Notions change over the years and people try to interpret things with respect to historical evidences. But every initiation of a utility has a story to tell, where the efforts by many in the left days paved way for the excellence of the upcoming time.
Magazines which rule modern era of communication and entertainment have received immense transformation.
How a Magazine Slowly Made its Place
The Wonderful Beginning: Erbauliche Monaths Unterredungen was distinctively the first magazine to be published in the latter half of the 17th century, in Germany. But written by a sole author, it lacked versatility and was meant only for the intellectual readers. The desired break from the monotonous approach was introduced by Jean Donneau de Vize in his publication Le Mercure Galant. The topics included in it where diversified from literature, events to theater. His remarkable approach was later adapted all over Europe.
Magazine for Women: The first women’s magazine is said to be The Ladies’ Mercury. But as part of print communication of the seventeenth century, it was merely recognized as a periodical. Released by British author John Dunton, it was accessible for only four weeks. The single sheet had replies by editors on both sides, to the questions send in by female audience.
Coinage of the term: The word “Magazine” was coined from the Arabic word meaning ‘warehouse’. The idea was to imply a warehouse of information. It was another periodical from England which made use of the term and called itself The Gentleman’s Magazine.
Addition of changes and technology: By the first half of the 19th century, magazines no longer remained confined to the elite class. Charles Dickens’ Household Words was one example of a middle class family magazine.
The Less-known Briton Hadden: Randolph Hearst is not only known for yellow journalism through his owned newspaper but also as the founder of popular magazines like Good Housekeeping and Harper’s Bazaar. Besides him, Henry Luce was another popular name who launched the famous Time, a weekly news magazine. But an individual whose contribution remains blurred is Luce’s Yale University classmate and co-founder of Time, Brition Hadden. Although he died at an early age of 31, he influenced journalism of his time with his unique style of writing.
Certain Specializations: Fortune business magazines initiated high-quality fully colored pages. Helene Gordon Lazareff launched Elle magazine in 1945, where readers identified their benefit in her well-being. Most desirable themes for magazines were then celebrity and fashion, like that of People and Vanity Fair of 70’s and 80’s respectively.
Since 90’s print publication was assumed to disappear amidst televisions and computers. The fear reached to a level of discussion when internet dominated the whole with online business and marketing. It was thought that business owners would choose online magazines to save magazine printing costs. Somehow, unarguably no one can resist the physical presence of the glossy colorful pages of a printed magazine with useful information in it. The ease with which you can turn the pages randomly to seek the required piece on a gadget, film star, food recipe, advertisement or travel destination is beyond comparison.
