The Periodicals That Shaped American Boyhood
19th-century "story papers" gave boys stories they liked, while also encouraging readers to contribute their own material and tell their own stories.
How 19th Century Women Were Taught to Think About Native Americans
In nineteenth-century American women's magazines, Native American women were depicted as attractive, desirable, and pious.
How Mad Magazine Informed America’s Cultural Critique
When Tales Calculated to Drive You MAD—Humor in a Jugular Vein first erupted onto the streets in 1952, it was like nothing ever seen before.
The Women’s Magazine That Tried to Stop the Civil War
Godey’s Lady’s Book, one of the most influential American publications of the nineteenth century, tried to halt the Civil War.
How Magazines Created a New Culture of Manhood
Middle-class American manhood changed in the mid-twentieth century. And the new ideal of masculine consumption was captured by men’s magazines.
The Sexual Lessons of 1980s Teen Magazines
Teen magazines put girls in charge by inverting the male gaze
Nineteenth-Century Clickbait
Online publications that offer clickbait and easy entertainment mirror some of the most popular nineteenth century British magazines.
Class and the Glass Ceiling
Feminism and "women's work" have looked very different for U.S. women depending on their class.
What Did Fashion Magazines Have To Do With Dada?
When you think of Dada, do you think of Europe? If so, you’re missing one of its hotbeds—New York.
How Fashion Magazines Talked in the 1930s
The Splashy language of fashion magazines prompted one linguist to look closer at the over-the-top dialect in Vogue and Ladies’ Home Journal of the 30s