SDM Barcodes
The first barcode to appear on the cover of Skin Diver
was in November 1975.
The barcode topic is somewhat interesting because some magazines such as Omni
resisted using barcodes for years since the publishers of Omni thought the barcode
detracted from the cover artwork too much.
Apparently SDM had similar concerns,
since SDM barcodes were often colored blue or other colors
to help them blend in with the cover photo,
or rotated so as not to overlap the subject in the cover photo.
As for an estimate when the barcodes on the front cover ended,
they were present for October 1987, but gone by January 1988.
The barcodes were completely gone from the magazine from then on,
i.e., the barcodes had not simply been moved to the spine or back cover,
but rather completely eliminated.
However, mailing labels from that era appear to have a printed barcode
of a different type.
UP
Updated: June 13, 2007