I was browsing in this bookshop at the weekend and came upon these...
...three copies of Woman's Own from 1916.
A quick look on wikipedia suggests that the magazine was established in 1932, which is patently incorrect.
I love this sort of thing. The pages are foxed and rough cut. The added romance, for me at least, of them from being slap in the middle of the First World War cannot be over emphasised.
They are definitely for women, ladies, and the war hardly impinges. Except for cost cutting tips, which were very important as rationing was a big issue even in that war; and the odd article on knitting for the troops or wounded men.
Dressmaking instructions are rudimentary to say the least.
I suspect girls were given a good grounding in the domestic arts at school and needed little else than these very basic patterns. I dread to think what I'd make of it. I once made a beanbag from a freebie pullout pattern you had to enlarge yourself. It was enormous. I'd made it in inches instead of cemtimetres.
There are all the articles we're used to nowadays: stories in instalments, recipes, handy hints, fashion tips, quizzes...
The next one surprised me...
I'm not sure why, maybe it's the directness of the language. No 'curvy girls' in 1916, just fat women. An article in one of them has a woman claiming to have lost over five stones using just such pills. Plus ca change.
However, there are worse horrors than being fat, apparently.
