The Seven Sisters Women’s Magazine History (Better Homes, Ladies Home Journal, Woman’s Day, Redbook, McCall’s, Family Circle, and Good Housekeeping) Start dates, length of time, famous for and where they are today.

For the first half of the 20th Century, the magazines known as The Seven Sisters contributed much to the growth and shaping of American culture. Better Homes and Gardens, Ladies Home Journal, Woman’s Day, McCall’s, Redbook, Family Circle, and Good Housekeeping were the publications women turned to for answers. These magazines contained helpful information and answers to questions regarding gardening, cooking, keeping house, and raising a family. Those were THE issues in those days as the majority of women worked in the home. These magazines and their articles guided American living.

These magazines were known as women’s service magazines. Today, the magazines are experiencing the need to reinvent the ways in which they gear their articles toward women because, as we all know, times have changed. In 1979, the total circulation for all seven magazines was 45 million. In 2007, the readership was down to 37 million.

McCall’s was the oldest of the Seven Sisters, having been introduced in 1873 by a Scottish tailor, James McCall, as a small format pattern magazine called, The Queen. The original name was The Queen: Illustrating McCall’s Bazaar Glove Fitting Patterns. After James McCall’s death in 1884, his widow took over management of the publication. The name was changed to The Queen of Fashion. In 1897, the name McCall’s Magazine was chosen, and it became known simply as McCall’s. McCall’s circulation numbers peaked in 1960 at six million readers. In 2000, Rosie O’Donnell partnered with the publishers to revamp the magazine and the name was changed to Rosie’s McCall’s but gradually became known as Rosie’s. In 2002, over editorial and contract disputes, Rosie’s ceased publication. A law suit ensued and, in 2005, the publishers, Gruner and Jahr, sold the magazine to the Meredith Corporation, where it was taken in under the auspices of another magazine portfolio. An off-shoot, McCall’s Patterns, remains in popular demand today in the sewing world.

The Meredith Corporation also publishes Ladies Home Journal and Better Homes and Gardens. The Ladies Home Journal (LHJ) first emerged in 1883 as a supplement to the Tribune and Farmer specifically targeted toward women. This popular women’s column, written by the wife of the Tribune and Farmer publisher, soon became a publication in its own right. Originally, it was known as The Ladies Home Journal and Practical Housekeeper, but the last three words were soon dropped. In 1986, the Meredith Corporation bought LHJ and it is still going strong today. It covers a vanguard of women’s and family issues.

Good Housekeeping magazine was founded May 2, 1885 in Holyoke, Massachusetts and is owned by the Hearst Corporation. Good Housekeeping has always directed its articles to areas of interest to women, which include recipes, diet, health, and housekeeping tips and tricks. It is, perhaps, most famous for the “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval” that was given to products tested by the Good Housekeeping Research Institute and considered to be of high value and significance. These products are also backed by a two-year limited warranty. About 5,000 products have received the Seal of Approval. Good Housekeeping was also known for its social activism as it banned cigarette ads 12 years before the Surgeon General put a warning on the packaging label. It also advocated the use of “pure foods” and sought a requirement that the citizenry must vote on whether to enter a war (unless it was by invasion).

Redbook was first published in May 1903 as The Red Book Illustrated. It was popular for publishing short fiction articles, many penned by well-known female authors and the magazine also included many photos of famous women celebrities. It was purchased by the Hearst Corporation in 1982. Its focus today is on married women and encouraging them to strive for excellence in many fields.

Better Homes and Gardens (BH&G) stood out from the rest of the sisters as it was more of a home decorating magazine than a women’s service-oriented magazine. BH&G was founded in 1922 by Edwin Meredith. It focuses on gardening, cooking, entertaining, healthy living, and craft projects. It still enjoys a wide circulation today and is the most consistently read magazine of the Seven Sisters’ grouping.

Woman’s Day was first published in 1931 as a free supermarket paper designed to be used as an in-store meal and recipe planner. It was begun as a subsidiary of A&P grocery stores being promoted by The Stores Publishing Company. Woman’s Day, purchased by Hallette Filipacchi Media U.S., Inc., in 1988 has a current readership of approximately 4.2 million. The magazine has seen recent instability when it was put up for sale and then removed from offer when no bidder met the asking price. Woman’s Day, having seen such a huge change in the role women have played from the beginning of the 20th Century and into the 21st Century has had to work harder to keep up with current women’s issues.

Family Circle was first published by the New York Times in 1932. The Times owned the magazine until it was sold to Gruner and Jahr, part of the German media conglomeration, Bertelsmann AG. Family Circle is currently owned by the Meredith Corporation. Family Circle has a 2008 subscribership of over four million and markets itself as a family service magazine, oriented toward helping mothers raise a healthy and happy family. It reaches an estimated 20 million readers. It is known as, arguably, the best-selling women’s magazine in America. It is, and always has been, women and family-oriented.

They were called The Seven Sisters because they were so closely associated in catering to needs of women in their era. Today, six of The Seven Sisters have online versions of their magazine. The printed copy from the 1900s through the 1960s had beautifully illustrated covers and enveloped a wide range of topics. Reading through these magazines can bring an understanding of what life was like in those days and answers to some questions that may still be pertinent today.

Alana Morgaine
Our Women’s Magazines

Saturday Evening Post AA Article “Alcoholics Anonymous” by Jack Alexander.

In March of 1941, a young and famous writer by the name of Jack Alexander, wrote an article Called “Alcoholics Anonymous”.

It appeared in the March 1st, 1941 edition of the very popular Saturday Evening Post, with a cover by Norman Rockwell. When Alexander wrote it, he was only 19 years old, but his skill as an investigative reporter was already quite evident. Without revealing the names of the founders, he told their moving and inspirational story with the same depth and clarity that would win him a Pulitzer Prize for reporting, 31 years later.

March 1, 1941 Saturday Evening Post
And like a good investigative reporter, Alexander was not ready to buy all the claims that AA was making. In fact, he set out to debunk the whole operation. But he was fair minded enough to embark on long journey of research to uncover the truth.
Alexander’s first stop was AA headquarters in New York, where he met with founder “Bill W.” He liked Bill and found him sincere and convincing, but that wasn’t enough to quell Alexander’s doubts. Bill decided to take the writer to a few meetings to give him a better perspective. Later Alexander met with the families of AA members who shared their experience of how AA had changed everything for them.

At this point, Alexander told Bill W. that he thought he might have enough material to write the article, but was still not convinced that AA was as successful as it claimed in helping alcoholics. Bill suggested that Alexander do a little more research and check out what was going on in other cities.

Alexander’s first visit was Philadelphia. There, AA members took Alexander to the psychopathic ward of Philadelphia General Hospital and showed how members worked with the inmates suffering from alcoholism. From Pennsylvania he went to Akron, Ohio, where Alexander met “Doctor S,” who arranged meetings with more AA members, and accompanied him to other hospitals and AA meetings.
Traveling with Doc. S to Cleveland, Ohio, the writer discovered a different kind of AA member. While in Akron, Philadelphia and New York, he had met with and interviewed mostly blue-collar workers. In Cleveland Alexander heard these same stories of personal triumph from general laborers from all walks of life.

Next stop was Chicago, and again the story was the same, but the clincher that knocked every last ounce of skepticism out of him was a visit back to his hometown of St. Louis. Here Alexander bumped into some of his old pals, who were now members of AA. He never would have believed that these former hard-drinking buddies could have so transformed their lives! He wrote a glowing six-page tribute to the organization.

The effects were stunning. The March 1, 1941 issue of Saturday Evening Post was completely sold out and the article generated over 6000 reader inquiries! These were forwarded to AA headquarters, effectively tripling AA membership.

After the publication of this article, the reader mail was overwhelming. Letters came in from desperate drinkers, wives, mothers, fathers and friends. The post forwarded the letters to the headquarters office of AA in New York. The office in New York forwarded many of these letters out to various AA groups that live near the writers of the letters. There were well over 6,000 letters sent out by readers who wrote into The Saturday Evening Post about this article with many of them searching for help.
This was the turning point in the growth and success of Alcoholics Anonymous. AA had been, according to Bill W., “Put on the map.”

The Controversy!
Though a turning point for Alcoholics Anonymous, several of its groups felt concerned about anonymity and overwhelmed with requests for help. Decisions were made to limit publicity, which is another reason this article is so rare and sought after. Today the magazine is worth up to a thousand dollars.

Unique in our market-driven society, AA remains a dues-free, unadvertised society based on the premise that only an alcoholic who has come to terms with the disease, through AA’s 12-step program, can and must reach out to another who has not.

Alana Morgaine
Alana’s Books And Magazines
Our Saturday Evening Post Magazines