Vintage Ken Magazine: Not for the Decorator
06.24.08 By The DeanOur cottage home has rooms decorated with period items; 1930’s styles in the Deco Room, Victorian in the guest room, even using the colorations of the fixtures and tile in the main bath used in the late 1920’s. And where do we find examples of these styles to emulate? I purchase magazines for the advertising from the early 40’s back to the teens, with some as old as the late 1890’s.
Some names may be easy for anyone to find – Look, Life, Ladies’ Home Journal are common and can be found in most antique malls, often well under $10.00 for 1930’s and newer. (You can expect higher prices for older examples with Coke Christmas ads.) Other great names include Deliniator, Modern Priscilla, Country Gentleman, Home & Garden, House Beautiful and the Farm Journal.
This weekend, while traveling into Minnesota and stopping all over the state at antique stores and malls, I found “KEN.”
“Ken” you ask? Well, I never heard of it and no one else at the mall had either. It’s a controversial, political, large format magazine with full page photo spreads, published every two weeks on Thursdays. I bought 5 copies from the first year of publication in 1938. With stories and articles, it does have some big name advertisers. The articles railed against the Nazi Germany, politicians, war, corruption, fraud and supported liberal and the black causes.
This magazine featured Big Name Hollywood types in the news in full-page photo layouts. They included Katharine Hepburn, Mae West. Bette Davis, Mrs. Rudolph Valentino, Janet Gaynor, Margaret Sullivan, Claudette Colbert, entertainers Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa and featuring articles from many writers including Ernest Hemingway, Park Cummings, William Schofield and tons of others, (all copies I have include an article by Hemingway.)
Politicians with photo layouts included Presidents FDR (Roosevelt), Calvin Coolidge, Grover Cleveland, Thomas Harding and everyone who was anyone in Germany at this time.
While I did not find the type of ads or pictures of home décor one expects to find in old magazines, these “KEN’s” are a fascinating look at the political world leading up to the American entry into World War II, with the warnings that we could not escape being drawn into a conflict.
My next article will discuss a poignant article called “Are You Red, White Or Blue” and an accompanying quiz that was taken by the original owner. The purpose of this Quiz was to determine the political leanings of the reader, from conservative to radical. It seems so appropriate at this juncture in our political process and harken back to the TV networks red-blue maps of the last few presidential elections.
So my search for odd titled old magazines will now include Ken, not for the home decorating but for the history lessons I may learn. If you know of any titles of pre-WWII magazines I should be on the look-out for, please share them with us.
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Article Tags: Add new tag, Ken Magazine, Political Magazine, WW-II================
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July 27th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Love your blog about Ken magazine. Do you have the first issue — in April 1938 — with an artical titled ‘A Label for Propaganda.’ I am doing research on a book about the 1960 election, and the author of this article — although ‘anonymous’ is known to me and plays an important role in my story.
July 28th, 2008 at 12:19 am
I saw one in a thrift shop just last week-end. It was “news” to me as well. There were parts that were a little racy for the standard of the day it seemed. I considered it for the same reason that you found it interesting - the debate about Germany during the pre-War period. I’m reading Patrick J. Buchanan book on Churchhill right now and I thought it made a good adjunt.
July 29th, 2008 at 6:46 am
David,
Thank you for your kind words on the article.
Sorry, I do not have the first issue of Ken. In recent years my attention has included magazines from the pre WW II period, and I usually purchase for the great graphic
art work and the advertising. But when I found these I had to have all I could find. I’ll keep looking.
The Dean
July 29th, 2008 at 7:04 am
LouRawls,
Wow, I’m not alone. Good to here other copies are out there, and had an impact on you.
Looking into the past with the knowledge of what happens next, the articles on politics and race relations are a must read for any history buff.
I’ll have to find a copy of Pat’s book. I’m reading Woodward’s “Bush at War”, but have this feeling not enough time has past to put this period of our history under a proper microscope.
Thanks for your suggestion.
The Dean