gallery

Gallery is a men's magazine begun by Montcalm Publishing in 1972. It is one of the more popular "skin" magazines that arose on the Playboy magazine pattern in the 1970s. Montcalm also published The Twilight Zone Magazine in the 1980s, apparently partly in imitation of Penthouse magazine's offshoot Omni. Gallery has long featured a "Girl Next Door" contest in which photographers submit pictures of amateur models (similar to Hustler's "Beaver Hunt.") From each group of monthly entries, one model winner is selected. At the end of the year, one is crowned "Girl Next Door of the Year" and awarded a cash prize of $25,000. The most famous winner is retired porn star Stacy Valentine; at the time of her selection she was Oklahoma housewife Stacy Baker. Montcalm Publishing went bankrupt (March 2008), leaving many photographers and models empty handed; some were owed as much as $100,000. Gallery magazine was purchased by the Magna Publishing Group. The first issue under their ownership came out...