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A History of Popular Women's Magazines in the United States,1792-1995. By Mary Ellen Zuckerman. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1998. 272+xvii pp. ISBN 0313-30675-3. Cloth, $59.95. Contributions in Women's Studies, Number 165, ISSN 0147-104X.
As its Table of Contents illustrates, Part I of this book traces women's magazines from 1865 to 1918. There really isn't much to say about the topic from 1792-1864 although Godey's Lady's Book and Peterson's are mentioned. There is a lot to say about them thereafter, and Professor Zuckerman says it very well, although her emphasis is on the years from 1865-1945.
This book is the most thorough analysis of its topic that I have seen and I have been a student of the magazine industry (and of other print media sectors) for roughly forty years. I noticed only one minor flaw, perhaps an omission rather than an error, or even the description of a circulation marketing method that changed over time. Professor Zuckerman describes the use of "boy sales" by Curtis Co. to sell the Ladies' Home Journal from 1912 on, and of a similar "Pony Man" concept used to sell the Woman's Home Companion. Their focus seems to have been on selling subscriptions although "door-to-door sales" were encouraged. In the late 1930s, I sold copies of both door-to-door, together with the other Curtis, Crowell-Collier, and MacFadden publications for a combination of commissions and prizes; I had no means of selling subscriptions for any magazines nor had any of my many fellow salesboys so far as I knew.
Ms. Zuckerman is Associate Professor of Marketing...