POT WEED ~ 8 OLD ‘BEST OF HIGH TIMES’ MAGS ~ COOL RARE OLD ISSUES ~ 1980s-1990s

Description

8 OLD ‘BEST OF HIGH TIMES’ MAGS ~ COOL RARE OLD ISSUES ~ 1980s-1990s
EIGHT DIFFERENT VINTAGE ‘HIGH TIMES’ MAGAZINES
‘BEST OF HIGH TIMES’ VOL 8, 28, 11, 21, 25, 9, 23, 16 ~ EARLY RARE GREATEST ‘HITS’ ISSUES
COLLECTIBLE ‘BEST OF’ ISSUES ~~ THE VERY BEST OF THE 1970s, 1980s AND 1990s
GREAT COMPILATIONS OF THE BEST ARTICLES, PHOTOS, CENTERFOLDS & INTERVIEWS
ALL IN VERY NICE GENTLY READ CONDITION – YOU’LL LOVE THEM
You are bidding on very nice clean copies of eight different older vintage “Best of…” High Times issues published in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
The eight issues include ‘Best of’ Numbers 8, 9, 11, 16, 21, 23, 25, and 28
These magazines have great content and include the best articles, interviews, photos, comics, centerfolds and information from the 70’, 80s and early 1990s.
Why spend big $$ on hunting down those elusive earlier issues of the magazine when you can get all of the classic stuff right here in these 6 ‘best of’ issues. These are great magazines, packed with the very best of vintage High Times. There are classic underground comix, classic centerfolds, great photos and lots of celebrity stoners including actors, musicians and artists. These magazines are all you need to appreciate how different, daring, subversive and outspoken High Times was in the days before legalization and acceptance.
These vintage ‘Best Of’ issues are very collectible. They don’t come up for sale very often. People who own them are hanging on to them as they are great summaries of the best years of the magazine. All of these are from my personal collection and have been stored away carefully for many years. Complete, decent condition, gently read copies. You’ll love them.
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CONDITION: These magazines look great! Very nice clean copies. Mild wear from gentle reading and storage but No significant issues. Covers generally clean and bright, binding tight and square, No marks, writing or mailing labels. All photos are of the actual magazines being offered for sale. Issue #23 has some pen scribble over the UPC Symbol for some reason. Others are very clean and mark free.
Full of Color and B&W pictures, inner pages bright, white, clean and tight. Multiple centerfolds firmly attached.
Regular features in these early issues include: Flashes (newsflashes), Letters, Forum (Questions & Answers), Health, Law, Records, Books, Movies, Cuisine, High-Witness news, High Crimes, Paraphernalia, and Market Quotations: Prices in different Metro areas.
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Disclaimer: May include pictures of Illegal and Illicit drugs, descriptions of illegal activity, stories advocating drug use, nudity and discussion of sex, and ads featuring drug paraphernalia! (Wasn’t that the whole idea?)
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These vintage early High Times magazines have skyrocketed in value and collectability since many states have loosened their restrictive laws on Marijuana. People are searching out these early magazines for their excellent insight and knowledge as they are much less ‘Taboo’ then they were when originally published.
What used to be severely ‘underground’ is now discussed openly in public. There is a vigorous, renewed interest in all things Cannabis related and these vintage magazines are highly sought after.
Often, back in the 1970s and 1980s, these magazines were purchased, read and absorbed in private and then destroyed or tossed away. Not many copies survived to this day.
As Marijuana becomes more acceptable, these magazines will be an important reminder of a time when that wasn’t always the case.
‘High Times’ served as a source (THE source?) of information on growing, buying, smuggling, smoking and enjoying all the benefits of Weed. It even offered a market price guide in each issue. These old magazines offer a nostalgic look back on how it was back in the day when a joint could land you in prison.
Of course they cover other recreational drugs as well: LSD, Mushrooms, Hash, Cocaine and Peyote. But their emphasis was on Marijuana.
These magazines have become valuable collectibles for the new generation of liberated Marijuana, THC and CBD users.
They also offer a direct primary source of information for anyone researching how the laws, perception and culture of marijuana have changed over the years. They are also a great resource for understanding the evolution of Cannabis use in Western Culture.
The magazine also quickly became known for its counterculture journalism, featuring luminary scribes like William S. Burroughs, Charles Bukowski, Hunter S, Thompson, Truman Capote, Tom Robbins. Allen Ginsberg and Terry Southern. There were interviews with pot-friendly cultural figures as well. High Times also published special issues on growing weed as well as a series of pot related books.
The celebrities on its covers in the 1970s included Bob Marley and Truman Capote grinning next to Andy Warhol. Gregg Allman and Cher made a more ignominious appearance on a 1978 cover as “informer couple of the year.” Over the years, many hip artists, actors, writers and musicians have graced its cover.
High Times was full of interesting, sophisticated and hilarious ads. They brought an entire underground economy of pipes, rolling papers, elaborate bongs, herbals and smoking utensils out of the closet and into the public’s eye.
There was also a noticeable increase in the quality of the pot photography featured in the magazine from the early days to the 90’s, thanks to the contributions of expert photographers like Andre Grossmann, Brian Jahn, MG Imaging and Dan Skye.
Cannabis remained the main theme for covers of High Times, but as the 90s came there were more and more celebrity covers. Early on, few wanted to be associated with drugs or pot. By the 90s, people were lining up to be on the cover. The 1990s saw the likes of Ice Cube, Snoop Dog, Kurt Cobain, Keith Richards, Bob Dylan, Ozzy Osbourne and George Carlin gracing the cover of High Times. Cheech & Chong have been on the cover more than anybody else.
Over the years, High Times has progressed from a revolutionary counterculture bible for a growing community of anti-authoritarian rebels to an established magazine keeping pace with the exponential growth of the cannabis industry and legitimization of the healing herb.
‘High Times’ has turned 45, and with marijuana laws loosening in America, it’s easy to forget how radical and counter-culture the magazine was in those early days.
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF ‘HIGH TIMES’ MAGAZINE
‘High Times’ was a monthly magazine covering Marijuana, the recreational drug industry and the counter-culture interests of the time.
Founded in 1974 by an ambitious political activist and outlaw drug smuggler, High Times has been a revolutionary venture right from the start and was conceived in classic outlaw fashion.
High Times was started by Tom ‘King’ Forcade, who has been described as a “drug-culture mastermind.” Tom’s primary job was flying pot from Jamaica into South Florida and other southern states. He was successful at it. It’s why one of the original High Times logos is an airplane — it’s a mock-up of a DC-3, because that’s what he would fly, loaded to the gills with marijuana.
When he founded High Times, he founded it with cash made from dealing — because at the time, you could take cash to the bank and open up a bank account. So Tom started this magazine with dope money.
Forcade was also a radical ’60s activist. He ran the Underground Press Syndicate, later called the Alternative Press Syndicate which funded struggling counterculture publications in the late 1960s and early ’70s.
The traditional creation story goes that the magazine was intended as just a single issue, a joke, a one-off parody of Playboy that substituted marijuana for naked women, essentially as a spoof. It even had a centerfold of naked exotic, voluptuous cannabis plants.
The first issue of High Times was ahead of its time, with stories championing the medicinal properties of marijuana and the benefits of using hemp. The now-legendary first cover, featuring a young woman holding a mushroom tantalizingly close to her lips, helped the issue sell out its initial print run of 10,000 copies. By the time the second issue was ready for publication, 50,000 copies were printed and quickly sold out. The magazine was a hit, paving the way for what has become an American stoner institution. High Times continued to have the popular centerfolds; typically featuring a plump cannabis plant or sticky glistening buds.
Unfortunately, Forcade never saw his company’s success. He killed himself with a pearl-handled pistol in 1978 after another smuggling run ended badly.
At his wake, his friends, editors and coworkers rented the top floor of the World Trade Center so they could be as high as they possibly could. They obtained a small amount of Tom’s ashes, mixed it in with an ounce of marijuana, and they smoked it on the roof of the World Trade Center. Then they took a little bit and ceremoniously tossed it over the side. That was the end of High Times’ founder.
After Tom died, Michael Kennedy stepped in and saved the magazine from self-destruction. The rest, as they say, is history.
The magazine took off and soon became a regular monthly publication with a growing circulation and a big following. Its editors and writers were (and are) brave, subversive and funny. Their magazine was packed with knowledge and stoner wit and humor.
In the early days, the High Times staff struggled with the idea of putting buds on the cover, choosing instead to publish images that implied cannabis use. It wasn’t until the 10th issue that a marijuana plant appeared on the cover for the first time. That landmark June 1976 cover provided the first glimpse of a live marijuana plant for many smokers.
Early articles in the magazine covered smuggling, dealing and selling marijuana. Information was given on trafficking, smuggling, prices, etc. Articles included “Best Smuggling Ships,” “A Consumer’s Guide to Scales” and “How to Fly Low.” By 1978, the magazine had four million readers a month.
In addition to high-quality photography, High Times featured cutting-edge journalism covering a wide range of topics, including politics, activism, drugs, sex, music and film.
Under new leadership, High Times also moved away from pot, often featuring cocaine on the cover and in the centerfold. The shift to blow unquestionably alienated readers but that’s what was happening on the streets. Cocaine was big in the 70s.
Since its inception, the magazine has been at the forefront of the fight for legalization and the push to ‘medicalize’ marijuana. They have always fought against cruel sentences imposed by America’s ‘War on Drugs.’ It has also supported the Hemp industry over the years. From the beginning, they have pushed to separate marijuana from ‘Hard’ drugs, to lessen the stigma of pot smoking, and to make marijuana more acceptable and less taboo. They were always strong advocates for the marijuana-using counterculture.
I don’t think they knew, or could even begin to imagine, in 1974, just how accepted marijuana would become 40-some years later.
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As these are 8 different thicker special issues, shipping cost within the lower 48 states is .00 on this item. If you would like insurance, or anything faster than Economy Mail, please let me know and I can arrange it for you. I’ll work with you to make sure you’re happy!
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