Aliwan: Popular magazine in the ’40s

In the ‘40s, reading was the most popular form of entertainment, along with listening to the radio and watching movies. There was no television then. And needless to say, social media were unheard of. No computer, Internet, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, e-mail, text and some such technology.

One of the more popular Tagalog magazines was weekly Aliwan, which contained only novels and short stories. No komiks series or articles on movie stars. The covers were illustrations of the bestsellers inside the magazine.

Aliwan featured the works of great Filipino writers like Inigo Ed. Regalado, Hilaria Labog and Teofilo Sauco.

Regalado won the coveted Commonwealth Award in 1941. Some of Labog’s novels were made into movies. Sauco was a lawyer and served as Bulacan governor. He was a father of soprano Lulu Francisco, herself a lawyer and member of the legendary singing group Tribung Pinoy, founded by this columnist.

Other popular Tagalog magazines of the era were Liwayway, Ilang-Ilang, Paru-Paro, Bulaklak. For non-Tagalog readers, there were Bannawag (Ilocano), Bisaya (Cebuano) and Hiligaynon (Ilonggo).

To date, only Liwayway, Bannawag, Bisaya and Hiligaynon are still in circulation, published by Manila Bulletin. —RKC