Womens' Publications: Parents' Magazine (US, 1925- )


Figure 1.--There were many advertisements fir children's clothings and patterns in "Parents Magazine". This advertisement for McCalls patterns appeared in the the February, 1929 issue.

Parents Magazine is the leading family magazine in the United States for parents. It provides practical advise, tips, techniques and advice from America's foremost childcare experts. As originally conceived it was primarily pitched to mothers. This is probably still the case, although men are playing an increasing role in raising children. The magazine was founded in 1925. The magazine is still being published. Besides the articles with advise on child raising, there were many advertisements of products for children. This included clothing and patterns for making children's clothing. A HBC reader notes that there were many ads in the magazine for underwear--apparently a major shopping concern for mothers of the period. Or at least the advertisers who used PM thought so.

Content

Parents Magazine is the leading family magazine in the United States for parents. It provides practical advise, tips, techniques and advice from America's foremost childcare experts. The magazine often dealt with questions of children's dress--health, fashion, good taste, appropriate school clothes, etc.--and among its earliest features was a list of approved advertisers who ran ads for children's clothing in its pages.

Target Audience

As originally conceived it was primarily pitched to mothers. This is probably still the case, although men are playing an increasing role in raising children.

History

Parents Magazine began publishing in 1925. The magazine is still being published.

Advertisements

Besides the articles with advise on child raising, there were many advertisements of products for children. Numerous advertisements for clothing have illustrations for children's clothings from the mid-1920s and is thus a useful source of information on fashion trends. This included clothing and patterns for making children's clothing. A HBC reader notes that there were many ads in the magazine for underwear--apparently a major shopping concern for mothers of the period. Or at least the advertisers who used PM thought so. One of the most frequent and consistently appearing kinds of advertisements were for children's underwear, a matter of obvious concern to mothers who shopped for their children's school clothes after consulting the pages of this publication. It became one of the most popular shopping guides for children's clothing--particularly underwear. The magazine is thus a good source of information about the styles of children's more intimate apparel--for boys as well as girls.

McCalls Patterns

The magazine also regularly advertised McCall's printed patterns for mothers who wished to make their own children's clothes from scratch, illustrating many of the styles available and giving the address ofParents Magazine (255 Fourth Avenue, New York City) where the patterns could be obtained. The illustration here one of which shows the kind of clothing that could be hand-made by a resourceful mother at home with McCalls patterns. I'm not sure of the date of the advertisement here, but it looks like the 1920s.

Clothing Depicted Here

This advertisement from Parents Magazine, February, 1929, p. 38 illustrates various styles of children's clothes that could be made on the sewing machine at home (figure 1). The items include 5392 An infant's Coat and Cap (one size); 5587 A girl's dress (age sizes 4 to 14); 5585 Another style of girl's dress (age sizes 2 to 10); 5568 A girl's ensemble with jacket, blouse and skirt (age sizes 6 10 14); 5580 Misses', Juniors' and Girls' Dress (age sizes 8 to 20); 5561 Child's romper [for either boy or girl] (age sizes 1 to 4); 4952 Boy's overcoat (age sizes 4 to 12); 5032 (Boy's suit (age sizes 4 to 8); 5102 Girl's nightgown (age sizes 4 to 14); 5324 Girl's Pajama ensemble (age sizes 6 to 14). Obviously most of the home sewing of children's clothes was for girls, but it is interesting that boys' clothes are also included in the appeal to mothers' sewing skills. Home-made clothing was obviously cheaper because one had only to buy the materials and didn't pay for labor. Note that in the two styles intended for boys, short pants are assumed. The older boy wears cuffed knee socks with a patterned top whereas the younger boy wears three-quarter socks. If one can judge by the space given to advertising in the contemporary catalogs, long stockings were worn more frequently by boys in February, 1929, than either knee socks or three-quarter socks. But the advertisement apparently is looking ahead to Spring when knee-length or calf-length hosiery would be more usual. The older boy is quite formally dressed, with white shirt, necktie, and peaked cap. The younger boy is shown with a jacket lacking lapels and a shirt collar that folds over his jacket. He is wearing a natty handkerchief in his breast pocket. Such formality was obviously considered appropriate and fashionable for boys--perhaps even for school wear in some cases.






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Created: December 6, 2003
Last updated: December 6, 2003