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First Magazines in the United Staes
Andrew Bradford publishes "American Magazine," the first magazine in the United States. Bradford took this idea from Ben Franklin, who published "General Magazine" a few days later. Both magazines featured articles about economic and political issues, and had obvious attempts to form public opinion. -
More diverse magazines are published
William Bradford starts "American Magazine and Monthly Chronicle." This magazine incorporates humor into economic and political articles. -
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American Revolution
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Magazines take on greater politcal role
Author of "Common Sense", Thomas Paine, assumes the role of editor at "Pennsylvania Magazine." This magazine was extremely important during the Revolution, because of its support for the war. However, it was not successful in the long run. -
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The Penny Press Era
"Knickerbocker", "Graham's Magazine", and "Saturday Evening Post" are all published and geared towards the middle class. Magazines now encompassed a great variety of topics, ranging from fashion to diets. "Godey's", a feminist movement magazine, gave women writers an opportunity to be featured in print as well. -
Women create their own magazines, use them for political agendas as well
Fashion, diets, moral, and health appear on the pages of several new women's magazines. Women writers gain recognition. -
"Harper's" illustrations bring political change
"Harper's Monthly" reprints material previously published, with illustrations in woodcut. It is most famous for its illustrations depicting the Civil War. Years later, "Harper's Weekly" would also be famous for publishing war photographs. "Weekly" would help expose a political scam through political cartoons in 1870 New York as well. -
260 magazines published in United States
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"Ladies Home Journal" breaks the mold for magazines
This magazine targeted women with articles on gardening, children, fashion, and recipes. It also implemented powerful advertising. -
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Muckrakers exposed
Theodore Roosevelt declares magazines who seek to undermine corrupt politics "muckrackers," and several articles are published revealing such practices. This ends in 1912, however, due to reader boredom. -
1,800 magazines published in United Staes
Boom in magazine production is caused by better, more cost efficient printing techniques, more money, and the Postal Act of 1879. Circulation became much easier. -
Three types of magazines emerge from changing America
The time between World War I and II brought about three types of magazines: the digest, the newspagazine, and the pictoral magazine. -
"Reader's Digest" appears
"Reader's Digest" features articles already published elsewhere, but in a condensed form for hurried readers. -
The beginning of "Time"
"Time" magazine begins the new era of newsmagazines, in which distillation and compartmentalization play a huge roles. Other innovaitons include the use of narratives, group journalism, and a jargon writing style. -
"Newsweek" and "U.S. News" appear
Both magazines are modeled after "Time." -
"Life" magazine is highly successful
With a quarter million subsribers early on, "Life" focused on the lives of public figures in everyday life. This format would last for another 36 years. -
"Look" is modeled after "Life"
"Look" had many similarities with "Life" but focuses more on the personalites of public figures. It becomes more of a family magazine before it stopped in 1972. -
Specialized magazines begin
The increasingly liberalized America allows for broader topics, such as sex as seen in "Confidential" and "Playboy", and race issues, as in "Ebony" and "Negro Digest."
