TWO
was published by Rick Kerr, and the office address given was that
of the Melody Room
(457 Church Street, Toronto), one of two gay clubs he owned (the other
being the Music Room).
The magazine name was obviously inspired by the American homophile
publication "TWO
(Truth Will Out)," a supplement to the magazine One, which began
in 1953. With issue #6 the subtitle
was dropped from the covers. The publisher name was initially Gayboy
Publishing, and quickly
changed to Kamp Publishing LTD.
The magazine's content was eclectic, with articles, local drag revue
coverage, stories, and lots of teen
model physique photography. Of the six issues in my collection, totaling
164 pages, physique
photography made up half (82 pages). And the obvious reason was that
Kerr also owned two
studios, Rik Art and Can Art. He sold photos and books of the photography,
advertised of
course in the magazine. In TWO there were no nudes, and the "naughty
parts" were blacked
out with pouch-shaped black marker, a little distracting. It was sized
5 1/2" x 8 1/2"
The original Editor, Claude Collier, left after three issues, as he
felt Kerr was more interesting
in turning it into a physique magazine, than in actual written content.
Several pseudonyms
of Kerr's can be found in various aspects, as author (Edmond Kaye),
and editor (Alex Edmond).
The last issue of TWO (number eleven) was published in July-August
1966, and it has been
speculated that when Kerr sold his clubs he stopped the publication
as well.
**Little can be found online regarding this history, so I was very
pleased to find the information
above as part of "A Brief History of GAY: Canada's First Gay
Tabloid, 1964-1966," by Donald W. McLeod.
"Gay" was the main competitor of TWO, though they really
were aimed at different markets,
with "Gay" being more international.
