Magazines have existed since the 17th century, starting as intellectual publications in Germany. The term "magazine" originated from the French word for storehouse in the early 18th century when the Gentleman's Magazine popularized the format of including a variety of articles. Throughout the 19th century, magazines became more widely available and affordable with the inclusion of advertisements. Technological advances in printing helped magazines reach mass audiences in the 20th century. Despite predictions of their demise due to digital media, printed magazines still fulfill needs that online formats do not.

2. Definition
o Magazines were also known as: periodicals, serials, glossies,
slicks
o They are publications that appear on a regular schedule and
contain a variety of articles.
o They are financed by: advertising, a purchase price, pre-paid
subscriptions or sometimes all three.
o The English word magazine recalls a military storehouse of
war material
o The term magazine was coined for this use by Edward Cave,
editor of The Gentleman's Magazine.

3. Types of Magazines
o Most magazines use the same conventions, but they all target
different audiences. There are three different types:
o Consumer: magazines targeting general reading audiences with
special interests. For example, homes, sports, news, fashion, teen
gossip etc
o Trade and Professional: magazines targeting people working in
trades, businesses and professional fields. These provide news,
information and how-to articles for readers working in specific
industries with advertising content focused on those industries.
o House Organ: also known as in-house magazines, in-house
publications and house journals, these periodicals are published by
for-profit and not-for-profit organizations such as companies,
special interest groups and affinity groups for their customers,
employees, clients and members.

4. Distribution
Magazines can be distributed through:
o Mail
o Sales at newsstands
o Bookstores or other vendors
o Variety of free distribution methods, e.g. making them available at selected pick-up
locations.
There are three main means of circulation:
o Paid: The magazine is sold to readers for a price, either on a per-issue basis or by
subscription
o Free: There is no cover price so issues are given away for free.
o Controlled: Usually industry-based publications distributed only to specific or qualifying
readers, usually for free and determined by a survey. This was widely used before the
rise of the World Wide Web.

5. Timeline
o 1663 The world's first magazine Erbauliche Monaths-Unterredungen (Edifying Monthly Discussions) is published in
Germany.
o 1731 The first modern general-interest magazine, The Gentleman's Magazine, is published in England as
entertainment with essays, stories, poems and political commentary.
o 1739 The Scots Magazine begins and today remains the oldest consumer magazine in print.
o 1741 Benjamin Franklin intends to publish America's first magazine, American Magazine came out three days earlier.
o 1770 The first women's magazine, The Lady's Magazine, starts with literary, fashion and embroidery patterns
o 1843 The Economist begins examining news, politics, business, science and the arts.
o 1895 An American magazine, The Bookman, lists "Books in Demand" originating the idea of a bestseller list.
o 1896 The first pulp fiction magazines are printed on cheap wood pulp paper with ragged untrimmed edges.
o 1897 The old Saturday Evening Post is revived to become the most widely circulated weekly magazine.
o 1899 National Geographic appears.
o 1912 Photoplay is the first magazine for movie fans.
o 1933 Esquire is the first men's magazine.
o 1944 Seventeen is the first magazine devoted to adolescents.
o 1953 TV Guide starts.
o 1953 Playboy opens with Marilyn Monroe on the cover.
o 1967 Rolling Stone demonstrates the popularity of special-interest magazines.
o 1972 Feminist Gloria Steinem brings out Ms. magazine.
o 1990 Entertainment Weekly starts.

6. Le Mercure Galant was
one of the first printed
publications.
Household Words was
an English weekly
magazine published in
the 1850s by Charles
Dickens.
Gentleman’s Magazine
is the first publication
that was named
magazine.

7. Beginnings of print
magazines
o First publication, which could be called a magazine, was the
German Erbauliche Monaths Unterredungen, released in the
year 1663.
o It was a literary and philosophical edition and after it was
launched several periodicals with very similar topics were
published, and were intended for an intellectual audience.

8. “Magazine”
o It first appeared in 1731 in the Gentleman’s Magazine. The name
magazine, which comes from the Arabic word which means the
warehouse, and was used for describing the place which deposits
large quantity of various goods, while the analogy used to
describe a book that contained many useful information for
travelers and sailors.
o The success of the magazine was great, but the costs of every
issue were even higher. Printing cost was high, and the number of
printed copies could not be greater than one hundred thousand,
because it was technically impossible to squeeze a larger amount
of paper through the machine. Distribution was also a big
problem because it was difficult to move large quantities of
magazines at great distances.

9. First ad pages
o In the mid 19th century magazines became available to the middle
class. This was beginning for the first family magazines, such as,
Dickens Household Words.
o During the 19th century, increasing attempts was made to cut the
price of the magazines. At this time the first ads appeared, but not
much because the ads were loaded with special tax, all up to 1853.
o After the repeal of the tax, number of ads did not increase since
many publishers avoided this type of income. In the late 19th
century and with the invention of the rotary press, the number of
printed copies increased, and the price of the issue is reduced
o Magazines are one of the world’s leading media, with technological
progress, increased circulation, and increasing use of images,
magazines became increasingly attractive to advertisers.
o The first advertising agency was established in 1890 and from that
point on advertising started to flourish.

10. Good Housekeeping is one
of the most iconic
American magazines,
more than a hundred
years old.
National Geographic
Magazine is the most
famous scientific
magazine, and is one of
the oldest in the world,
dating from 1889.
In the ‘crazy twenties’
Henry Luce publishes
Time magazine -one of the
most important political
weeklies.

11. Rise of the magazines
o During the Cuban War for Independence, Hearst and Pulitzer
published in their newspapers images of tortured and
starving Cuban troops. At this moment arises the term yellow
journalism, which marks the sensationalist approach to the
presentation of events.
o Hadden was responsible for conceiving the concept of the
political news magazine, and as the editor of the Time,
formed personality of the magazine, gained loyal readers,
and brought the financial profit to the company.
1939

12. The Future
o Despite predictions for the death of magazines, like there
were in the 90’s for newspapers, neither died. It’s argued that
there will still be printed magazines, no matter how the
numbers will drop or how popular tablet editions are.
o While iPads bring new possibilities in magazine production,
but it cannot replace the need for printed magazines.
o Magazines shape our lives, telling us what to wear, what to
eat, what to think about ourselves and the world around us.
Although this is the age of the Internet, we continue to enjoy
magazines, admire their pages, editorials, headlines.