From 1830 to 1898, a women’s magazine was published in Philly, which became one of the most popular in America. For the vast majority of this time, its editor was a woman, Sarah Hale. She introduced many innovations and made the magazine so interesting that its circulation more than doubled within 20 years. In 1860, it reached 150,000 copies. We are talking about Godey’s Lady’s Book (GLB). Let’s learn more about its history. Read more on philadelphianka.
The beginning of publishing and editor S. Hale
GLB was founded in Philly in 1830 by Louis Godey. At that time, gift books for women became popular in the city. So the publisher decided to create a magazine that would publish engravings, poems and articles for a female audience.
In 1837, Godey invited S. J. Hale, who had her own small magazine, to become his editor. The woman had experience not only in journalism. In Boston, she had previously published the novel Northwood; a Tale of New England and was the author of poetry, including such a well-known work as Mary Had a Little Lamb. A widow with five children, Sarah was an active citizen and sought to defend the rights and interests of women in society.
When she joined the editorial staff of GLB, the magazine had 10,000 subscribers. Two years into her tenure, the circulation grew to 40,000. In 1860, it had 150,000 subscribers. Due to its popularity, GLB became a platform that had a direct impact on the position of women in America and their tastes. S. Hale added a column to the magazine about women’s work and employment, their position in the American labor market. She also advocated for women’s education and created special issues of GLB that contained exclusively women’s writings.
What did GLB write about?
The most famous were the hand-tinted fashion photographs that each issue of GLB contained at the very beginning. According to the publisher, in 1859, the magazine cost $105,200 to produce, and $8,000 was spent on coloring the pictures. In 1853, illustrations and patterns for sewing clothes at home began to appear in the issues.
The fashion pictures were accompanied by a detailed description of the clothes and their purpose. The images showed horseback riding, walking and even home dressing. Women saw many opportunities for self-expression through clothing and the ability to be fashionable in any situation.
GLB published news, in addition to political news, piano sheet music and literary works. Thus, in 1834, one of E. A. Poe’s earliest stories The Visionary appeared on its pages. Later, the famous writer published his other works in GLB. His example was followed by O. W. Holmes, N. Hawthorne, J. K. Paulding, W. Irving and other writers.
Overall, this publication had a significant impact on the culture of the time:
- L. Sigourney, who reported on events in London, worked for GLB.
- White wedding dresses and decorating evergreen trees for Christmas became traditional after the publications.
- Another tradition popularized by S. Hale was the celebration of Thanksgiving.
Thus, GLB contained useful and interesting information and largely shaped the interests of society, especially women. At the same time, men also read this publication and sought to be published in it, given its high popularity.
Beyond politics: forbidden topics and the end of GLB’s history
Since 1845, the publisher of GLB had protected the copyright for each issue of the magazine. This was done to prevent plagiarism and reprinting of materials by other publications. This decision was made for the first time in America and met with a lot of criticism. Other publishers called it selfish and wrote that Godey would regret it. However, this did not happen.
The publication remained popular despite its relatively high price. The subscription price was $3 per year, while other publications did not exceed $2 per year. Nevertheless, the number of subscribers was constantly growing. In the 1860s, GLB was the most popular in America and the largest in terms of circulation.
Politics and controversial issues of the time were taboo topics in GLB. L. Godey fired his assistant editor, S. J. Lippincott, who in the 1850s had spoken out against slavery on the pages of GLB. Sara publicly opposed Godey’s position, and he later retracted his accusations. However, the newspaper did not publish any news related to the Civil War and did not speak on the topic at all. Due to the lack of political and military news, GLB lost about a third of its subscribers.
In 1877, the publisher sold GLB and passed away the following year. The new owner renamed the publication to Godey’s Magazine and aimed to expand its content and audience. Under the new name, the publication existed until 1898, when the publisher died. This was the end of the history of the popular American women’s magazine. The latter laid many foundations in this field and held a dominant position among the readership for more than half a century.