Blog 4 – “Cosmopolitan”

As a frequent reading of “Cosmopolitan”, I decided it would be appropriate to select the 1910 version of the magazine for this assignment. While I came into this project knowing that the magazine would hold many substantial differences spanning over nearly a century, I was surprised by just how much things have changed in everyday media.

The issue of “Cosmopolitan” I browsed was what I would categorize as old fashioned, even though at its publication it was a magazine forging ahead the typical traditions. Nearly the entire magazine was printed in solid black and white, with color only appearing on the cover and near the middle section of the magazine. Mostly all of the pictures were illustrated instead of today’s normal photographs. Instead of short, to the point stories in many of today’s most popular magazines, this 1910 issue was comprised of lengthy stories overwhelmed by text and with very few images to accompany the words. Instead of current time’s fluffy and easy stories, this “Cosmopolitan” talked of series topics such as politics.

It is likely that this magazine was targeted to an audience of young to middle aged women, usually white women seeking higher education and/or a profession. Throughout the magazine I noticed many advertisements promoting education institutions, including those only meant for women. Many advertisements encourages young girls to pursuit nursing, law, and drawing. These “opportunity ad lets” also included sections for male readers, which would probably be a shocking sight today since “Cosmopolitan” is stereotypically a strictly female magazine. Also being advertised was furniture, pianos, watches, diamonds, houses, guns, cars, cameras, liquor/beer, and even suspenders. Unlike today’s version of this publication, which is typically filled with clothing, shoe, fragrance, jewelry, and cosmetic ads, the majority of the ads in the 1910’s issue dealt with everyday items. For example, I discovered many ads for cleaning supplies, soaps, sewing machines, and cooking supplies.

Not represented in this magazine were people of non Caucasian race. Also, males were not typically targeted in many of the advertisements, except for the guns and suspenders.

The advertisement I read dealt with Encyclopedia Britannica. Here, they were offering a “once in a lifetime” offer to purchase an encyclopedia for only $4, $10 cheaper than its normal price. This was a very lengthy ad, spanning 4 pages of the magazine, promoting the benefits and practical use of an encyclopedia in most anyones life.

The story I read was “The Master of Wires” by Herbert Corey. The story told of Theodore Newton Vail who was famously known for his work with both telephone and telegraph companies. In the story, Theodore Newton Vail spoke of looking ahead to the future and the possibilities of great advancements in the technology of communication.