The Evolution of Magazines

The Beginning

For about 4,500 years prior to the invention of the printing press in 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg, books had to be painstakingly copied by hand. They were written on surfaces of clay, papyrus, wax, and parchment. The spread of Gutenberg's new technology was rapid, leading to an increase in the availability of books, the standardization of grammar and spelling in languages other than Latin, and the sharing of arts and technology. Within a century of its advent, the printing press was being used to print pamphlets, almanacs and newsletters in addition to Bibles and religious materials.

The first publication, which could be called a magazine, was a periodical called Erbauliche Monaths Unterredungen (Edifying Monthly Discussions), released in the year 1663 by the German theologian and poet Johann Rist. It was a literary and philosophical publication and its launch gave rise to a myriad of similar periodicals in England, France, and Italy, which were tailored to a cultured young intellectual audience. They were mainly written by one author. The earliest publication similar to today’s magazines (with various themes and several authors) appeared in the year 1672, when French writer and playwright Jean Donneau de Vize created Le Mercure Galant. The publication contained news, songs, short verses and gossip. Despite being disparaged by other writers of the day for its amusing rather than intellectual content, the periodical became very popular in France and the concept was replicated throughout Europe. The first women’s magazine to surface was called Ladie’s Mercury, which was launched in London in the year 1693 by publisher, John Dunton. The one-page publication sought to answer “all the most curious questions concerning love, marriage, behavior, dress and humor of the female sex.” The weekly periodical only lasted four weeks. 

18th Century

The 1700s ushered in a time of increased literacy and intellectual prowess, especially among women. Society’s hunger for knowledge enabled magazines to become a popular cultural staple. English printers produced three essay periodicals that set the stage for modern magazines: Daniel Defoe’s The Review (published 1704-13); Sir Richard Steele’s The Tatler (published 1709-11); and Addison and Steele’s The Spectator (published 1711-12). Since the periodicals were published several times a week, they resembled our modern newspapers. However, their content was more similar to that of modern magazines. The Review published opinionated essays about national and international events. The Tatler and The Spectator sought to “enliven morality with wit, and to temper wit with morality.” These two publications influenced the manners and thoughts of the day. 

Of course, all these publications in their beginnings were called periodicals and the name “magazine” only began to appear in the year 1731 with the emergence of the Gentleman’s Magazine, published by Edward Cave, an Englishman. He invented the word “magazine” from the Arabic word makhazin, which meant storehouse, used for describing the place which deposits large quantity of various goods (Interesting, I couldn't have guessed that). Cave’s goal was to create a magazine that the general public would be interested in. He achieved two accomplishments worthy of note: he coined the term “magazine,” and he was the first publisher to successfully fashion a wide-ranging publication.

The success of the magazine was great, but the costs of every issue were even higher. Printing cost was high, and the number of printed copies could not be greater than one hundred thousand because it was technically impossible to squeeze a larger amount of paper through the machine. Distribution was also a big problem because it was difficult to move large quantities of magazines at great distances.

America only comes into the picture in 1741. Philadelphia printers Andrew Bradford and Benjamin Franklin—who owned rivaling newspapers—both raced to publish the first American magazine. Bradford ultimately claimed the honor by publishing American Magazine first. Benjamin Franklin’s General Magazine was published three days later. Neither of the magazines succeeded as Bradford’s publication folded after three months, and Franklin’s lasted only six months. Despite these short-lived ventures, magazines became incredibly popular in America and by the end of the 18th century, there were more than 100 magazines in the United States. Some of the most influential early American magazines were the Pennsylvania Magazine, which was edited by Thomas Paine, and the Massachusetts Magazine.

Meanwhile, despite the failure of the first women's magazine in 1770, London bookseller John Coote teamed up with publisher John Wheble to create a longer-lasting women’s publication, The Lady’s Magazine. The monthly British fashion magazine was filled with embroidery patterns, sheet music, literary pieces and fashion notes.

19th century

America’s magazine market increased exponentially in the late 1800s, in large part due to compulsory education and increased literacy. As a result, magazines became more specialized and were created specifically for lawyers, artists, musicians and other professionals. Early American literary publications included the Philadelphia Literary Magazine (1803-08) and the Monthly Anthology (1803-11) and the American Journal of Science (founded in 1818), which still exists today. In 1845, inventor Rufus Porter created Scientific American to encourage fellow inventors. The publication explored new inventions, ideas, and patents. National Geographic Magazine was also launched - filled with scientific content and colorful photos and some of its early revenue were used to fund scientific expeditions and endeavors.

Up until this point, magazines were expensive and geared toward the rich, learned and sophisticated individuals of the day. However, by the 1830s, less expensive magazines aimed at the middle class and general public began to emerge. Rather than maintaining the intellectual air of their predecessors, these magazines focused on amusement and entertainment. This was the beginning of the first family magazines, such as Dickens Household Words. The increasing attempts to cut the price of the magazines led to the appearance of the first ads, but not much because the ads were loaded with special tax, all up to 1853. 

The world of women’s magazines was revolutionized in 1883, when Cyrus Curtis created Ladies’ Home Journal. Edited by his wife Lousia Knapp Curtis, the magazine veered away from the sentimentality of earlier women’s magazines in favor of helpful, hands-on homemaking advice. Each issue contained recipes, cleaning tips and stories and by 1898, Ladies’ Home Journal became the first American magazine to reach 1 million subscribers.

The late 19th century saw the invention of the rotary press, which led to an increase in the number of printed copies and prices reduction and thus, we enter the century that will mark the development of magazines as one of the world’s leading media. Also, with the technological progress, increased circulation, and increased use of images, magazines became increasingly attractive to advertisers and the first advertising agency was established in 1890 and from that point on advertising started to flourish.

20th Century

The early 20th century saw the rise of most of today's biggest magazines. In 1922, William Roy DeWitt Wallace founded Reader’s Digest which was the best-selling magazine in America for several years. Back then it contained articles about American culture, humorous bits, cartoons and heartwarming stories whereas today, the beloved publication is filled with health tips, recipes, inspiring true stories and funny blurbs. Better Homes and Gardens, now the fifth largest magazine in America, was founded in 1923. It was filled with decorating tips, entertaining ideas and gardening suggestions, whereas today it is beloved for its recipes and design ideas. Other important publications appeared such as Conde Nast’s Vogue, Vanity Fair and news magazine Time, whose starter Henry Luce is still considered the most influential publisher in history. The same company will issue several well-known magazines such as Life,Sports, Illustrated and Money. 

Parallel with the development of Time, Fortune magazine was published, which originated from Time business pages. Fortune was considered the best and most influential American magazine. Besides heavily influenced by the world of business, Fortune is known for being the first high-quality printed magazine, with pages in full color. Fortune also invented photo-journalism, something that would make Life magazine famous few years later. However, due to increasing costs of printing, the Fortune starts to lose money and in 1948, it was redesigned, both in graphics and in journalistic terms and becomes an ordinary business magazine.

Although women’s magazines have been around since 17th century, it wasn’t until 1933, that the first men’s magazine was published in America. Created to be “all things to all men,” Esquire which is still popular today covered fashion, music and culture. Esquire’s best years were in the mid of the 20th century when Henry Wolfe as art director transformed the magazine for men into the visual candy of photographs and illustrations. Wolf was succeeded by Sam Antupit, who continued to create wonderful designs until the end of the 60s. Then, In 1944, Seventeen magazine was founded.

Seventeen was the first American magazine created specifically for adolescents. The magazine’s original mission was to encourage teenage girls to become well-rounded human beings. Initially, the magazine contained articles about work, service, citizenship, beauty and fashion. However, the magazine soon began to focus on beauty and fashion. Other magazines such Teen Vogue followed suit. These magazines helped solidify and shape the newly minted concept of a teenager.

Women's magazine was upped yet again, in 1945 when Helene Gordon Lazareff launched Elle (French for “she”) in post-WWII France. The magazine greatly changed the way women think, speak, and perceive themselves. Weekly Elle instructed French women on how to be attractive and nice. The success of the magazine was huge and by 1960, the number of sold copies reached one million when one out of six French women regularly read Elle. Then In Germany 1959, legendary magazine Twen was released. Twen was a provocative magazine for a younger audience, and it consisted of erotic photos and intelligent articles. Its editors wanted to attract new younger generation, who wanted to differentiate from their parents, and in this, they succeeded.

On the other side of the Atlantic, in the USA began the golden era of magazines. What Paris was for modern art in the late 19th and early 20th century, New York of the 50’s was in the modern magazine art direction, specifically Madison Avenue the location of the largest magazines of that era. Madison Avenue was the birthplace of a new generation of designers and art directors who have established design and magazine advertising as we know it today. Later this period was called the Creative Revolution with revolutionary giants like Alexey Brodovitch for Harper’s Bazaar, Leo Lionni for Fortune, Steve Frankfurt for Young & Rubicam, Herb Lubalin for Hennessey, Henry Wolf for Esquire, Art Paul for Playboy and Alexander Liberman for Conde Nast. However, with all the big names, making magazines was very difficult and time-consuming. There were no computers and almighty Photoshop, everything was done manually, and the main tools were pencils, erasers, rulers, tape. It took around four months to produce one issue.

In the seventies, emerged a new kind of magazine, celebrity magazine. The first issue of People was out in 1974. Since then, this kind of magazines has been the most selling ones. Those years also brought a boom of women’s magazines. One of them was gaining in popularity and it was Cosmopolitan. On the other side, there were also fashion magazines and the most famous of them are Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. Their race lasts for more than a century, and every now and then there are few new rivals. 

At the beginning of the 80’s Vanity Fair was reissued. More and more publications appear on newsstands, but also, many of them disappear. Among the more successful certainly are British magazines Face and Arena, but both shut down in the 2000’s. In the early 90’s appeared specialized magazines for growing cyber generations. The best and most respected, even to this day is Wired.

The Future of Magazine

Since 2008, the lifestyle community began to see the death of many of its most beloved publications: House & Garden, Gourmet, Domino, Blueprint, Readymade and many more. While a few have come back in less frequent forms, the industry still seems to be figuring out how to regain its foothold in a drastically changing advertising and reader world. In the meantime, a wide range of independent publications have grown and seem to be building sustainable models for print in a slightly more niche style. While there’s no way for any of us to predict the future or summarize what is clearly a complicated issue, one cannot but wonder... What lies ahead? What’s next for magazines? What’s next with technology and creativity in publishing? How will things change? There is no set-in-stone answer but it is obvious that magazine has come a long way. How much farther can it go?

I am looking forward to what the future holds for magazines.

References
https://www.magazines.com/history-of-magazines
http://www.magazinedesigning.com/history-of-the-magazines/
http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/educator/modules/gutenberg/books/