When I turned 18 years old, I was finally able to buy bondage magazines from my local adult bookstore. Back then in the 1970s, there were five main publishers: Harmony, HOM, Lyndon, and one out of Paterson, New Jersey, whose name I can't recall.

IMHO the best pics were found in HOM mags. Their models were girls-next-door, the ropework was not necessarily neat but it was tight, and, most importantly for me, most of the models had fear in their eyes.

Harmony seemed to be trying really hard to create artwork. The models were beautiful professionals, the ropework neat and slightly snug, and the ladies' expressions were blank. 

Lyndon's photos were terrible. Girls-next-door wearing leather or latex "bondage" outfits tied loosely and sloppily.

Finally, the outfit from New Jersey seemed to be a compromise between HOM and Harmony. Beautiful professional models, neat ropework, and the look of distress. 

*******

What I hated the most about adult bookstores is that they wrapped each magazine in plastic apparently to prevent customers from viewing its content. About half of the mags that I bought lacked interesting photos. I could have saved a lot of money if I had been able to page through the magazines, I wouldn't have bought them, but that was the point of the plastic, wasn't it?