Figure 1.--Here we see a trading card printed by "The Youth's Companion", probably in the 1880s. Notice the children's clothing. One of the boys seems to be wearing a smock, which as far as we can tell was not very common in America at the time, especially to wear for fisging. |
The magazine claims to have been established in 1827. We have no information, however, as to its operation in the early- and mid-19th century. Much more information is available on the late 19th century. We notice the publication offering a calendar in 1879. We also note trading cards. The card here looks to have been printed in the 1880s (figure 1). These cards were popular not only for children to trade, but to pout in family scrap books. Press runs by the 1880s reached quite substantial levels. The magazine was also popular in the early 20century. Circulation began to decline after 1907. We are not sure why. We note advertisements in the magazine during the 1910s and 20s. It was published under this title until 1929.
Navigate the HBC literary pages' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main "The Youth's Companion" page]
[Return to the main Main U.S. children's literary page]
[Return to the main Main literary page]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Satellite sites]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]