History Of Magazines

History Of Magazines

Magazines used to be called periodicals.

The word 'magazine' was invented in the 1580s and comes from the Arabic word 'Makhzan', meaning 'storehouse'.

Before the 19th century ordinary ops were called magazines, this is why Charles Dickens books like 'The Great Expectations' and 'A Christmas Carol' are so big nowadays because before the 19th century they were published in chapters as magazines. 

It was during the 19th century that the word 'magazine' started to mean periodicals.

One of the earliest examples of a modern magazine was the magazine called "Erbauliche Monaths-Unterredungen" meaning 'Edifying Monthly Discussion", this was created by German theologian and poet, Johann Rist in 1663.

In the 1700s literacy and intellectual ability increased, especially among women, society needs or knowledge mean that magazines became a popular cultural staple.

Three English printers produced three essay magazines that set the stage for modern magazines, they were published several times a week which resembled our model newspaper. However their content was more similar to our modern magazines.

In London, in 1731 an Englishman called Edward Cave published a periodical called 'The Gentleman's Magazine' ad this was the first general interest magazine.

In 1900 British magazines were widely distributed around the UK and US.

In 1918 on the 11^th of November, when the first world war ended, ‘War Illustrated’ launched a competition for readers to choose a new name, as the war had ended, so it became ‘News Illustrated’.

In 1933 photo-based news magazines started to appear in the UK.

In 1936 the BBC launched the worlds first regular television service from Alexandra Palace in London, ‘Mickey Mouse Weekly’ printed in a full-colour gravure, Billboard publishes US pop music chart and Nast mergers ‘Vanity Fair’ with ‘Vogue’.

In 1937 ‘Dandy’ comic launched by DC Thompson, ushering in a new style of drawing and a wealth of characters, ‘Marie Claire’ was launched in France by Jean Prouvost and ‘Saturday Evening Post’ sold 3 million copies a week which was the largest circulation in the US.

In 1938 the ‘Beano’ comic was launched, ‘Match’ was launched by Jean Prouvost and the US radio advertising revenue beats magazines.

In 1939 on September 3^rd, war was declared between Britain and Germany so paper shortages forced closures and launches were prohibited.

In 1972, ‘Cosmopolitan UK’ had its first international edition, ‘Under Joyce Hopkirk’ went on to be one the world’s best-selling woman’s magazine and the US magazine ‘Life’ closed with a bumper issue on December 29^th. The loss of advertising to TV and the high cost of postage were the blame for four year of losses.

In 1990, the BBC/Redwood launched ‘Good Food’ which took sectors by storm and titles such as ‘Gardeners world’ and ‘Top Gear’ had a similar effect, the ‘World Wide Web was described by Tim Berners-Lee and ‘Entertainment Weekly’ was launched in the US.

In 2011 on 8th July, Rupert Murdock announced the closure of the 200-year-old Sunday newspaper, the 'News of the World' after widespread phone-hacking exposed. BBC Worldwide agreed to sell or license its magazines to 'Exponent' for £121 million and offload India joint venture.