Rags: 50th Anniversary Archive

"Try as I may, I can't get Rags out of my mind. It was the perfect magazine for the look and the style of the times, just as Rolling Stone was the perfect magazine for the music of the times. You could actually see the changes that were going on, not only within the counter-culture but within the nation at large. With Rags we wanted to reflect those changes on our pages, and in the thirteen issues we produced, we started a dialogue that continues to this day. With this 50th Anniversary commemorative set we want to remember and celebrate the effort of the many talented people who made Rags the influential voice it became."  - Baron Wolman, 2020

Archive by Baron Wolman
Compiled, edited, and art directed by Dagon James

In 1970, Baron Wolman (1937–2020), founding chief photographer of Rolling Stone, joined Mary Peacock, Daphne Davis, and Blair Sabol to create what Wolman affectionately described as “The Rolling Stone of Fashion.” The result was Rags, an independent magazine that documented the rapidly changing relationship between clothing, identity, and popular culture at the beginning of the 1970s.

Published for 13 issues between 1970 and 1971, following two early prototypes, Rags rejected the conventional authority of contemporary fashion magazines. Rather than instruct its readers how to dress, it observed how people were already using clothing and personal style to define themselves. Its editors treated fashion not simply as an industry, but as a visible expression of social change.

The magazine moved freely between fashion, literature, music, photography, and underground culture. Its pages included street style, tattoo culture, lesbian style, dandies, clergy, prison rodeo clowns, and features on Jimi Hendrix, Ed Ruscha, Kurt Vonnegut, Janis Joplin, Imogen Cunningham, the Cockettes, Holly Woodlawn, Betsey Johnson, Robert Crumb, and many others.

Created to commemorate the magazine’s fiftieth anniversary, the Rags: 50th Anniversary Archive reproduces all 13 original issues together with five additional archival publications: both prototype issues, the original prospectus, a promotional booklet, and a newly created archive issue containing previously unpublished material from Wolman’s collection.

Together, the facsimiles comprise nearly 1,200 pages of photography, writing, correspondence, production material, and ephemera. They are housed in a bespoke linen-covered clamshell box with silver-stamped accents and accompanied by photographs and objects drawn from the original Rags archive.

The original numbered anniversary edition was limited to 50 sets signed by Baron Wolman and Dagon James. Collector sets numbered 6–50 and Deluxe sets numbered 1–5 are now sold out. The two remaining offerings—the Publisher Proof Prototype Set and the Original 1970–71 Publisher Archive—preserve materials used in the production of the anniversary edition and surviving objects from Wolman’s personal archive.

ARCHIVE CONTENTS

• Nearly 1,200 pages
• 13 complete facsimile issues of Rags
• Two prototype issues
• Original prospectus and promotional booklet
• Special archive issue featuring previously unpublished material
• Bespoke linen-covered clamshell box with silver-stamped accents
• Archival photographs, correspondence, production materials, and ephemera

RAGS ARCHIVE COLLECTOR SET

Sets numbered 6–50

The Collector Edition brings together thirty individual archival components, including facsimiles of all thirteen original issues, both prototype issues, three newly produced editions of rarities from the Rags archive, an embroidered patch, two stickers, a 4 × 9-inch postcard, a pin, an original 1970 sheet of Rags stationery from Baron Wolman’s archive, and a signed 8 × 10-inch photograph of The Sanchez Twins by photographer and Rags publisher Baron Wolman. Each set is hand signed by Baron Wolman and Dagon James.

RAGS ARCHIVE DELUXE SET

Sets numbered 1–5

The Deluxe Edition brings together thirty-three individual archival components, including facsimiles of all thirteen original issues, both prototype issues, three newly produced editions of rarities from the Rags archive, an embroidered patch, sticker, 4 × 9-inch postcard, pin, an original 1970 sheet of Rags stationery from the archive, and four signed 8 × 10-inch photographs by photographer and Rags publisher Baron Wolman: The Sanchez Twins, Bill & Eloise, Timothy Leary, and Robert Crumb. Each set is hand signed by Baron Wolman and Dagon James.

PUBLISHER PROOF PROTOTYPE ARCHIVE SET

One available

This set contains the first proof copies of the clamshell box and individual publications, produced for approval before the final edition went into production.

This edition includes all components of the Deluxe Edition, including facsimiles of all thirteen original issues, both prototype issues, three newly produced editions of rarities from the Rags archive, embroidered patch, sticker, 4 × 9-inch postcard, pin, an original 1970 sheet of Rags stationery from the archive, and four signed 8 × 10-inch photographs by photographer and Rags publisher Baron Wolman. This set is hand signed by Baron Wolman and Dagon James.

The edition is signed by Baron Wolman and Dagon James and includes a letter of authenticity signed by Dagon James. Also included is the unbound prototype of The Very Best of Rags 1970–1971 softcover book, along with additional rarities from the Rags office archive of 1970–1971, sourced from Baron Wolman’s personal collection.

ORIGINAL RAGS 1970–1971 COMPLETE PUBLISHER ARCHIVE SET

One available

This complete archive set contains all thirteen original vintage issues of Rags magazine from Baron Wolman’s personal archive, along with the prospectus "Dummy" issue and accompanying prospectus letter.

These copies were pulled directly from the printing press by Wolman and preserved in his personal archive for five decades. Each issue has been hand-signed by Baron Wolman.

The archive also includes a collection of original Rags office materials from 1970–1971, including the 1970 Christmas card, Rags letterhead, poster, and assorted press tear sheets produced for internal office use.

After five decades in Baron Wolman’s personal archive, this set represents an exceptionally preserved example of the original publication. It also includes four 8 × 10-inch photographs from Rags, each hand-signed by Baron Wolman, and a signed letter of provenance from The Waverly Press publisher Dagon James.

This exceptionally preserved archive offers institutions and private collectors a rare opportunity to acquire a complete original run of Rags with direct provenance from the publisher’s collection.

We are also offering a separate 254-page softcover book, The Very Best of Rags, featuring a new introduction by Rags publisher, Baron Wolman, with an accompanying essay by fashion historian, Laura McLaws Helms.