I know this feels like forever ago, but I really enjoyed all the presentations my classmates did about the history of consumer magazines before 1970. We each had to present on a a decade from a magazine of our choice. Presentations included Vogue (pretty much every year), Popular Mechanics, Good Housekeeping, Time (multiple decades).
I did my presentation on McCall's (1953-1963) because I felt like it most represented the types of magazines I currently read (Martha Stewart Living and Real Simple). I also just love 1950s/60s period movies because of the clothes and I also figured these would fulfill that personal interest. I was right, which to any feminists out there is probably pretty sad; the magazine was choked full of a-line skirts and tips on how to take care of a family. I will admit the topics were more housewife driven than most of today's women's magazine; however, there were many similarities. They all impress the importance doing it all and looking good while doing it.
I will admit that I was surprised by how modern the designs were, albeit being considered basic and sometimes funny because of how literal the designs are sometimes (font was often the biggest offender). I can imagine how much harder designing was before computers when everything was cropped/designed by hand, so I really admired all of the creativity.
One of my favorite designs was a chart of dinner meals. It wasn't just that it told the reader what to eat but also how much. And if she was married, which of course she probably was or was at least thinking about being married, how much her husband should be eating. I could definitely see it running in Real Simple.
I also enjoyed learning about Vogue throughout the years. I didn't realize how many different styles of the Vogue masthead they went through during the years. McCall's never changes; however, the title (McCall's) was pretty useless.
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