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Contents |
History
It had been a single-page supplement written by Louisa Knapp that was included in Tribune and Farmer, a magazine published by her husband, Cyrus H. K. Curtis. She became its founding editor and continued in that role for six years while the magazine rose to national popularity.
The Ladies' Home Journal arose from the popular Women at Home column written by Louisa Knapp, which gained so much popularity that it was distributed as a supplement in another magazine published in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Tribune and Farmer.1 The following year it became an independent publication with Knapp as editor. Its original name was The Ladies Home Journal and Practical Housekeeper, but she dropped the last three words in 1886. It rapidly became the leading magazine of its type, reaching a circulation of more than one million copies in ten years.1 At the turn of the 20th Century, the magazine published the work of muckrakers and social reformers such as Jane Addams.
Editors and features
Knapp continued as editor until she was succeeded by Edward William Bok in 1889. However, she remained involved with the magazine's management, and she also wrote a column for each issue. In 1892, it became the first magazine to refuse patent medicine advertisments.2 In 1896, Bok became Louisa Knapp's son-in-law when he married her daughter, Mary Louise Curtis.
The magazine's trademark feature is Can This Marriage Be Saved?, a popular column in which each person of a couple in a troubled marriage explains their view of the problem, a marriage counselor explains the solutions offered in counseling, and the outcome is published.3
For decades, the Journal was the leading women's magazine, but its circulation fell behind McCall's in 1961.4 In 1968, Curtis Publishing sold the journal, along with the magazine American Home, to Downe Communications for $5.4 million in stock.5 Between 1969 and 1974 the Journal was acquired by Charter Company.6 In 1986, the Meredith Corporation acquired the magazine from Family Media Inc., for $96 milliion.78
During the late 1950s, Mad parodied the periodical in a vitriolic satire: "Ladies' Home Journey, the Magazine Women Wallow In." Several articles in this satire shared the theme that a woman marries a man only to wear him down until he dies so she can play the vulture and get his money.
Writers
- Cynthia May Alden
- Joan Younger Dickinson
- Helen Reimensnyder Martin
- Olivia Mackenzie Zecy
Current staff
- Jennifer Mirsky, Editor-in-Chief
- Catherine LeFebvre, Senior Editor
- Marissa Gold, Editor
Cover gallery
 1906 Ladies' Home Journal cover |
 March 1922 issue illustrated by N. C. Wyeth |
References
- ^ a b Curtis Publishing Company (Saturday Evening Post & Ladies Home Journal)
- ^ 30. Cleaning Up the Patent-Medicine and Other Evils. Bok, Edward William. 1921. The Americanization of Edward Bok
- ^ Give Them Enough Rope..."Can This Marriage Be Saved"
- ^ Anonymous. Revolt at Curtis. Time magazine.Friday, Oct. 16, 1964.
- ^ Bedingfield, R. E. Curtis Publishing Sells 2 Magazines; Downe Paying $5.4-Million in Stock, The New York Times, August 15, 1968, Business and Finance section, p. 54.
- ^ Anonymous. Magna charter'. Time, Monday, Jun. 16, 1980. [1].
- ^ History of Meredith Corporation
- ^ Anonymous. Meredith Won't Tinker With Added Magazines. New York Times, November 25, 1985, Late City Final Edition, Section D, Page 2, Column 5.
External links
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