HOLD THE PRESS!
Old periodicals are very much children of their time and, as such, can come across as quite quaint, but (at the same time) illuminating to the modern reader. In this respect, time-worn scooter magazines are no exception. Scooter and Three Wheeler (STW) was an early example of a special interest magazine catering for the scooter enthusiast.
Here we recount a brief history of this niche magazine…
EARLY DAYS (FROM 1956)
The first issue of was published in May 1956 and it was noted on its front – now sadly lost to history. was sold initially at the grand old price of 9d (just under 4p), rising to 1/6d (7.5p) at the time of its demise; it was designed as a monthly magazine in an approximate A5 format and with an average 100-page count. It was published (as was almost all printed material of the day) just off Fleet Street, the home of the British daily papers. By today’s standards, was cheaply produced on paper only slightly better quality than the newspaper print of the day, although the cover was of slightly superior paper allowing for better reproduction and some colour printing possibilities (in the early days, in the form of green headers and footers on the covers with some green reproduction utilised on the advertising material featured on the back cover). It should be mentioned, and following in the tradition of other similar special interest magazines of the day, such as these front covers often featured what was obviously an advertisement for a particular dealer or a manufacturer (there were many to choose from) of the day.
