GROWING PAINS - July 1980 - November 1992 + February 2001; Near complete run of early issues

San Francisco, CA: Society of Janus; SOJ International, Inc, 2001. Half legal zine, changing to magazine sized format in February 1987. 99 issues plus ephemeral items. Light shelfwear, very good.. 12 pp. - 40 pp. Growing Pains was mailed to members of The Society of Janus as part of their benefits. Each issue features general news about the Society of Janus -- events, membership report, calendar of events, news about Janus and other DS / SM organizations, reports from the Los Angeles chapter of SOJ, and general S&M news. A typical issue might also include articles on technique, design of bondage equipment, AIDS, and reports and photos from Society of Janus programs, plus fiction and fantasy. Most issues illustrated with b/w photos, comics by Bruce N. Duncan, repurposed newspaper comics, and line drawings. The great Fakir Musafar is well-represented in earlier issues, with photos and descriptions of fascinating programs he put on for SOJ, plus many thanks for his production work on the magazine.
The Society of Janus was founded in 1974 by Cynthia Slater and Larry Olsen. Still in existence and still publishing Growing Pains, the SOJ is second only to The Eulenspiegel Society, founded in 1971 in New York. This run of Growing Pains documents the vibrancy and challenges of the early contemporary movement of organized sadomasochism.
The issues represented in this run are:
1980: July, August, November.
1981: January, February, April, and November.
1982: March, April, May, June, August, September, October/November, December.
1983: January, February/March, April/May, June, July, August, September, October/November, December.
1984: January/February, August (undated), October, November, December.
1985: January-December
1986: January, February, March, April, May, June/July, August/September, October, November, December.
1987: January - July, September, October.
1988: January-May, July, August, October, November.
1989: January, February, March, June, July, August, September, November, December.
1990: January, March, April, June, July, September, December.
1991: November, December.
1992: January - November.
2001: February.
Many of the seemingly missing issues stem from months that Growing Pains was not published, due to burnout, changes in editorship, and lack of support -- each instance usually explained in subsequent issues.
Accompanying this series are several ephemeral items:
1. Growing Pains Special Orientation Issue, with laid in pamphlet, SM: A View of Sadomasochism, by Donald L. Miesen, plus 1 pp folded to digest size, explaining what Janus stands for, how it is organized, what they do, customs, dues and fees, and how to become a member -- probably as mailed or given to prospective members; ca March 1982.
2. 4 pp. folded digest page Bondage Beauty Pageant, ca 1982, with photos of winners from same.
3. A publisher's mock up copy of July 1983, with pages pasted down, notations in red showing where photos are to go, typos corrected in red, etc.
4. Janus Resource List, dated May 1980, 12 pp. half legal, listing magazines, organizations, and retailers of interest to Janus members.
5. SM: A View of Sadomasochism, 1985 by Donald L. Miesen. 12 pp. folded half legal.
6. Growing Pains (Truncated) July 1982 issue, 1 pp. single sided letter sized. Editor Mark Joplin hasn't had time to produce a big Growing Pains this month. Also 1 pp. yellow colored single sided rebuttal to Dianne Feinstein's statement "S/M is something human beings shouldn't do to each other."
7. 2 letter sized singled-side pages, corner stapled, entitled: Complimentary Growing Pains Mailing List 6/6/83, with names and addresses of organizations and individuals who should receive a complementary copy of Growing Pains.
8. 16 pp. folded half legal miscellaneous pages from September 1982 Growing Pains, and other issues.