So I’m flipping through an issue of the National Enquirer from 1979, as I’m wont to do — don’t look at me like that, you’d do it too if you had some.

Women Born From 1905 to 1909 Had The Fewest Children

Anyway, I find this snippet (buried on page 63 of the issue dated February 20, 1979), titled “Women Born From 1905 to 1909 Had The Fewest Children.” And it fascinates me.

You know how I love to read about that feminist stuff — or, as some might say, turn everything into feminist stuff. But there’s just the three scant paragraphs. And it’s the National Enquirer for gosh-sake.

So, being in ‘the library’ (yes, that’s a euphemism for the bathroom) and, still pondering the subject of childless women who were born in the early 1900’s, I reach for whatever other reading material might be laying in the magazine rack.

Through what, again, can only be described as the Serendipity Of The Collecting Gods, my hand finds a back issue of The Keynoter, the Journal of the American Political Items Conservators published by the American Political Items Collectors.

On page 42 of that Winter, 2007, issue is an article titled “I Am For Playgrounds” by Steve Baxley. It describes the story behind the William Howard Taft celluloid button bearing the same slogan.

Taft: I Am For Playgrounds

You, like political memorabilia collector Steve Mihaly, might wonder why this would be a political slogan — after all, who could possibly not be for playgrounds?

Baxley explains how back in the 1890’s urban areas were opening play lots where children could play within urban areas. Baxley writes:

Many women involved in the women’s suffrage movement also became involved in the Mother’s and Children’s Movement, which tried to influence state and local legislators to pass legislation protecting women and child laborers and create schools, kindergartens, and playgrounds to keep children off the street. Though these women could not vote, they were very successful in influencing stare and local government officials in achieving these goals. By 1905, many of the larger cities were providing appropriations for the maintenance of playgrounds.

In 1906 the Playground Association of America was founded. President Taft supported the group’s work as well as appropriations for playgrounds; this is where the button comes from.

What’s all this got to do with the low birthrate among women born between 1905 and 1909 — the very girls who would have played on those playgrounds?

I don’t know. Not really.

But the historian in me must make (educated) guesses.

The women born between 1905 and 1909 were the same young girls who grew up during the years of the women’s suffrage movement in the US. They would have seen the struggle, heard the talk, and knew they could have greater freedom of choice in living their lives. They too would see, if not quite be, part of the flapper movement. Activism and parenting being almost completely at odds with one another, some may have opted not to have children — and at this time, birth control, thanks to Margaret Sanger, was becoming a realistic option.

And, just as these young women were perhaps thinking of starting a family…

Along comes The Great Depression — the one of that started about 1929, not the one some say we are approaching now — and the birthrate fell about one-tenth globally from the rate during the “prosperous” 1920’s. In America, the birth rate dropped below the replacement level for the first time in history.

Pretty good guesses, huh.

But then I have all my ephemera to thank for that.  And my ‘library’ time.

Thirteen Retro Kitsch Items That Likely Didn’t Survive For You To Collect

All of these were found in magazines from the late 50’s and early 60’s, and as handmade kitschy crafts, this is likely the only way they have survived.

#1 Dolls displayed in a dead tree. My sister has a fear of dolls. I could understand if she’d ever seen this… What a great way to scare and emotionally scar your little girl.

#2 - 7 Hobby wall panels. Rather self-explanatory…. but still I shall comment as I feel is required.

So we’ve got baseball, football, golf and pool; how about something for the little ladies (who don’t golf)? Ah, a gardening motif. I don’t know about you, but upon spying the little plastic shovel, I expected to see a matching little plastic beach pail.

If they all suspiciously look like Christmas trees… That’s because they are suggested holiday decor. And nothing, but nothing, says, “Merry Christmas!” like a wall panel Christmas tree made of swords and guns.

(Note: The designer, Robert Hammer, is credited for this one.)

#8 Construction paper food. The instructions leave much to be desired. “Most are easy to make. For example, the banana is merely a crescent-shaped piece of yellow construction paper. Fold down the center, stapled at the ends, gives it a lifelike, three-dimensional appearance.” I think we knew to use yellow, and the basic shape… What about the turkey?

#9 Muffin cup ornaments. Eight kitschy paper ornaments, right from mom’s cupboard. Paper propped-up next to those old stings of Christmas lights, with their uber safe sockets and hot bulbs, will really light-up your holiday celebration.

#10 Muffin cup wreath. Muffin cups were apparently a cheap commodity, replacing popcorn in holiday crafting and ornamentation. I’ll buy that. But what the heck are “paper honeycomb balls”? I bet they stopped making those when kids confused them with Honeycomb cereal.

#11 - 12  A quadruple lantern of spray painted cardboard to match the long-gone scenic wallpaper.  And hey, the wrapped gifts match too.

I don’t remember a time when holiday decorations were supposed to match your home; I had previously always believed that the red & green of Christmas were selected for their inability to fit discreetly in any home.

#13 Frighten your babes in toy land.   Construct a several feet tall city to prevent the kids from bothering you during holiday cocktail time!

The “chunky dolls” are just under 4 feet tall, enough to intimidate any toddler — or drunk adult relative. Which is why no matter how much time “father — or doting grandfather” spent making this, it went curb-side at the first sign of spring.  Or maybe even was tossed with the tree.

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After my tirade on women’s publications, you might be surprised to hear me pontificate on more positive reasons why I collect vintage women’s publications. Well, actually, it’s pretty much the same reason; it’s just the other side of the coin. Or, more to the point, this is far less snarky. *wink*

Magazines, like newspapers, provide context for periods of time. Reading the news, as it was delivered then, provides insights; but what fascinates me is the propaganda. Feature stories were selected not only for their adherence to the mission or values of the publication itself, but, especially at times of war, we see a cultural push for what’s perceived to be the best for the country. Public policy is seen in the editorial slant as clearly as it is in the advertising, and if one wishes to know what life was like on the home front during World War II, looking at women’s publications during those years offers heaps of information.

The following images are from Modern Woman Magazine, “a magazine published by the ice industry,” George M. Wessells, Publisher, during the 1940’s.

We being with Volume 10, Number 6, 1941, where there is no mention of the war at all. Instead, in this magazine full of home decorating ideas, cooking & other household tips, we find fashion a article on “How To Buy A Fur Coat: Practical hints on how to shop wisely for your next coat.” America is prosperous.

However, things change, and by Volume 12, Number 2, 1943, and articles shift from new fur coat purchases to how to mend and take care of fashions inexpensively. Inside the front cover is this large ad depicting the ice industry “working together” with Uncle Sam “protecting America’s food.”

We also have a feature story on “How Your Discarded Stockings Go To War.” The article contains official OWI (Office of War Information) and army photos, urging women to, “Get your old stockings in the fight today!”

On the facing page, an OWI comic by Bo Brown. It shows a woman in a hospital bed and a nurse delivering flowers. The caption reads, as if the nurse is speaking, “It says on the card ‘From your fellow riveters!’”

Volume 12, Number 4, 1943, has a Coakley comic for OWI: “1943’s Lady Of Fashion.”

Headers for the tips sections now regularly feature “The War And Your Home”, with an editor’s note proclaiming that this content has been prepared by the OWI.

In Volume 12, Number 5, we have another OWI comic, this one by Gregory d’Alessio. It features a more matronly woman brushing past her butler to tell her aged husband that she’s just received a raise.

As if that message weren’t clear enough, the Volume 12, Number 8, 1944 has an even louder message of, “Get to work, women!” This one is not noted as an OWI work, and the signature is very stylized, but I think it reads B. Kile. In it a man tells a florist, “I have to be particular because they are for a very special young lady who I hope will some day soon consent to become an employee in my store.” If one didn’t note the publication’s year, and context, this comic would have a far different take, wouldn’t it? (Note the “we use ice” sign; this was the ice industry’s publication, after all!)

In Volume 13, Number 1, 1944, the ice industry is trying to push it’s own services by plastering the back cover with a fearful message: “Food Is A Weapon. Save With Ice.”

The Volume 13, Number 4, issue of 1944 focuses on etiquette for the wartime bride. “With nine out of every ten weddings today involving at least one principal from the armed forces, marriage in haste has become the accepted order.”

In Volume 13, Number 6, 1944, the ice industry is boasting of it’s record setting performance of 80 million pounds of ice produced in the past year.

But by Volume 14, Number 5, 1945, the ice industry isn’t feeling so cool about it’s efforts… The back cover has a memo for customers, apologizing for any inconveniences suffered due to “man power shortages and wartime problems–plus the extra load of the summer months.”

Inside that same issue, we see that women also must battle “those pesky little moths!”

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I have a fascination with old magazines. It started a ton of years ago when our main public library had Saturday used book sales. They had hundreds of books all stamped “Discarded” and selling all copies for 25 cents. Not being an avid reader, I chose the heaviest and largest books I could carry, getting the most for my money. Probably passing on rare books with obscure titles. Many of my finds were hard cover bound newspapers and magazines from the Teens,Twenties, Thirties, and Forties, including this book of House Beautiful from 1929.

When something peaks your interest, it’s easy to search for more of the same. It only takes a few quick glances in these copies to understand my enthusiasm.

I appreciate the artistic graphics of the covers and ad pages, along with the illustrations in the articles shows the evolution of fashion and industrial design from the simple life of prewar Teens, the free wheeling Roaring Twenties, the Depression era Thirties.

I find the magazines are useful. Home and Garden and House Beautiful were used to help furnish and decorate our older home with period furniture, fixtures and colors. When we dedicated one room to the Deco period, our old magazines helped steer us to the furnishings needed.

The news and photo type magazines (Like – Look) seem to be of interest when people want to see what was happening in the world on their special day, whether it’s a birthday, wedding day or one of the happier times; the date of their divorce. We have several editions from the year our house was built, and use a wonderful old wooden magazine rack in the guest room to hold them.

I purchased a few Popular Mechanics from the Mid-Thirties. What fun looking through the “New” ideas. Sure the ads were great in these copies, with cars, cigarettes and a host of other items.

But what caught my eye was the “Television for Millions” article. In 1935 Television was available in London and Berlin and expected in New York City within a short time. Pictured is a projection TV.

There was an advertisement for the new Vise Grips, and the article on the ever popular auto that travels on land and water. A rather repeating theme in this genre.

As sellers on Ebay, on our own web store and in a local antique mall, we also use magazines to help identify the age of many items.

Selling a magazine is always difficult, but space is limited and we have found lots of people share our fondness for this old paper. Titles, dates, artists, writers, company ads, product ads and subjects covered all seem to have a collector interested. Unusual and hard to find early company magazines, circulated to employees, science fiction, sports and special interest types are always in demand.

And I won’t even mention the comics, which Collin so aptly covers.

Next time when you are out and about, poking through your favorite antique store or flea market, take a moment to flip pages on some old magazines and see what catches your eye!

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This fall, collectors will find it surprisingly easy to buy copies of 1970s Rolling Stone magazine and 1950s Playboys — not in their highly-sought-after original forms, but in DVD sets from Bondi Media. In Rolling Stone’s case, over a thousand issues, the entire archive since the 1960s, will be released in conjunction with their 40th anniversary celebration this fall. Playboy, not quite as ambitious, will be releasing a decade at a time, starting with the 1950s this October. Both sets will retail for around $100 (Rolling Stone includes a subscription to the ink-n-paper version), following in the footsteps of The New Yorker, who published DVDs of their entire archives in 2005, and Mad Magazine, who released a DVD last year. Unfortunately, copyright issues hamper some usability in these sets, and a collector is more interested in owning an actual copy rather than a digital one, so some might consider these to be little more than an electronic coffee-table book. I, however, wish more magazines would make these available. Smaller magazines, like the D&D magazine Dragon, have released digital archives in the past, but the interest in larger, older magazines is still growing.

As a collector, you might not realize just now much research you do — who was in what magazine, who was centerfold in what year, when were your favorite records reviewed in Rolling Stone — and you might be doing some harm to your collection to refer to them on a regular basis. Playboys tended to have loose or split covers, and early Rolling Stone was on quick-yellowing newsprint, neither of which like a lot of handling. The less handling of old paper, the better, to keep it in as good shape as possible. Unless you’ve got a complete collection, you must have small holes, here and there, in your collection. To browse an issue not on your shelf, it’s off to the library to paruse a black-and-white microfiche. Having magazine archives on DVD is the best of both worlds — you’ve got a full-color, high quality microfiche, with high-tech viewer, at your disposal in your own home.

Comparing the DVDs to a microfiche is a bit too accurate, however. As noted above, without the proper releases, these DVD or CDROM collections cannot be completely searchable, as many researchers would prefer. The magazines are broken down into single image scans of entire pages — just as microfilm is — and assembled in slideshow fashion. Bondi seems to have the proper releases for some projects, as they claim to also be retyping the Playboy set in their press release. People accustomed to Googling for a name or phrase will be disappointed, but they should remember that having what amounts to a huge microfilm archive of their favorite magazine, in their own home, should be seen as a boon.

By releasing these sets, magazines are truly acknowledging their collectors, rather than focusing on next month’s issue and letting their history fall behind. Let’s hope more publishers follow suit, giving fans the ability to own a copy of every magazine, down to the advertisements and letters to the editor, as a supplement to the carefully stored and lovingly collected archive they’ve painstakingly acquired.

Others:

• The Amazing Spider-Man Complete Collection
• In 1997, National Geographic released its archive on CDROM.
• Next month, Mother Jones will release its 30-year archive.

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