...Motion Pictureand Photoplay,two periodicals designed to promote the classic tales unfolding on screens each night before an enamored public. As the motion picture craze swept the nation, fan magazines evolved to become for 45 million people indispensable sources of Hollywood legend and lore, both true and contrived. Saturating the American psyche with lush photos and dramatic stories of the heroic and glamorous, 130 fan magazines succeeded at creating a world-wide fascination, if not obsession, with Hollywood stars––a preoccupation which remains to this day. Hollywood and its players eagerly participated in this conspiracy of publicity for five decades, until the double-edged sword of fame was drawn by Confidential and its imitators, tabloids whose salacious stories ended the reign of the once-glorious fan magazine.

This just in!! fanmag.net has an exclusive sneak peek of The Rumor Mill. Take your own visual tour of the magazines as they evolved through the decades: