The Claremont Colleges Special Collections Zines Collection
1980-2014
Finding aid prepared by Myles Mikulic
Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library
2019
800 North Dartmouth Ave
Claremont 91711
Email: spcoll@claremont.edu
URL: https://library.claremont.edu/scl/
© 2019
The Claremont Colleges Library. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: The Claremont Colleges Special Collections Zines Collection
Dates: 1980-2014
Collection number: H.Mss.1104
Creator:
Davenport, William, 1960-
Creator:
Wagon, Sy
Creator:
Silvera, Ed
Creator:
Perner, Paul
Creator:
Larry-Bob
Creator:
Friedman, R. Seth
Creator:
Wobensmith, Matt
Creator:
Powers, Steve
Extent:
2 Linear Feet
2 record boxes and 1 oversized folder.
Repository:
Claremont Colleges. Library. Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library. Claremont, CA 91711
Abstract: The
collection contains zines created in California between 1980 and 2014. Represented
titles include Baitline, Cholo, Dum Dum Zine, Hot Bottoms!, Night Voices, Queer Zine
Explosion, and Unsound. The collection also contains correspondence and ephemera
relating to the later years of the zine review magazine, Factsheet Five.
Physical Location: Please consult repository.
Language of Material: Languages
represented in the collection: English and Chinese.
Administrative Information
Conditions Governing Access
Collection open for research.
Condiations Governing Use
All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing
to Special Collections.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], The Claremont Colleges Special Collections Zines Collection
(H.Mss.1104). Special Collections, The Claremont Colleges Library, Claremont, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Johnson Rare Books & Archives, 2018.
Accruals
Additions to the collection are anticipated.
Biographical / Historical
This collection represents an ongoing effort to preserve zines created in California.
The initial materials were purchased from Johnson Rare Books & Archives in
2018.
Processing Information
Processed in 2019 by library assistant Myles Mikulic, in the Special Collections
branch of the Honnold Mudd Library with assistance from Sara Chetney and Lisa Crane.
Materials have been stored in acid free folders and placed in record boxes. Folders
have been organized alphabetically by zine title followed by subject. Unopened
letters relating to Factsheet Five have been opened and arranged alphabetically by
sender. Uncashed personal checks for Factsheet Five subscriptions have been removed
and destroyed. Match heads from matchbooks included in Dum Dum Zine issue 3 have
been removed and destroyed. A lollipop also included in Dum Dum has been removed and
the wrapping placed in a mylar sleeve.
Scope and Contents
The collection contains zines and related materials created in California from 1980
to 2014. The majority are small circulation titles, many photomechanically
reproduced. They mostly cover topics underrepresented in mainstream commercial
culture, including Latin American subcultures, LGBT+ issues, and underground
music.
While the collection does not contain issues of the magazine Factsheet Five, it does
contain correspondence and related materials collected by its final publisher, R.
Seth Friedman. The correspondence includes business letters, subscriptions,
information from publishers, and letters from zine creators and readers. Several
letters are addressed from prisons (Factsheet Five was initially sent for free to
prison inmates). The Factsheet Five materials also include miscellaneous broadsides,
photographs, artist information, posters promoting poetry at Boise State University,
ephemera, and how-to guides about publishing.
Arrangement
The collection has been organized alphabetically by zine title.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library’s online public access catalog.
Subject Terms
California--History
Sexuality & culture
Sexual orientation
Underground music
Genre and Form of Materials
Audiocassettes
Correspondence
Magazines
Photographs
Zines
Baitline
2009-2014
General
Baitline is a free San Francisco advertiser zine known for its suggestive
classifieds and nautical cover art. It was created and published by Sy
Wagon, a longtime Bay Area artist and founding member of the punk outfit
Alabaster Choad. Her writing and art "aim to fulfill the various needs of
the liberated oddballs and the marginalized pan-sexual communities that find
home and/or connection in San Francisco," according to SFMOMA's blog. The
monthly, cut-and-paste zine is filled with classified ads immersed in sexual
humor.
Text copied from Johnson Rare Books & Archives item description.
Cholo
1980
General
Cholo is a record of Cholo culture in San Francisco's Mission District,
filled with visual representations of graffiti, gangs, cars, tattoos,
fashion, sexuality, etc. Edited by Ed Silvera and distributed by Gary
Arlington's Fan Francisco Comic Book Company, it includes numerous
photographs, as well as original art by Don, Rojelio Del Fuego, Crazy Boy,
and others. Produced in a style reminiscent of science fiction fanzines of
the period: photomechanically reproduced on one side of 8 ½" x 11" sheets of
paper of various colors and bound with brads.
Text copied from Johnson Rare Books & Archives item description.
Christopher and His Step-Father
circa 1994
General
Christopher and His Step-Father was a spanking zine published by Control T
Studios. Located in Mission Hills, Control T Studios also published the
spanking zines Hot Bottoms; Portfolio, CTS # 62: Coach Shithead!; Two
Stories: 18th Birthday [and] Dad's Discipline; and Watch It Buster!!! Or
You're Gonna Get It!. Now defunct, Control T Studios also produced and
distributed hardcore gay pornographic videos and were considered leaders in
the fetish industry.
Information copied from the Johnson Rare Books & Archives item
description for Hot Bottoms.
Dum Dum Zine
2013
General
Dum Dum Zine is an experimental collaborative zine containing writing and
multimedia objects that fit inside a 45" record mailer box. Notable
contributors include Jessica Garrison (One Dollar Stories), Michael Stock
(Part Time Punks), Rebekah Weikel (Penny-Ante Editions), Robey Clark
(Pop-Hop Books & Print), as well as designer Adam J. Kurtz. Dum Dum is
an experimental zine printed annually featuring hybrid forms of fiction,
journalism, art, and design.
Text copied from Johnson Rare Books & Archives item description.
Box 1, Folder 5
2013
Note
Issue No. 3. Includes cassette tape, bagged geode, Dum Dum lollipop
(removed), pencil, flashcards, toilet paper, buttons, and
matchbooks.
Factsheet Five
1982-2003
General
Factsheet Five (1982-1998) was a magazine that provided short reviews of
zines and was instrumental in boosting the scene built around these
small-circulation, self-published works. It was started by Mike Gunderloy,
who resigned in 1991. Hudson Luce took over for one issue and then R. Seth
Friedman became publisher. In order to make Factsheet Five financially
sound, Friedman took some radical steps, including ending the policy of
giving free subscriptions to prisoners, renegotiating previous subscription
rates, no longer trading for other zines, and most dramatically, announcing
that Factsheet Five would no longer be able to review all zines sent. By the
end of Factsheet Five's run, 16,000 copies were printed, each with over
1,000 reviews. As a testament to Factsheet Five's important role in zine
history, three books were published based on the periodical: How to Publish
a Fanzine, The World of Zines, and The Factsheet Five Zine Reader. Mike
Gunderloy's Factsheet Five Collection of over 10,000 zines and mail art is
now held at the New York State Library in Albany, New York and 240 zines
Friedman donated are in the collection of the San Francisco Public Library.
Text copied from Johnson Rare Books & Archives item description.
Box 1, Folder 6
Art and Artists
1984-1992
Box 1, Folder 7
Broadsides and Zines (1 of 2)
1982-1996
Box 1, Folder 8
Broadsides and Zines (2 of 2)
1982-1996
Box 1, Folder 9
Correspondence - A-B
1992-2002
Box 1, Folder 10
Correspondence - C
1991-2002
Box 1, Folder 11
Correspondence - D-F
2001-2002
Box 1, Folder 12
Correspondence - G-I
1993-2003
Box 1, Folder 13
Correspondence - J-Le
1994-2002
Box 1, Folder 14
Correspondence - Li-Ly
1995-2002
Box 1, Folder 15
Correspondence - M-Mah
Circa 1992
Box 1, Folder 16
Correspondence - Mar-Mi
2000-2002
Box 1, Folder 17
Correspondence - N
2001-2002
Box 1, Folder 18
Correspondence - O
2001-2002
Box 1, Folder 19
Correspondence - P
1998-2002
Box 1, Folder 20
Correspondence - Pollination Press
2002
Box 1, Folder 21
Correspondence - R
1997-2002
Box 1, Folder 22
Correspondence - Sa-Sh
1996-2002
Box 1, Folder 23
Correspondence - Soc-Son
2001-2002
Box 1, Folder 24
Correspondence - St-Sy
1994-2002
Box 1, Folder 25
Correspondence - T-V
1992-2002
Box 1, Folder 26
Correspondence - W
1991-2002
Box 1, Folder 27
Correspondence - Z-Unknown
1989-2002
Box 2, Folder 1
Photographs
Note
Contains explicit images.
Drawer 1, Folder 1
Posters
1994
Note
Posters promoting poetry at Boise State University.
Box 2, Folder 2
Publications
1991
General
Contains single issue of Bi-Lifestyles and Street Fighter II.
Box 2, Folder 3
Publications - How-To Guides
circa 1997
Hot Bottoms
circa 1994
General
Hot Bottoms was a spanking zine comprised in part of letters, stories, and
artwork submitted by readers, with original photographs depicting all manner
of corporal punishment. It was edited by Steve Powers and published by
Control T Studios in Mission Hills. Control T Studios also published the
spanking zines Portfolio, CTS # 62: Coach Shithead!; Christopher & His
Step-Father; Two Stories: 18th Birthday [and] Dad's Discipline; and Watch It
Buster!!! Or You're Gonna Get It!. Now defunct, Control T Studios also
produced and distributed hardcore gay pornographic videos and were
considered leaders in the fetish industry.
Text copied from Johnson Rare Books & Archives item description.
Night Voices
1981
General
Night Voices was a goth punk zine that ran for six issues between 1979 and
1983. It was edited by Paul Perner and produced in Van Nuys, California.
Text copied from Johnson Rare Books & Archives item description.
Portfolio, CTS # 62: Coach Shithead!
circa 1994
General
Portfolio, CTS # 62: Coach Shithead! was a spanking zine published by Control
T Studios. Located in Mission Hills, Control T Studios also published the
spanking zines Hot Bottoms; Christopher & His Step-Father; Two Stories:
18th Birthday [and] Dad's Discipline; and Watch It Buster!!! Or You're Gonna
Get It!. Now defunct, Control T Studios also produced and distributed
hardcore gay pornographic videos and were considered leaders in the fetish
industry.
Information copied from the Johnson Rare Books & Archives item
description for Hot Bottoms.
Queer Zine Explosion
1992-1998
General
Queer Zine Explosion contains reviews of queer zines, recordings, and books,
created by Larry-Bob. It served as a major connecting point for the
Queercore movement. Larry-Bob, who also edited the zine Holy Titclamps,
donated most of the zines he collected while editing Queer Zine Explosion to
the GLBT Historical Society of Northern California in San Francisco.
Text copied from Johnson Rare Books & Archives item description.
Two Stories: 18th Birthday [and] Dad's Discipline
circa 1994
General
Two Stories: 18th Birthday [and] Dad's Discipline was a spanking zine
published by Control T Studios. Located in Mission Hills, Control T Studios
also published the spanking zines Hot Bottoms; Portfolio, CTS # 62: Coach
Shithead!; Christopher & His Step-Father; and Watch It Buster!!! Or
You're Gonna Get It!. Now defunct, Control T Studios also produced and
distributed hardcore gay pornographic videos and were considered leaders in
the fetish industry.
Information copied from the Johnson Rare Books & Archives item
description for Hot Bottoms.
Unsound
1983-1985
General
Unsound was among the first American zines covering industrial, noise, punk,
and the experimental underground. It was published by William Davenport, a
founding member of the influential noise band Problemist. It came about as a
reaction against separatism, in which a select few became the only creative
sources that are recognized, and focused on hard edge and subversive art and
music, including the work of Negativland, Glenn Branca, Ellen Zweig,
Einsturzende Neubauten, Karen Finley, Boyd Rice, Minimal Man, Sonic Youth,
Whitehouse, Psychic TV, and Leslie Thornton. Unsound was also an important
networking tool, with sections devoted to radio, affiliated zines and record
stores, mail art, and tape and record reviews.
Text copied from Johnson Rare Books & Archives item description.
Box 2, Folder 12
2 of 2
1985
Note
Final Issue (Vol. 3, No. 2). Includes cassette tape.
Watch It Buster!!! Or You're Gonna Get It!
circa 1994
General
Watch It Buster!!! Or You're Gonna Get It! was a spanking zine published by
Control T Studios. Located in Mission Hills, Control T Studios also
published the spanking zines Hot Bottoms; Portfolio, CTS # 62: Coach
Shithead!; Christopher & His Step-Father; and Two Stories: 18th Birthday
[and] Dad's Discipline. Now defunct, Control T Studios also produced and
distributed hardcore gay pornographic videos and were considered leaders in
the fetish industry.
Information copied from the Johnson Rare Books & Archives item
description for Hot Bottoms.
