In an update to this post, a reader writes:

The Esquire covers did sell. Under George's reign, sales went from (something like) 250,000 to over 2 million and dropped immediately after he stopped producing them (Bear in mind, that's straight from the legend's mouth, but I'm sure the data backs him up.)

And every explanation for why they sold (the newsstands were less crowded, stars were more interesting, yadda, yadda) fails miserably in the face of historical fact. Just the same old small-minded editorial ass-covering to justify a dearth of imagination.

Anyone have the data? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Send to FishbowlNY@mediabistro.com.

Related: David Granger in a 2004 interview with PDN (the thesis of which is, more or less, "don't like the covers? Blame the editors!"):

"I wish we'd had newsstand numbers [for Lois' covers], because by the time Lois and Hayes reached the end of the era, the magazine was in really bad shape," says David Granger, editor in chief of Esquire, published by Hearst Magazines. "George did a number of truly great covers, but there are some true disasters, just hilariously bad covers."

So Lois says they sold well, Granger seems to suggest that maybe they didn't. Who's right? Where are the numbers?