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As the oldest still publishing, most respected women's service magazine in the country, The Ladies' Home Journal has always focused on issues of crucial importance to millions of women. Since its first issue in December 1883. This long history make The Ladies Home Journal and invaluable source of information on American fashion trends. Its covered an incredibly wide range of topics beyond just fashion, from the latest medical research and consumer news to parenting know-how, workplace survival, good skincare, nutrition facts and much, much more. It was The Ladies Home Journal who sucessfully merged the elements and produced the right formula, becoming the top ladies magazine in America. The Ladies' Home Journal both empowered women and applauded their growing power. We also notice patterns offered in the magazine.
The Ladies Home Journal was founded in 1883. It was founded by Cyrus H.K Curtis. His first publication was The People's Lodge which he oversaw for 6 years in Boston. Curtis moved to Philadelphia in 1876 and founded the Tribune and Farmer One of the most successful features of the new magazine was the women's column. The column was overseen by Curtis' wife Louise Knapp Curtis. In fact it became so successful that Curtis founded a magazine to meet the obvious demand of women readers. The editor of the magazine, Edward W. Bok, played a major role in the magazine's success. In only a few years, The Journal became the leading women's magazine in the United States. The magazine achieved a circulation of 1 million copies (1893). Curtis with the success of The Journal founded the Curtis Publishing Company (1890). He purchased The Saturday Evening Post for $1,000 (1897). It was a 16-page, un-illustrated weekly with a readership of less than 2,000 and virtually no paid advertising. The paper's lineage indicated it was descended from Ben Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette, which held enourmous appeal for Curtis. The mazinine was virtually unknown at the time with a circulation of only about 2,000. Cutis appointed George Horace Lorimer as editor and another major American publication was born. The Post experienced a huge growth in circulation which aschieved 1 million (1909), 2 million (1913), 3 million (1937), 4 million (1949), about 5 million (1954), and finally 7 million (1961). Curtis Publications expanded to include many other popular national magazines: Country Gentleman (1911), Jack and Jill (1938), and Holiday (1946). The Meredith Corporation purchased The Journal (1986). At the turn of the 21st entury, The Journal had a circulation exceeding 4 million and continued to be one of the top ten paid-circulation magazines. i
Several imitatirs appeared to compete with The Journal over time, but were unable to surpass the The Journal's circulation or reputation. Its most important competitor was McCall's which was founded in 1873. McCalls surpassed The Journal in the mid-20th century.
As the oldest still publishing, most respected women's service magazine in the country, The Ladies' Home Journal has always focused on issues of crucial importance to millions of women. The magazine carried tremendous appeal to the late 19th century woman who had less access to information than modern mothers. It covered an incredibly wide range of topics beyond just fashion, from the latest medical research and consumer news to parenting know-how, workplace survival, good skincare, nutrition facts and much, much more. There were also features on residential architecture and the fine arts. It was The Journal who sucessfully merged the elements and produced the right formula, becoming the top ladies magazine in America. The Journal both empowered women and applauded their growing power. Of course when the magazine was founded, the proper place for women was seen at home with the kids. After the Sufrege Movement and Prohibition Movements succeeded at about the same tie. The position of women in society beginning especally in the 1920s gradually changed. The Feminist Movement in particular challenged the old concepts. This caused a crisis of identity for all women's magazines which focused on domestic life.
The early Journal had a much more literary content than the modern magazine. Short stories and poetry, often highly sentimental, was an important part of the offering in addotion to informative articles on family matters. An assessment of the contents over time provides some useful fashion information as well as information on the issues of convern to contemporary mothers. A good example is the September 1889 issue. At this time the magazine was sized at 11 1/2 by 16 with 32 pages. The magazine contains works of fiction, poetry and non fiction writings. This magazine has excellent articles on the boarding schools both for and against, a wonderful article on flowers and fancy lace, Afghan and crochet patterns as well at household hints and a children's page and much more. The magazine is also loaded with period ads and is complete with paper wraps.
Since the first issue in December 1883, The Ladies Home Journal has provided a wide range of fashion information, including clothing advertisements. A good example is Dubbelebilt suits in 1919. This long history make The Ladies Home Journal and invaluable source of information on American fashion trends.
The Journal played an importanbt role in the history of American advertising. The advertising was an important part of the magazine's revenue and today an important source of information for fashion historians. Advertising in the late 19th and early 20th century had become very important to the economy. There was a first absolutely no regulation. Many companies made absolutely false claims and there was no industry codes let alone government regulation. Even bif catalog companies like Sears and Wards included absoulutely outrageous items. The operative approach was let the buyer beware. Probably the worse offenders were patent medecine sellers which not only made wild claims, but included dangerous ingedients, including adictive drugs like cocaine and opiates. The Journal took the novel and socially responsible step of estanlishing an advertising code. The Journal not only refused to run patent medicine ads, but launched a muckraking campaign against them. The Journal and other contemportary magazines and newspapers as well as authors like Upton Sinclair (who wrote the Jungle were instrumental in the passage of the U.S. Federal Food and Drugs Act (1906).
We also notice patterns offered in the magazine. They werre presented rather like fashion articles. We do not know a lot about the Journal patterns. We note that they were made by the Home Pattern Company. They were the sole manufacturer of the Journal patterns, at least in 1905. We do not know how long this association lasted. A good example is a button-on blouse outfit (1905). Other examples of Journal patterns include: dresses (1905),
boys' blouses (1910), and rompers (1920).
A popular feature of The Ladies Home Journal was the children's page. We do not not know when this page was first instituted in the magazine. We notice a children's page in the Septmber 1889 issue aand assume they began even earlier. It was a regular item in the 1910s. The idea of course was to have an attraction for children. We do not have complete details, but we know that the page included games, puzzles, and paper dolls, The paper dolls were built around the family of Betty Bonnet. A good example is Betty's brother Bob in 1915. There were numerous such items, including wedding outfits for Betty and Bob--this time in color (september 1918). Betty had quite an extended family, we note Betty Bonnet's sister's son in the January 1917 issue.
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