"The Ladies' Home Journal" and its founder Cyrus H. K. Curtis are often praised for establishing significant and lasting standards of reputable advertising in the United States. These standards include banning the profitable but offensive advertising of patent medicines, vouching for the integrity of advertising contained in the…

"Harper's Bazaar" (spelled "Bazar" before 1925) was designed for use by, as well as for, the instruction of women readers in the 19th century. In the early "Bazar," the didactic discourses of domesticity and reading sometimes intersected. Such was the case with two humorous pieces, "Mrs. Typeset's Diary"…

An analysis and appreciation of H. L. Mencken the writer, and Henry Mencken the man. (RL)

Discusses popular music as a vehicle for cultural interchange between the United States and Great Britain between 1943 and 1967. Highlights include the early domination of U.S. record business interests and artistic styles established through the U.S. wartime and post-war military presence in England, and the later domination by British recording…

The history of pirate radio--radio broadcasts offered by unlicensed broadcasters as alternatives to licensed, commercial radio programming--is difficult to trace, both in America and the United Kingdom (UK) since mention of pirate broadcasts of a less-then-thrilling nature are rarely found. Also, until 1927, the U.S. government did not formally…

Historians of photography have failed to explore the origins of the Black Star Picture Agency and how it introduced experienced photojournalists to Henry Luce, a publisher attempting to break new ground in American journalism with the introduction of a picture magazine, "Life," in 1936. Black Star's founders, Ernest Mayer, Kurt Kornfeld,…

Looks at popular music, particularly punk music, and its troubled place in the composition curriculum for college students. Gives an overview of recent eras and the role popular music has played in college courses. (TB)

Explains the work of the Puerto Rican government's educational agency in promoting the first governor's ideas about culture and democratic citizenship. Sets these initiatives within the context of Puerto Rico's ambiguous political status and discusses the role of government-sponsored cultural projects. (Contains 86 references.) (SK)

Social, economic, and popular scientific trends converged in the early twentieth century to support the mass popularity of cosmetics. Twentieth-century magazine ads for personal care and beauty products reflected the contemporary belief that "science" was on the verge of being able to cure almost anything, including physical flaws and…

Documents about the conditions and problems faced by the reporters of the Spanish-American War show that this war was particularly difficult to report, and that a historical misconception exists about journalism of the 1890s. Efforts to understand the reportage of the late nineteenth century in the United States are complicated by what has been…

The careful integration of editorial content, graphic design, and advertising to create a successful magazine package is not a phenomenon of the last half of the twentieth century. As early as the 1890s, the first publishers of "Vogue" magazine had established an editorial-advertising-design mix in the fashion magazine that was…

Discusses the film industry's conversion to color cinematography in the period between the 1920s and 1960s. Cites economic considerations, technological modifications, and aesthetic preferences by audiences as factors in this development. (JMF)

The railroad and newspaper industries grew up simultaneously during the 1870s, 1880s, and 1890s, coming together in the common effort of delivering newspapers by rapid trains. The newspaper trade literature from that era contains romantic accounts of the exploits of these trains, while comparable railroad trade literature infrequently acknowledges…

Municipal ownership and operation of radio stations, an interesting but forgotten variant approach to radio that flourished in the 1920s, is discussed in this paper. Specifically, it examines WPG in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the first and in many ways the most interesting example of municipal ownership of radio. WPG's operations are recounted…

Examines the history of censorship and rock and roll, reassesses the present position taken by the Parents' Music Resource Center, reviews the scholarship regarding the influence of popular song lyrics on youth, and assesses what bearing that scholarship has on the present discussion of censorship and rock and roll. (BJV)