After LITERALLY forty minutes of searching, I have found an extremely old copy of Time Magazine. The library data system is so bad at telling you where things are. I searched the basement of the library for a solid half hour before I gave up. It was only once I was on my way through the main floor that I started to see the bound periodicals that I had been looking for. I still can’t find Vogue and Vanity Fair only goes back to the 1990’s so I guess I wont be writing anything about fashion as I had hoped. Oh well. So a helpful tip for anyone who manages to read my blog before starting on their own, stay on the main floor, quiet section!
I managed to find a Time Magazine published on my exact birthday, although obviously not the same year. The Time I’m reading was published August 29, 1932. I’m a little confused already because there doesn’t appear to be a cover. I’m not sure if maybe that’s how they did things back in the 30’s or if there is a page missing. The most obvious difference between this Time and Times that are more current would be color. It is strange seeing everything in black and white. It makes it feel much more like a newspaper instead of a magazine.
The first three pages are solid advertisements. They are extremely strange though because they come off as actually articles in the magazine. They are set up with a few pictures and an informative story about the product underneath. It is nothing like the full-page picture advertisements we see today. In addition to the unusual set-up, the ads are for unusual things as well. There was an ad for Tomato juice (Heinz of course), gas heating equipment, and life insurance. The life insurance ad might not seem too out of place except that it is a picture of several men pulling what one can assume is a dead body out of a car while two other people comfort a crying woman. You certainly wouldn’t see that depicted today.
The articles are almost solid text, which bores me. It’s so much like an actual newspaper that I’m really just shocked right now. They have these extremely concrete categories that I’m not used to seeing like “Education, National Affairs, Foreign Affairs, and Science.” The advertisements look like modern day magazine articles and the articles look like modern day newspaper articles. It’s crazy!
The use of language was very entertaining. One sentence began with “For nine days last fortnight…” It is just interesting to see the old-fashioned words like fortnight being used in the popular press. I also got a kick out of a quote used in the one ad that read. “I never owned, hired, or saw a truck so good.” I can’t help put laugh at that grammar.
Ultimately, I don’t think I would be a fan of going through old magazines. Maybe I would’ve found the Vogue more interesting, who knows? I just hated the layout: It was so bland and boring. One day I’ll come back and make the librarian take me to the Vogue section. I honestly would really enjoy seeing those fashion ads!
Hi Carmen, Thanks for the good post. Sorry you had trouble locating Vogue. It is there someplace. But at least I am glad you Time. Magazines back then were a lot different, being mostly black and white and without a lot of photos. Your depiction of the life insurance ad seems quite dated, but perhaps there are connections to today.
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