1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class as a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:19,280 Speaker 1: a show that examines the ins and outs of everyday history. 4 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:23,360 Speaker 1: I'm Gay Bluzier, and in this episode, we're looking at 5 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:27,639 Speaker 1: a critical moment in the development of modern American mass culture, 6 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:39,360 Speaker 1: the rise of the fashion magazine. The day was December 7 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:47,159 Speaker 1: eighteen two, Vogue magazine, a journal of high society and fashion, 8 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:52,879 Speaker 1: released its inaugural issue. Founded as a weekly publication, the 9 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:57,440 Speaker 1: lifestyle magazine focused on what it described as quote the 10 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 1: ceremonial side of life. This included social etiquette, trends, and traditions, 11 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:07,199 Speaker 1: as well as reviews of books, music, and live theater. 12 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:13,040 Speaker 1: Unlike today, the magazine was explicitly targeted to both men 13 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:16,720 Speaker 1: and women, and men's columns were a common feature In 14 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:21,679 Speaker 1: early issues. Vogue also reported on the lives of wealthy 15 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:26,320 Speaker 1: New York socialites, a subject of growing interests to everyone 16 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:30,400 Speaker 1: during what Mark Twain referred to as the Gilded Age. 17 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:35,920 Speaker 1: That period in the late nineteenth century marked America's transition 18 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:40,960 Speaker 1: from a largely agrarian society into one centered on industry. 19 00:01:41,319 --> 00:01:45,760 Speaker 1: This revolution brought exceeding wealth to a handful of business 20 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:51,800 Speaker 1: magnets and robber barons. Those high profile families had capitalized 21 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:56,360 Speaker 1: on the era's breakthroughs in transportation and communication, and those 22 00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: same advances then allowed them to show off their well 23 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:04,320 Speaker 1: like no one had before. In New York, the ruling 24 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:09,639 Speaker 1: class built lavish estates in Manhattan and hosted extravagant dinner parties, 25 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:14,280 Speaker 1: some of which were even conducted on horseback for maximum poshness. 26 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 1: As you might expect, they're glamorous, social lives were a 27 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 1: constant source of gossip, not just amongst themselves, but also 28 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: among those in the middle class who aspired to live 29 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:32,360 Speaker 1: just as excessively. Luckily, for them, the modern world came 30 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 1: with plenty of new ways to take a glimpse at 31 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:38,200 Speaker 1: how the other half lived, one of which was the 32 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:43,360 Speaker 1: mass market magazine. America's growing obsession with the lives of 33 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: the well to do caught the attention of a businessman 34 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:50,680 Speaker 1: named Arthur Baldwin Turnier, and he looked to the budding 35 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:54,240 Speaker 1: magazine industry as the perfect way to give the public 36 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: it's fixed. Turnier saw, as he put it, endless opportunities 37 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:05,919 Speaker 1: for running comment and occasional rebuke of New York high society. 38 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:10,119 Speaker 1: To that end, he founded Vogue, an entire magazine devoted 39 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:14,800 Speaker 1: to the socialite lifestyle. In fact, it's early issues kept 40 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:17,880 Speaker 1: close tabs on the lives of a group of well 41 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:21,919 Speaker 1: known members of the upper crust called the four hundred. 42 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:25,760 Speaker 1: The nickname was a reference to the four hundred person 43 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:31,239 Speaker 1: capacity of the Astor family's ballroom, a popular gathering place 44 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:35,200 Speaker 1: for the city's elite. The first issue of Vogue hit 45 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:40,920 Speaker 1: news stands and subscriber mailboxes on December sev eighteen ninety two. 46 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:44,560 Speaker 1: It's cover featured a black and white drawing of a 47 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 1: debutante emerging from what appears to be a cloud of 48 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:53,520 Speaker 1: butterflies and roses. Although Vogue covers are now famous for 49 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:58,600 Speaker 1: their striking color photography, drawings were used exclusively for the 50 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: first few decades of magazine's existence. It wasn't until thirty 51 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,800 Speaker 1: two that the magazine used a color photo on its cover. 52 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 1: The interior pages of the debut issue featured plenty of 53 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:18,240 Speaker 1: other detailed illustrations. One page even includes the first appearance 54 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:22,120 Speaker 1: of the Vogue Girl, a kind of mascot figure created 55 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:26,799 Speaker 1: by the magazine's first art director. The character's style changed 56 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:29,960 Speaker 1: with the times, so in her first appearance, she's wearing 57 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:33,559 Speaker 1: a corseted dress with a wide hoop skirt and a big, 58 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:37,640 Speaker 1: gaudy hat. Those fashion choices may have been popular at 59 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:42,719 Speaker 1: the time, but the magazine's first editor, Josephine Reading, didn't 60 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:46,040 Speaker 1: see what all the fuss was about. In an editorial, 61 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:49,880 Speaker 1: she took aim at the trend of puffy shoulders, wide hips, 62 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:55,480 Speaker 1: and tall hats, writing quote, what plausible reason can possibly 63 00:04:55,560 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 1: be assigned for a nineteenth century woman pretending at intervals 64 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:04,240 Speaker 1: to the possession of a big head, enlarged small of 65 00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:08,880 Speaker 1: the back, abnormal growth of hip, exaggerated breadth of shoulder, 66 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:15,320 Speaker 1: The hump defies classification. Each variety is unique and owns 67 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:20,400 Speaker 1: no kinship to its predecessors. I guess that was one 68 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:23,960 Speaker 1: of the occasional rebukes that Vogue's founder had talked about. 69 00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:28,640 Speaker 1: Speaking of Turner, he passed away in nineteen o six, 70 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:33,719 Speaker 1: and soon after his magazine was acquired by Conde Montrose Nast, 71 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:38,960 Speaker 1: the founder of Conde Nast Publications. Under its new leadership, 72 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:43,440 Speaker 1: Vogue became a bi weekly and its focus shifted almost 73 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:48,200 Speaker 1: entirely to women's beauty and fashion. These changes expanded the 74 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:52,160 Speaker 1: magazine's readership and helped establish its role as a fashion 75 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:56,760 Speaker 1: authority and trend setter. More changes came during the First 76 00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:59,920 Speaker 1: World War, when it became impossible to ship the mag 77 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:04,480 Speaker 1: zine to Europe. This led to Vogue being printed overseas 78 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:09,200 Speaker 1: in England for the first time. European readership grew from there, 79 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:13,880 Speaker 1: eventually prompting the launch of international editions focused on the 80 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:18,560 Speaker 1: fashion trends of different countries. The first of these ventures 81 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:23,000 Speaker 1: was French Vogue, which debuted in nineteen twenty. In the 82 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:27,839 Speaker 1: decades since, more than twenty other international titles have been launched, 83 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:33,760 Speaker 1: including everything from Vogue Japan to Vogue Saudi Arabia. Styles 84 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:37,800 Speaker 1: have certainly changed since eighteen nine two, and some have 85 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:41,640 Speaker 1: even circled back around to prominence, but through it all, 86 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:45,640 Speaker 1: Vogue has remained popular and relevant to fashion fans around 87 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:49,200 Speaker 1: the globe, and that's a trend that's likely to continue 88 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:52,320 Speaker 1: for as long as people have an interest in looking good, 89 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:55,920 Speaker 1: or at least in reading about the lives of good 90 00:06:55,920 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 1: looking people. I'm Gabe Luzier and hopefully you now know 91 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:05,080 Speaker 1: a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 92 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:09,080 Speaker 1: You can learn even more about history by following us 93 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:13,960 Speaker 1: on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t d I HC Show. 94 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:17,480 Speaker 1: You can also write to us at this Day at 95 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:21,440 Speaker 1: i heart media dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for 96 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:24,960 Speaker 1: producing the show, and thank you for listening. I'll see 97 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:28,800 Speaker 1: you back here again tomorrow for another day in History class. 98 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:38,320 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the iHeart 99 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:40,680 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or where ever you listen to 100 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:41,520 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.