PSR on The Home Magazine February 1920 Issue

By Phoebe Hamilton

 

Image credit:

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-381545445/view?partId=nla.obj-381586692#page/n0/mode/1up, retrieved 28 October 2020

 

Circulation:
What can you find out about the circulation of the magazine? How would you characterise the circulation--was it limited, or popular?  Can you find out if that was considered expensive? 

The Home magazine started as a quarterly magazine when it was first published in 1920. It then transitioned to a bi-monthly magazine in 1924, and finally a monthly magazine from 1926 until its final publication in 1942. Its increases publication was due to its rising popularity and transition from specifically targeting aspirational middle-class readers to becoming a magazine for the masses. Its first copies cost 2 shillings and sixpence, which would be roughly $7 today. It was an affordable, but not a cheap, magazine.

Editor:
Does the magazine have the same editor for a range of time? Can you find out anything about this person?  What is her or her background, education, training? If the editor writes for the magazine, what kind of things does he/she write? 

It was published from Sydney, Australia’s center for modernity, and was launched and edited by Sydney Ure Smith and in 1922 Leon Gellert assumed co-editorship.   

Implied Reader:
After studying thoroughly a single issue of the magazine--ads, articles, stories, everything--consider its target reader implied by the magazine’s contents: age, sex, economic class, intellectual class, race, political position, and anything else that seems important

This was a magazine for women of varying ages. As can be seen through the multitude of advertisements it was intended for women who had an income to spend and who were interested in being trending. It appealed to aspirational women who were socially active and aware.

Contents:
a. In a single issue, what kind of content gets the most pages (creative: fiction, poetry, drama, visual art, music/ critical: cultural, aesthetic, social, political/ informative: travel, biography, history, news)

This magazine contains a lot of advertisements, seconded by social articles. It contains some, although very few, fictional stories and is more focused on providing information and advice for its readers. 

b. Advertising: Ratio of advertising to other aspects of the text. What kind of advertising gets the most space? Anything else significant about advertising?

Most of the advertising is for feminine products such as cosmetics and clothing, or for household items. 

c. If the magazine attends to social, political, or cultural issues, is there anything that helps you describe its position? 

The Home magazine does not have clear political objectives, but it is clearly tailored for the female rather than the male reader. Its cover appeals to a female readership, as does its advertising and content.

Format:
How many average pages per issue? Did it use colour?  How much?  Photography? How much?  How are images used?  Do they illustrate stories or article?  If there are illustrations, how do they make the magazine feel?

There are roughly 80 pages in each issue. This magazine uses colour and images in an engaging way. It is an easy magazine to read with a clear content page and similarly regular reoccurring articles.  

References:

State Library. (2017, September 6). The Home (1920-42). New South Wales. https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/blogs/home-1920-42

(1920). The Home : an Australian quarterly Retrieved October 28, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-381545445