Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. Vol. 5, No. 10, October 1960

Dear Readers,

I hope the cover of this issue does not alarm you unduly. Some of you may very well interpret it in this way: “Among the man’s numerous sterling qualities, is generosity. To give one’s shirt off one’s hack is not always sufficient.” There will, of course, he those who will exclaim indignantly, “What! No silver platter?” And the more erudite will view the picture in depth and see great significance therein. “We must be able to adjust to a changing world,” they will say. “No matter how tedious the circumstance, we must never lose our heads. This will make it possible to keep our wits about us, to have profundity at our fingertips and to estimate the weight of our thoughts.”

Actually, this is a photo I had taken for my new television sponsor, the Lincoln-Mercury Division of the Ford Motor Company. I trust I have spelled all names correctly. I would not want to offend Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Mercury, or Mr. Ford. With the coming of the new television season, I am also moving to a new network. This one, quaintly enough, is known by its initials, NBC. And the head-in-the-hand photo has also been presented to it — with appropriate fanfare — and inscribed — at a vast inscription ceremony — “Alfred Hitchcock, Employee.”

I wish you all, good mystery reading and watching.