The Delineator from 1890 – 1932

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Internet Archive has 39 volumes of The Delineator magazine from 1890 to 1932. It was published by Butterick Publishing Company – the same company that I remember from the 1960s and 1970s for patterns; I was making most of my own clothes at that time. The magazine always included patterns for clothes but as I gleaned images for this post – I also included advertisements, covers, educational displays. Click on any part of the mosaics below to see a larger version. Links to each volume are included…the historical perspective from browsing these volumes is worth it!

The first mosaic contains images from the magazines published in the 1900s. Some of my favorites are the ad for FAB flakes (Babes in the wools), the October 1922 cover full of fall foliage, covers showing active women (golfing and skiing), aquarium fish and Christmas trees. The most thought provoking was the one with a woman and, presumably, her two sons in miliary uniforms from the January 1919 issue; I wondered if the one on the left looking less serious was the younger brother. A peace conference was being held in Paris that month…but waves of the 1918 flu were happening around the world…and the US.  

The second mosaic contains images from the 1800s. The last color images were in 1897. The magazine was also more skewed to fashion/patterns than in the 1900s. Huge sleeves, corsets, and elaborate hats were in vogue (note that this was also the time when some birds were almost wiped out to get feathers for hats!). How did anyone really swim in those bathing costumes from 1894?

The Garden Magazine 1905-1924

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Internet Archive has 34 volumes of The Garden Magazine – a New York based magazine “devoted to planting and managing the grounds about the home, and to the cultivation of Fruits, Vegetables and Flowers". The magazines are a window into the way life was during the early 1900s. I enjoyed browsing them all! Click on the sample images below to see an enlarged version….better yet – browse a whole volume (or two or three….maybe all of them)  by following the link.

The Garden Magazine V1 (1905)

The Garden Magazine V2 (1906)

The Garden Magazine V3 (1906)

The Garden Magazine V4 (1907)

The Garden Magazine V5 (1907)

The early issues had little color except for some of the covers and a few ads. Note that the ad for Japanese Iris included some birds among the flowers.

The Garden Magazine V6 (1908)

The Garden Magazine V7 (1908)

The Garden Magazine V8 (1909)

The Garden Magazine V9 (1909)

The Garden Magazine V10 (1910)

Farming was important to a lot of people and so - was an important aspect of the magazine…in all seasons. Note that Kodak was already advertising in 1909….and that the photographer was not always male!

The Garden Magazine V11 (1910)

The Garden Magazine V12 (1911)

The Garden Magazine V13 (1911)

The Garden Magazine V15 (1912)

The Garden Magazine V14 (1912)

Unusual garden features like Japanese lanterns and plants like lotuses/wisteria featured in some issues – popularizing new things for the garden. C. Coles Phillips’ work was part of a Waterman’s Ideal Fountain Pen ad in 1912.

The Garden Magazine V16 (1913)

The Garden Magazine V17 (1913)

The Garden Magazine V18 (1914)

The Garden Magazine V19 (1914)

The Garden Magazine V20 (1915)

An overhead view of an idealized farm and a vine covered façade of a stately house featured on some covers. Cannas and poinsettias were plants of interest. Victor-Victrola ads depicted the sounds of the world come to your home.

The Garden Magazine V21 (1915)

The Garden Magazine V22 (1916)

The Garden Magazine V23 (1916)

The Garden Magazine V26 (1918)

The Garden Magazine V27 (1918)

As America entered World War I food was featured in covers – the slogan ‘America’s Part: to keep the Horn of Plenty Full.”

The Garden Magazine V28 & 29 (1919)

The Garden Magazine V30 (1920)

The Garden Magazine V31 & 32 (1921)

The Garden Magazine V33 (1921)

The Garden Magazine V34 (1921)

By 1919, the wounded were home. Davey Tree Surgeons was advertising…trees were a big topic. Gladiolas and other flowers in the garden were becoming a bigger business too.

The Garden Magazine V35 (1922)

The Garden Magazine V37 (1923)

The Garden Magazine V38 (1924)

The Garden Magazine V39 (1924)

The cover art for the last issues reflects the aesthetics of the 1920s….more children, relaxed fashion, abundant flowers.

International Studio eBooks

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I first browsed a series of International Studio digitized magazines in 2013…enjoying all of them available at the time. They were from the early 1900s. Recently, I found more of them that had been digitized in 2022 from the 1920s and those are the ones I am featuring today.

International Studio - vol 67 (1919)

International Studio - vol 76 (1923)

International Studio - vol 77 (1923)

International Studio - vol 78, no. 317 (1923)

 I like looking at magazines to understand what was ‘new’ or ‘important’ at the time; it’s a perspective of the period from people living then rather than historical analysis from authors that did not experience it directly. Even the ads are interesting; the way products are described…the brands that still exist (maybe were ‘new’ at the time) and brands long gone. Ads were often the main color images inside the magazines!

According to a Wikipedia entry, the magazine was the American edition of The Studio published in London. The American publication continued until 1931.  As I was writing this post, I realized there were some additional ones that I haven’t browsed yet…some additional browsing to enjoy!

eBotanical Prints – April 2023

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Twenty-one more books were added to the botanical print collection this month, and all are about orchids: the Australian Orchid Review from 2009 - 2012. I picked sample images that demonstrated the publications’ photography – particularly of orchids growing in natural settings. Most times people see orchids are in cultivated settings: conservatories, green houses, flower arrangements. Seeing them in the wild is a challenge. The ones native to North America are often small or rare…or both! The Australian Orchid Review has articles primarily on Australian orchid growing…and native orchids of Australia and its nearest neighbors.  I’ll continue browsing more volumes in May!

The whole list of 2,613 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. The list for the April 2023 books with links to the volumes and sample images is at the bottom of this post.

Click on any sample images in the mosaic below to get an enlarged version. Enjoy the April 2023 eBotanical Prints!

Australian Orchid Review 2012 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2012

Australian Orchid Review 2012 - 2013 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2013

Australian Orchid Review 2012 (June - July) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2012

Australian Orchid Review 2012 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2012

Australian Orchid Review 2011 (February - March) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2011

Australian Orchid Review 2011 (June - July) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2011

Australian Orchid Review 2011 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2011

Australian Orchid Review 2011 - 2012 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2012

Australian Orchid Review 2011 (April - May) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2011

Australian Orchid Review 2011 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2011

Australian Orchid Review 2010 (February - March) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2010

Australian Orchid Review 2010 (June - July) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2010

Australian Orchid Review 2010 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2010

Australian Orchid Review 2010 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2010

Australian Orchid Review 2010 - 2011 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2011

Australian Orchid Review 2010 (April - May) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2010

Australian Orchid Review 2009 (April - May) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2009

Australian Orchid Review 2009 (June - July) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2009

Australian Orchid Review 2009 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2009

Australian Orchid Review 2009 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2009

Australian Orchid Review 2009 - 2010 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2010

eBotanical Prints – February 2023

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Twenty more books were added to the botanical print collection this month and they are about orchids: 20 volumes of the Australian Orchid Review from 2016 to 2019. I picked sample images that demonstrated the publications’ photography and drawings. I’ll continue browsing more volumes in March!

The whole list of 2,572 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. The list for the February 2023 books with links to the volumes and sample images is at the bottom of this post.

Click on any sample images in the mosaic below to get an enlarged version. Enjoy the February 2023 eBotanical Prints!

Australian Orchid Review 2019 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2019

Australian Orchid Review 2019 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2019

Australian Orchid Review 2019 - 2020 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2020

Australian Orchid Review 2018 (February - March) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2018

Australian Orchid Review 2018 (April - May) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2018

Australian Orchid Review 2018 (June - July) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2018

Australian Orchid Review 2018 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2018

Australian Orchid Review 2018 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2018

Australian Orchid Review 2018 - 2019 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2019

Australian Orchid Review 2017 (February - March) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2017

Australian Orchid Review 2017 (April - May) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2017

Australian Orchid Review 2017 (June - July) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2017

Australian Orchid Review 2017 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2017

Australian Orchid Review 2017 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2017

Australian Orchid Review 2017 - 2018 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2018

Australian Orchid Review 2016 (February - March) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2016

Australian Orchid Review 2016 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2016

Australian Orchid Review 2016 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2016

Australian Orchid Review 2016 - 2017 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2017

Australian Orchid Review 2016 (April - May) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2016

Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration

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There are 45 volumes of Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration (German Art and Decoration) magazine available on Internet Archive published from 1897 to 1929. They were edited/published by Alexander Koch in Darmstadt, Germany. Below I provide links and sample images (click on the image to see a large version) for the 45 volumes grouped by decade.

Some observations:

  • There seemed to be more color in the earlier volumes….more photography as time progressed.

  • World War I did not seem to impact the publication very much.

  • Lots of ideas for Zentangle patterns.

  • In the early 1900s, there were many of examples of making a room into an entire living space…hiding the bed behind curtains, screens, or boxing it in.

  • Sometimes lampshades seemed to be made of light weight fabric. This migh be more practical than ever with LED bulbs.

  • The art and decoration in the magazines were not limited to German-made. There were examples from around the world: Japan and China, Africa, North America, and the rest of Europe.

  • Enjoy a bit of history…and maybe some ideas worth reusing in 2022!

Deutsche kunst und dekoration V1 (10/1897-3/1898)

Deutsche kunst und dekoration V2 (4-9/1898)

Deutsche kunst und dekoration V4 (4-9/1899)

Deutsche kunst und dekoration V5 (10/1899-3/1900)

Studio International

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I browsed 51 volumes of the Studio International magazines published from 1896 to 1922 over the past month or so. It was a time when the world was changing rapidly – modernizing through industrialization and the World War I years with the 1918 flu overlaying on that challenge. The volumes between 1917 and 1922 are missing. The 1920s were a frenzy of new fashions and cultural shifts. The magazines are a contemporaneous perspective of the time.  

I selected an image from each volume I browsed which are in the grid below – time sequenced; I selected color images but there are more that are pencil sketches or black/white photographs…and more architecture. The volumes are well worth browsing; links to the volumes are below the grid of images. To enlarge any image below, clink on the image in the grid.

Arts and Decoration from 1920s and 1930s

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Over the past couple of months – I browsed through 29 volumes of the Arts and Decoration Magazine from the 1920s and 1930s. There are a few color images – dominated by covers and ads. I enjoyed thinking about the history and mood of the times reflected in these periodicals.

In the 1920s – Some company names we still see today show up – Davey Tree Surgeons, Listerine, Armstrong Floors, Heinz, Lincoln, Cadillac; some ads for companies that no longer exist too: Quaker Lace Company, Oil-o-matic Heat, Insulite, Johns-Manville Asbestos Shingles. The depictions of women were changing just as the clothes they were wearing: less constrained. The magazine reflected the quickening pace and almost euphoric mood of the decade. 1923 (vol 18-19), 1923 (vol 19-20), 1924 (vol 20-21), 1924 (vol 21-22), 1925 (vol 22-23), 1925 (vol 23-24), 1926 (vol 24-25), 1926 (vol 25-26), 1927 (vol 26-27), 1927 (vol 27-28), 1928 (vol 28-29), 1928 (vol 29-30), 1929 (vol 30-31), 1929 (vol 31-32)

And then came the crash in the 1930s. The volumes from the 1930s contain less color – except for the covers. Most advertisers were weathering the Great Depression but not paying for color ads – except for Kenwood Blankets and a steamship company. The magazine was depicting the perspective of the wealthy but even they were not as flamboyant and exuberant as in the earlier decade. This was the decade when my parents were born. They were far from scenes depicted in the magazine…living in the middle of the US in rural areas where they had plenty of food their parents grew on their farms. 1930(vol 32-33), 1930(vol 33-34), 1931(vol 34-35), 1931(vol 35-36), 1932(vol 36-37), 1932(vol 37-38), 1933(vol 38-39), 1933(vol 39-40), 1934(vol 40-41), 1934(vol 41-42), 1935(vol 42-43), 1935(vol 43-44), 1936(vol 44-45), 1936(vol 45-46), 1937(vol 44-47)

Browsing magazines is a perspective of the important things of the day – carefully selected by editors to present to their subscribers. It reflects a narrow perspective – probably: wealthy, white, skewed to the east and west coasts. It would be interesting to know the demographics of the subscribers but maybe even the publishes didn’t know that!

Christmas depicted in Better Homes and Gardens (1951-2003)

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This summer I browsed all the Better Homes and Gardens available via Internet Archive; they are available in volumes of 6 issues each for most years from the 1950s through the early 2000s. It was fascinating to observe the changes in interior decorating, architecture, and food across the decades – and I picked up some ideas for my own home (some ideas have a timeless quality!). I picked the theme of Christmas (i.e. December issues) across the years to feature in this post. The links are for the July-December months of each year.

1950s. Pecans and walnuts were popular additions to Christmas goodies in the 1950s; perhaps they were still expensive enough to not be used throughout the year…unless you had your own trees. Evidently amaryllis bulbs and caladiums were also part of the December décor.

1951, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959

1960s. I have lots of memories of Christmases in the 1960s. I don’t remember every seeing a Marshmallow Men cake…but I do remember the large and small marshmallows…..and homemade luminaries. I remember artificial trees of different shapes. I am surprised that there weren’t pictures of the large colored lights on any of the trees in the pictures.

1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969

 1970s. By the mid-70s, I had married and set up my own household. I made the bird pattern from the 1977 issue of my mother’s copy of Better Homes and Gardens in red and white felt with glittery red rickrack and red beads (and still have them). In the 1970s those were the colors of all the ornaments on my artificial tree (we did to a tree farm one year to cut down our own tree).

1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979

 1980s. The 80s ushered in the tiny lights. Special foods were more decadent than ever. We moved away from where we’d grown up in pursuit of our careers in the middle of the decade and had our daughter near the end of it.

1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989

 1990s. For us, the 90s included a major shift in our Christmas decorations in 1995; my daughter picked a white Christmas artificial tree for us (she was in 1st grade). Surprisingly all our ornaments still looked good on the new tree – but we did replace all our green wired lights with white wired sets. The look of the tree was very different than the dark green from before. One of my sisters made a pinecone wreath for us and I have refreshed it several times over the years. From the Better Homes and Gardens pictures – it seems the trend was toward decorations that were a little different – even though they might have some aspects from before. I wonder if the tree decorated with hearts and bows was intended to stay in place until Valentines in February.

1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999

 2000s. The last of the Better Homes and Gardens available on Internet Archive are from early in the decade. We had a very similar light tree to the one in the last picture; it was frustrating that it didn’t last longer – once it broke it was trash (not recyclable at all) so we have not bought another.

2000, 2001, 2002, 2003

3 Free eBooks – February 2020

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Three picks from my February browsing in Internet Archive…..so many books to choose from.

Richardson, Frederick (illustrator). Old, old tales retold - the best-beloved folk stories for children. Chicago and New York: M. AAA. Donohue & Company. 1923. Available from Internet Archive here. I wonder how many children in the 1920s had access to books like this one. My guess is that the books were mostly available in cities and to wealthier families.  There is a Wikipedia entry for Frederick Richardson that prompts me to look for other books that he illustrated. The metadata for books on Internet Archive does not always list the illustrator….so searching by title or the author of the text is required.

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Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing. Vermont Life. Montpelier: Agency of Development and Community Affairs. A quarterly magazine published from 1946 – 2018…all available from Internet Archive here. I started out with the first issues and am now up to 2004. It is interesting to see how the state changed over that time. I enjoy all the seasons but picked a ‘spring’ picture since that is the season coming up.

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Scott, Jeffries, Samantha (editor). Homes & Antiques. Immediate Media Company Bristol Limited. A magazine with most issues from January 2015-March 2016 available from Internet Archive here. There were several pictures with shoes stored under the bed. Now I don’t feel as guilty about not putting my shoes in the closet floor as we did when I was growing up. At least half my shoes are by the door to outside or under my computer desk!

3 Free eBooks – May 2019

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There are so many books to browse through – or read – online. I am always fascinated with the perspective of history from books of a time period. It’s the closest we come to talking to the people that lived the events before our time.

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Newell, Peter. The Rocket Book. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1912. Available from the Library of Congress: intro to the collection here and the book in slideshow mode here. The upward course of a rocket from the basement up 20 floors of apartments! Yes – it’s dated (keep in mind the copyright date) but it is fascinating to notice what the author thought people would be doing in their apartments…and that he was thinking about rockets!

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Menpes, Mortimer (with text by Dorothy Menpes). World’s Children. London: A & C Black. 1903. Available from Hathi Trust here. Menpes was an Australian born British painter, author, printmaker and illustrator. He was a developer of techniques to produce colored art works in book form. His daughter, Dorothy, wrote the text for some of those books. The sleeping baby was one of my favorites from this book.

Sunset (magazine). San Francisco: Southern Pacific Company. Issues from May 1898 – 1923 from Hathi Trust here. I pointed to this magazine last month as well. I am still working my way through the magazines up to 1923. The one to look at this month is V31 from 1913. There are lots of colorful pictures – like this one of Mt. Hood in Oregon. Soon the years of World War I would cause the magazine to be produced with only the cover and a few ads in color.

3 Free eBooks – April 2019

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All three picks for this month are groups of items rather than just one – two magazines and the last one a series of volumes from the late 1700s of plants and animals. So many freely available books…so little time!

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Shadowland (magazine). New York City: M. P. Publishing Company from 1919 – 1923. Most issues available from Internet Archive here. Shadowland was an American monthly magazine about art, dance, and film. I particularly enjoyed the covers by A. M. Hopfmuller. The sample image I choose to include with this post was one that reminded me of a Zentangle pattern….a very stylized ‘tree.’

Sunset (magazine). San Francisco: Southern Pacific Company. Issues from May 1898 – 1923 from Hathi Trust here. The magazine has morphed many times and continued to be published after these fully available online issues (expired copyright); check the Wikipedia info here for the history. I have perused the issues to 1904 so far. I was intrigued by the picture of oil production in Los Angeles from the year one of my grandfathers was born.

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Shaw, George. The naturalists' miscellany : or Coloured figures of natural objects. London: Nodder & Co. 1789. 24 volumes available from Internet Archive here. The sample image I am including for these books is a cecropia moth; I’ll be starting my volunteering at the Wings of Fancy exhibit at Brookside Gardens soon and hope we have cecropia caterpillars again this year!

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