21 Things I Learned from 131 Years of Ladies' Home Journal
Ladies' Home Journal was launched in 1883 by the Philadelphia-based Curtis Publishing Group; over its lifetime, it straddled three centuries. But it's a monthly publication no more—the staff has been gutted and it'll survive as nothing more than a "special interest publication" sold only on newsstands. I.e., a ghost.
Ladies' Home Journal as it has been historically known is no more. The magazine's parent company Meredith said Thursday that it was "transitioning" LHJ into "a special interest publication." There are reports that this means that LHJ will move from being monthly to publishing a few issues a year and/or may exist…
"Did You Give Him A Chance To Impress You?"
Writer John Ptak has posted 1940s Ladies Home Journal piece that instructs young women on date conduct. The response of Ptak's 17-year-old daughter? "It was simply beyond listening to...and certainly not anywhere near worthy of a response." [LongStreet via BoingBoing]
Naomi Sims, 1948-2009: From Foster Care To Fashion Mags
Naomi Sims, the first black model on the cover of Ladies' Home Journal in November 1968, died over the weekend at the age of 61. Her obituaries reveal a classic American rags-to-riches tale:
House Beautiful
Everything from the death of a husband to increasing alcohol dependency can be fixed by remodeling the kitchen! So thought Ladies Home Journal, anyway: here's a before-and-after of poet Edna St. Vincent Millay's home. [NewYorker]
Dolly Parton Blames Tits For Postponing Tour, But Is An Eating Disorder To Blame?
"If somebody asks me point-blank, 'Have you had plastic surgery?' it's like, well, duh," Dolly Parton tells the latest issue of Ladies Home Journal in an interview tied to the concert tour she just canceled on account of her breasts. Prescient, no? The magazine doesn't say much about Dolly's new album, Backwoods Barbie
The New York Observer's "Off the Record" media column asked some of the editors of the so-called "seven sisters" magazines — which include Family Circle, Ladies Home Journal, Redbook, Good Housekeeping and Woman's Day — whether or not they would endorse Hillary Clinton, since they have always had a cozy relationship…
Study Says Magazines For Black Women More Likely To Shill Fad Diets
The way "black" magazines and "mainstream" mags discuss diet strategies is very different, according a recent study done at the University of Iowa. According to a U of Iowa press release: "African-American women's magazines are more likely to encourage fad diets and reliance on faith to lose weight, while mainstream…
Jamie Lee Curtis Would Like Us All To Have A Great Weekend

"All of a sudden I realized I exist," Jamie Lee Curtis tells Jeanne Marie Laskas in July's Ladies Home Journal. (No, we don't usually read it, as much as we are totes obsessed with "Can This Marriage Be Saved" but the publicist sent us a nice file of it over the internet and we're searching for crap to post so we can…
Women's Magazines Short on Body Fat, Long On Good Eatin'
Women's service magazines aren't just about underweight and underfed models. Glamour Magazine has been ranked towards the top of a list of magazines with sound nutritional information by the American Council on Science and Health, according to MediaPost. Even Ladies' Home Journal, Redbook, Shape, and Self got…
Nicole Kidman reveals all! ...... Just kidding.
I'd always pictured Ladies Home Journal as a nice friendly perky happy little number, but June's issue is actually quite an enthralling read. Gambling addiction, death, seizures, evil nursing homes, gay parents and how all sorts of things like driving, headaches and your own eyes can kill you.

