Ode to the Vintage Women’s Magazine

I’m in the middle of several new content projects right now and my shelves of vintage women’s magazines, as usual, are here to inspire me.

Flipping through and reading these great magazine masterpieces is a tremendous experience! The wealth of material you find is both educational… and heartwarming. Imagine spending a gorgeous Summer afternoon in the sun with a glass of tea (or a cocktail) and pages full of your favorite era of fashion, serial fictional stories, and silly vintage advertising copy.

Magazines of the 19th and 20th centuries offered a window to the world for women.

Do you prefer the jazz era of the 1920s? Or do you prefer mod style from the middle of the 1960s? Do you like terrible recipes made from mayo? Family Circle in the 1950s has you covered. Some magazines dating back to the Victorian era can still be found online today!

If you are wondering where to find these gems for your own collection, there are many places to find them.

Vintage Magazines Sale Sources

The quickest place to look is your local antique store. You can stop on your way home from work today.

And then there is of course online on websites like:

• Etsy
• OldImprints.com
• PastPaper.com, has a great collection of obscure women’s magazine titles
• ElegantlyPapered.com (UK)
• CrazyAboutMagazines.com (UK)
• There are more if you dig deep online and there is of course Ebay as a resource too.

Titles of Vintage Women’s Magazines

There are a ton of women’s magazine titles to look for. The titles you can search for include:

1. Delineator
2. Vogue
3. Elle
4. Harpers Bazaar
5. Mademoiselle
6. Good Housekeeping
7. Look Magazine
8. Lady’s Home Journal
9. Family Circle
10. Woman’s Home Companion
11. Modern Priscilla
12. Tan
13. Hue
14. Ebony
15. Modern Beauty Shop
16. American Hairdresser
17. Hair-Dos
18. The Gentlewoman
19. McCall’s
20. Lure
21. Charm Magazine (For women who work)
22. Madame (For women who think)
23. The Queen (A UK magazine first published in the Victorian Era)

And then of course there are the Movie magazines that are also so fun to read like Photoplay, Modern Screen, Motion Picture, and Silver Screen.

My collection is heavy with vintage salon magazines, but I also love reading the magazines written for the housewife. What is your favorite genre or title of vintage magazine? And when was the last time you treated yourself to a new copy?