had to get a new bag before they spilled out everywhere. I went into a chemst on Burley St and asked the middle aged lady behind the counter if she would sell me a strong carrier bag. She just gave me one for nothing but as she handed it to me the original bag chose that moment to split and spill all my mags over the floor in the chemists. They were all big boob mags (treasure chests I think) and it seemed like they all landed face up with a huge pair of tits declaring to all the world that this was my wanking material. Luckily there was nobody else in the shop as I scrabbled around on the floor gathering them up and putting them in the new bag. I was tremendously turned on but very embarrassed and when I looked up and said sorry the lady just said "don't you worry about that love, you just get those home and have a lovely time." From that moment I was totally hooked and I would always stop of at the chemist for a new bag although she wasn't always there but when she was she was always friendly and would wish me a "nice time when I get home"

When I started work at 16 I was suddenly earning enough money to buy shit loads of porn and I started frequenting several newsagents along Newmarket road Cambridge. There was one near the roundabout that had a particularly huge collection of porn and big boob stuff which is my thing. The shop was run by Indians and hasn’t changed much. They always have a woman serving and I would go in there having worked up a raging stiffy first which I would arrange in my pants to make it really obvious. Then I would buy all the big tit mags I could find and take them to the lady at the counter hoping that she would spot my hard on. Instead of just paying for them I would always ask if she had anymore big boob titles stashed away in the store room. Sometimes she would call another woman over and ask her to have a look in the store room, then I would get to wait at the counter with my pile of mags and a huge hard on. I was such a regular there that they made a special effort to source big tit mags for me. It was just perv heaven and I acquired a far bigger collection of porn mags than I could really store just for the thrill of buying them from that shop. Sometimes I would go in there and buy mags that I already owned just for the thrill of it.

Nowadays the variety of porn on offer is much improved and I tend to buy DVD titles such as Score and Gent from the Private shop on Chesterton Road. The girl who works in there is totally cool and she puts aside any big tit titles for me. I telephone once a week and she tells me what new titles she has for me and is happy to read out all the details over the phone. I always have a porn film playing when I call so she can hear it in the background and I have fantastic wank while she tells me about the films. When I go into the shop to collect my latest batch of dvds I always make sure I have raging hard on and I have a look through all the masturbation toys while I’m in there and ask her which are the best and what new products are available. A few months back I bought a fleshlight on her recommendation and I always take the opportunity to tell her how pleased I am with it. Its such a mega thrill to discus my porn and masturbation requirements with her.

I have so many DVDs now that I have made a list so she knows what films I already have when new stock comes in. On the list I gave to her I also have a wish list which really lays out what a perv I am. My wish list reads
1) any thing to do with big tits the bigger the better
2) any thing featuring girls with big tits encouraging the viewer to masturbate
3) any form of masturbation encouragement or films where women watch men masturbate

She is totally unfazed by all this and when I phone she is always friendly and she often says things like “I think you’ll get really excited by this one” when discussing a new film title”

It’s a real wanker’s paradise of the type I used to fantasize about when I was 13.

I’d be interested to hear of any other sex shops or news agents not to far from Cambridge that might offer a thrill to a perv like me,

I know most of the places you state here as I used to get a bus to Cambridge every Friday to spend my wages on porn mags. I was so nervous about being seen by anyone from where I lived that the hour long trip there and the agonising hour long trip back seemed worth it. Plus Cambridge had proper sex shops and at that time we didn't. At first I would just but Escort or Fiesta from the newsagents but I soon discovered that the more out the way newsagents stocked "Value packs" of almost hardcore foreign titles. They would show full on hard-ons and penetration but have a small dot or something covering the very tip so you got to see quite a bit. I remember one trip where I spent nearly my full weeks wages on those. A grand total of £75. With around 3 mags in each pack costing £5 each I had a huge stash right there to add to the huge stash at home. When I discovered the sex shops it took me a while to actually enter but once I did it really was like a paradise.

I always had a hared-on when I was buying mags regardless of how nervous I was. I remember leaking into my pants a few times. Never actually cum but the pre-cum was sometimes so bad that it soaked through my pants and into my jeans.

That was when I was in my late teens between 1998-2000. I miss those days to a point but was glad of the internet too. If nothing else it meant I got tp spend my money on something else.

[Jazz Man]

In the pre-internet 1980's I was pretty obsessed with buying porn and once I'd seen the hardcore stuff that's what I wanted. Luckily I found a couple of "Second-hand bookshops" in Birmingham that could supply - Priv8, CeeCee, etc. They were in sealed packs so you never knew exactly what you were getting - but it was pretty exciting opening them on the way home and seeing a favourite or great new model.

Luckily I also got to travel to Europe with work. I remember going into my first major porn shop in Copenhagen - thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Didn't know what to choose!

I remember buying a copy of Anal Sex in Milan once - I was with a female colleague and whilst she was occupied by something else I grabbed it from a newsagent at the station. He gave me a disgusted look, but I didn't care and was kind of excited that my colleague might see it. Probably luckily for me she didn't! This story http://vintage-erotica-forum.com/sho...8&postcount=39 comes from that mag and is an all time favourite.

[kw isnotit]

I think I’ve only ever bought two magazines in my life, although my uncle supplied me with plenty in the past.

The first time I bought one was a Mayfair Christmas edition from about 86 or 87. I was working about 20 miles from where I lived and use to travel by train. I always stopped at a newsagent in the morning to buy a paper and got friendly with the old Asian gentleman who owned the shop. Over time I got in to the habit of popping in to see him on a Friday evening when I arrived back home. No one really came in at that time and he’d usually make us a coffee and we’d chat. This particular evening someone did come in, so I started browsing the magazines while he served them. I never planned it and I still don’t know why, but I picked the Mayfair up and just said I’d take it. He didn’t make a fuss and just put it in a bag for me. It certainly wasn’t a turn on, but I do remember feeling a rush of achievement that I’d done it.