On this day in 1693 the first English women’s magazine, Ladies’ Mercury, began publication in London. It only lasted a month, but indicates a desire to produce reading material of particular interest to women.
The Ladies Mercury was an offshoot of a weekly publication, the Athenian Mercury, perhaps the first general interest newspaper in England. The Mercury answered readers’ questions on domestic issues, relationships, even sex. The editor detected a high interest for issues that he associated with women and therefore launched a weekly edition for women. It was printed on both sides of a single broadsheet… no photos, just lots of grey, grey text. Historians are not sure why the Ladies Mercury was discontinued but it might have been because of competition with the parent publication.
I wondered how many females in England could read at the end of the 17j century and was surprised to learn it was one in four.
The first Canadian women’s magazine, Chatelaine, was started by Maclean Hunter Ltd in 1928 with circulation of 57,053. The first editor was Anne Elizabeth Wilson. By the late1960s when I started reading magazines, Chatelaine was a reputable source of information on fashion, home decor and other domestic issues. But it also offered a glimpse of politics, career options and literature not generally available in the other magazines women read while sitting under the dryer at the beauty salon.
As a young mother and homemaker, one of my favourite magazines was Canadian Living. It had some of the best recipes! Interestingly, Canadian Living was purchased by Transcontinental in 2000, the same Canadian company that owned the Prince Albert Daily Herald at that time.
Almost by accident, I began a 29-year career as a an editor in 1981. Perhaps that is why I felt a special connection with June Callwood, a Canadian broadcaster and one of the regular Chatelaine columnists and feature writers. Callwood was a forceful speaker and worker for women’s issues. She helped to start a women’s shelter in Toronto. I was thrilled to meet her at a Saskatoon conference and followed her like a puppy!
I never met Violet McNaughton, a pioneering Prairie journalist who died in 1968 in Saskatoon.
She was a leader in the co-operative, farm, peace and women’s movements in Canada. She was an influential member of the Saskatchewan Grain Growers’ Association and helped found the Western Producer, an alternative paper for farmers. She became the women’s editor of the producer in 1925 she retired as editor in 1950 but wrote a column for the Producer for several years.
She blazed a path for females journalists in Saskatchewan.
Canadian English-language magazines of all types continue to struggle to compete with larger publications from the United States. Chatelaine is owned by St. Joseph Communications. Based in Toronto, it is one of Canada’s largest privately owned communications and media companies. Canadian Living is published by Group TVA, a communications conglomerate based in Montreal.
Sources: Wikipedia, The Canadian Encyclopedia and magazine company websites.
