Modern Drunkard
Modern Drunkard is a glossy color periodical humorously promoting the lifestyle of the "functional alcoholic".[1][2]
 Cover of the May 2003 issue of Modern Drunkard | |
| Type | Magazine |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Publisher | Frank Kelly Rich |
| Editor | Frank Kelly Rich |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Headquarters | Denver, Colorado |
| Website | drunkard |
History
Frank Kelly Rich founded Modern Drunkard in 1996. The first issue was 16 photocopied pages with made-up ads; in 2006 its circulation was about 35,000.[3] The magazine runs advertisements from bars in Denver, Minneapolis, Las Vegas and Philadelphia as well as companies selling drinking supplies. The print edition is available at newsstands and also free in bars and liquor stores.[1]
Content
Regular features include "Booze in the News", "Post Cards from Skid Row" (featuring poetry written by and/or for the inebriated), "Wino Wisdom",[4] "Alcocomics − Cartoons for the sober challenged", and "You Know You're a Drunkard When..." The magazine also features articles on alcohol's place in history, including such topics as the Whiskey Rebellion and President Franklin D. Roosevelt's love of the martini.
The magazine frequently runs pieces arguing against MADD's positions, and in August 2004 had an editorial on the shrinking proof of a bottle of Jack Daniel's.[1][5]
Online content
The magazine's website sells paraphernalia bearing its logo and/or phrases related to the magazine itself and to the liberal consumption of alcohol. The Modern Drunkard IRC chatroom is an active communication channel along with the official forums.
Style
The magazine's artistic style is reminiscent of popular 1950s "men's action" pulp periodicals,[4] with artwork depicting tough, lantern-jawed men and sultry, buxom women.[2]
Modern Drunkard's rebellious standard features a martini glass with an olive above two crossed swords. Three letters, M, D and M, appear on the flag and stand for "Modern Drunkard Magazine."
Staff
Rich, the magazine's creator, is also listed as the publisher/editor. Staff are allowed to drink (and smoke) on the job and are provided with a bar and a fridge containing beer.[2][6]
Conventions
Modern Drunkard Magazine held its first convention for readers and staff in 2004.[1] The convention, held at the Stardust Casino in Las Vegas, reportedly broke the casino's record for the amount of money brought in at a bar during a private event. It became an annual event, advertised as "The best time you’ll never remember" and "Say it loud, say it plowed".[3][7][8]
Notes
- Smith, Dinitia (October 20, 2004). "A Serious Business for a Humorous Drunkard". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
- Kelly, David (January 2, 2005). "Homage to boozers: Bimonthly magazine unabashedly celebrates the pleasures and virtues of heavy drinking while defending drunks as an 'oppressed minority'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 20, 2011 – via San Francisco Chronicle.
- Higgins, Sean (June 23, 2006). "The Anti-temperance Movement". America's Future. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
- Decker, Edwin. "How Modern Drunkards convene in Las Vegas". San Diego City Beat. Archived from the original on September 24, 2016. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
- "Drinkers object to Jack Daniel's watering whiskey down". USA Today. Associated Press. September 29, 2004. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
- Kane, Colleen (April 12, 2015). "The three martini office: Where drinking at work is a job requirement". Fortune. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
- King, Kat Valentine (May 11, 2005). "Modern Drunkard opens the tap for annual convention". The Denver Post. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
- Harsanyi, David (2007). Nanny State: How Food Fascists, Teetotaling Do-Gooders, Priggish Moralists, and Other Boneheaded Bureaucrats Are Turning America into a Nation of Children. New York: Broadway. pp. 57–58. ISBN 9780767924320.
Modern Drunkard Las Vegas 2004.