Woman's Day
Encyclopedia
Woman's Day is aimed at a female readership, covering such subjects as food, nutrition
, fitness
, beauty and fashion
. The magazine edition is one of the "Seven Sisters
", a group of women's service magazines.
The US edition began publishing in 1931 as a free A&P
in-store menu/recipe planner, calculated to make customers buy more by giving them meal ideas in an easy-to-read format available inside A&P grocery stores.
Following the 1936 opening of A&P's first modern supermarket
(in Braddock, Pennsylvania), A&P expanded Woman's Day in 1937 through a wholly owned subsidiary, the Stores Publishing Company. Selling for two cents a copy. the magazine featured articles on childcare, craft
s, food preparation and cooking
, home decoration, needlework and health
, plus a revival of cartoonist Walter Hoban
's Jerry on the Job
comic strip
in a 1939 Grape-Nuts
ad campaign.
Sold exclusively in A&P stores, Woman's Day had a circulation of 3,000,000 by 1944. This had reached 4,000,000 by the time A&P sold the magazine to Fawcett Publications
in 1958. By 1965, Woman's Day had climbed to a circulation of 6,500,000.
In a mid-1960s appeal to Madison Avenue
, an ad for Woman's Day showed a friendly pharmacist
named I.A. Morse next to copy that claimed:
Fawcett was sold to CBS
in 1977, and CBS, in turn, sold its magazine division to a group led by division head Peter Diamandis, who renamed the group Diamandis Communications. In 1988 Woman's Day, along with the rest of Diamandis, was acquired by Hachette Filipacchi Médias
which published the magazine from offices at 1633 Broadway in New York. Hearst Magazines bought the Hachette magazines in the US in 2011.
It continues to focus on traditional values of home, family and children. With a current circulation of 3,800,000, it claims a readership of more than 22 million with 15 issues a year. Carlos Lamadrid is the SVP Executive Brand Officer who oversees all aspects of the magazine, including 32 Woman's Day Special Interest Publications and its website with over 2,000,000 visitors per month. Elizabeth Mayhew, the vice president and editor-in-chief of Woman's Day, reports to Lamadrid.
Nutrition
Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
, fitness
Physical fitness
Physical fitness comprises two related concepts: general fitness , and specific fitness...
, beauty and fashion
Fashion
Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
. The magazine edition is one of the "Seven Sisters
Seven Sisters (magazines)
The Seven Sisters are a group of magazines which have traditionally been aimed at married women who are homemakers with husbands and children, rather than single and working women. The name is derived from the Greek myth of the "seven sisters", also known as the Pleiades...
", a group of women's service magazines.
The US edition began publishing in 1931 as a free A&P
The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, better known as A&P, is a supermarket and liquor store chain in the United States. Its supermarkets, which are under six different banners, are found in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. A&P's liquor stores, known as...
in-store menu/recipe planner, calculated to make customers buy more by giving them meal ideas in an easy-to-read format available inside A&P grocery stores.
Following the 1936 opening of A&P's first modern supermarket
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
(in Braddock, Pennsylvania), A&P expanded Woman's Day in 1937 through a wholly owned subsidiary, the Stores Publishing Company. Selling for two cents a copy. the magazine featured articles on childcare, craft
Craft
A craft is a branch of a profession that requires some particular kind of skilled work. In historical sense, particularly as pertinent to the Medieval history and earlier, the term is usually applied towards people occupied in small-scale production of goods.-Development from the past until...
s, food preparation and cooking
Cooking
Cooking is the process of preparing food by use of heat. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely across the world, reflecting unique environmental, economic, and cultural traditions. Cooks themselves also vary widely in skill and training...
, home decoration, needlework and health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
, plus a revival of cartoonist Walter Hoban
Walter Hoban
Walter C. Hoban was an American cartoonist best known for his comic strip Jerry on the Job.Born in Philadelphia, Hoban came from a newspaper family...
's Jerry on the Job
Jerry on the Job
Jerry on the Job was a popular comic strip by cartoonist Walter Hoban which was set in a railroad station. Syndicated by William Randolph Hearst's International Feature Service, it ran from 1913 into the 1930s....
comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
in a 1939 Grape-Nuts
Grape-Nuts
Grape-Nuts is a breakfast cereal developed by C. W. Post in 1897. Post was a patient and later competitor of the 19th-century breakfast food innovator, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. Despite its name, the cereal contains neither grapes nor nuts. The cereal is actually made from wheat and barley, in later...
ad campaign.
Sold exclusively in A&P stores, Woman's Day had a circulation of 3,000,000 by 1944. This had reached 4,000,000 by the time A&P sold the magazine to Fawcett Publications
Fawcett Publications
Fawcett Publications was an American publishing company founded in 1919 in Robbinsdale, Minnesota by Wilford Hamilton "Captain Billy" Fawcett . At the age of 16, Fawcett ran away from home to join the Army, and the Spanish-American War took him to the Philippines. Back in Minnesota, he became a...
in 1958. By 1965, Woman's Day had climbed to a circulation of 6,500,000.
In a mid-1960s appeal to Madison Avenue
Madison Avenue (Manhattan)
Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square to the Madison Avenue Bridge at 138th Street. In doing so, it passes through Midtown, the Upper East Side , Spanish Harlem, and...
, an ad for Woman's Day showed a friendly pharmacist
Pharmacist
Pharmacists are allied health professionals who practice in pharmacy, the field of health sciences focusing on safe and effective medication use...
named I.A. Morse next to copy that claimed:
- So Woman's Day doesn't tell a lot of funny stories, and it doesn't run pictures of fashions its readers could never afford. Like I.A. Morse, Woman's Day -- more than any other magazine -- is a trusted advisor in the day in day out work that's a housewife's chosen profession. That's our profession. And we're proud of it. Like Doc Morse Woman's Day talks man to man to women.
Fawcett was sold to CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
in 1977, and CBS, in turn, sold its magazine division to a group led by division head Peter Diamandis, who renamed the group Diamandis Communications. In 1988 Woman's Day, along with the rest of Diamandis, was acquired by Hachette Filipacchi Médias
Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S.
Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Inc. , orgin ally known as CBS Publications, was a subsidiary of Hachette Filipacchi Médias , and was based in New York City.-History:...
which published the magazine from offices at 1633 Broadway in New York. Hearst Magazines bought the Hachette magazines in the US in 2011.
It continues to focus on traditional values of home, family and children. With a current circulation of 3,800,000, it claims a readership of more than 22 million with 15 issues a year. Carlos Lamadrid is the SVP Executive Brand Officer who oversees all aspects of the magazine, including 32 Woman's Day Special Interest Publications and its website with over 2,000,000 visitors per month. Elizabeth Mayhew, the vice president and editor-in-chief of Woman's Day, reports to Lamadrid.
Editors
- Mabel Hill Souvaine (1943–1957)
- Eileen Tighe (1957–1966)
- Geraldine Rhodes (1966–1982)
- Ellen Levine (1982–1991)
- Jane Chesnutt (1991–2010)
- Elizabeth Mayhew (2010-present)