History of Magazines Pt 1

 

Image from: Canva

 

    Magazines are an interesting form of media that inform, educate, and entertain people of all age groups. Being one of the oldest forms of news and information distribution (as you are about to read), it’s a given that magazines have a rich history into how they were originally invented as well as how they function into today’s society. Come along as we take a look into the entire history of magazines in this two part blog series!

    Way back when the printing press was first invented in 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg, he introduced a brand new way to mass produce information to the public. Within a century of its creation, there was already a wide variety of pamphlets, newsletters, and advertisements that were used for all types purposes. 

    The first magazines in America were published in 1741. Andrew Bradford and Benjamin Franklin were two printers from Philadelphia who were fellow rivals. They were competing to be the first people to publish a magazine in American soil. And while both ultimately had short lived publishing ventures, it emphasized to the American public how informative and entertaining magazines can be, which future business would be sure to capitalize from. Many of the popular publishers from this era of emerging popularity of magazines included the Pennsylvania Magazine and the Massachusetts Magazine. 

    As for periodicals at the time, they were so expensive that only the wealthy at the time could be able to afford them. In the 1800s, however, many publishers began to gear more towards the general public. Because the common folk at the time were not as educated and informed as the wealthy, the publishers began a new form of magazines that focused more on entertaining the reader rather than informing or educating them.

   That’s all for now folks, stay tuned where we go even more over into depth of the history of magazines!

References:

- https://www.magazines.com/ 

- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Britannica-Online