A Glimpse Through Egypt's Vintage Magazines
A collection of vintage magazine covers that are giving us all the feels.
Every morning, as our alarm clock goes off and we 'snooze it' a million times, most of us contemplate quitting our jobs and wonder why we can't just go back to the good old days when all we had to worry about is catching our favourite show or receiving our newest edition of Mickey. Well, maybe not every morning, but don’t we all refer back to the nostalgia of the good old days, when booze and hangovers were replaced with cartoons and comics? And is it just us or did the news seem lighter back then? Well here’s a collection of old comic books and magazines covers that’ll perhaps take you back to those simpler times, courtesy of Instagram account @Vintage_Magz_Egypt.
Mickey Magazine
Issue from 1977
Issue from 1997
Mickey mags were essentially the Egyptian version of Archie. Walt Disney granted Egypt the license to publish a weekly issue of the magazine to which we would add its own touch. That was all back in 1959. Most of our parents grew up to these magazines. So you know, could be a good way to bond with mama before breaking the news that you've decided not to get married and live out of wed lock your whole life, playing the field.
Al Shayateen El 13
Issue 192
The comic’s storyline followed the adventures of 13 characters, each representing an Arab country. Al Shayateen el 13 is a Lebanese-Egyptian publication that was first released in Beirut in 1978 and then in Egypt. Over 250 of the comic's storylines were written by Egyptian author, Mahmoud Salem. (Double check this translation). A movie adaptation of the comic book was released in 2007, but it wasn't met with much success due to shortcoming in terms of the production. It may be a mission to find the movie, but you should give it a shot if you really were a fan of the series.
Grendizer
Issue 90
Who doesn’t remember Grendizer? The Japanese series and comic book was to Egypt’s youth at the time, what the Kardashians are to us in this day and age. No? Almost?
Sameer Magazine
Issue from 1987
Sameer Mag is an Egyptian kids magazine that first came out in 1956 and promoted itself as being for ages 8 to 88. Adorbs! So you could read it with grandpa. The magazine is known for having been one of the first comic strips to be published in Arabic.
Tan Tan
Issue 66
Tan Tan - which is originally a French comic strip called Tin Tin - released its first issue in Egypt in 1946. It was discontinued in 1993.
Now onto the adultier magazines from back in the day...
El Maw3ed Issue from 1971
Al Maw3ed has been around since the 50s. It’s actually a Lebanese celebrity magazine/tabloid that was initially released bi-weekly, but started being published weekly at the behest of national treasure, Om Kolthoum.
Al Mosawer
Issue from 1952
Issue from 1977
This is one of the first magazines published by Dar El Helal, which is one of the oldest journalistic organisation in Egypt and the Arab world, having bee founded in 1892. El Mosawar first started coming out in 1924 and was the first magazine to have a section for sports in Egypt. A few revolutions later and many moons after this issue was published, football is still one of the most important activities in the country as we've shifted our national treasure from Om Kolthoum to Mo Salah. It's still published weekly.
Rose El Yussef
Issue from 1976
Issue from 1977
Rose El Yussef Magazine started its weekly issues back in 1925. The magazine is still running to this day.
Sabah El Kheir
Issue from 1976
Issue from 1982
Born in the 50s, Sabah El Kheir magazine is a weekly Egyptian publication and was actually an off-shoot of Rose El Yussef.
Akher Sa3a
Issue from 1977
The weekly magazine has been around since 1934. So you know, that’s cool.
El Kawakeb
Special edition released in 1966
Issue from 1976
El Kawakeb is a celebrity magazine which saw its first ever issue released on the 28th of March, 1932. The weekly is still being published to this day. The celebrity tabloid features movie synopsis as well as interviews for the stars.
For more awesome vintage covers, check out Vintage Magz Egypt's account, here.