My Magazine Addiction
A nostalgic look at one of my favorite things to read
My love of magazines probably began in the pediatrician’s office snuggled into my mom’s lap while she read Highlights to me as we waited to be called to see the doctor.
Or maybe my love affair with them started when I watched my mom sit down with a ice-cold can of Tab® and flip through the Family Circle and Woman’s Day magazines she would buy at the grocery store. She always read them starting at the back page and licked her finger before she would turn a page. As an adult, I know this must have been a small pleasure, a moment to rest before my siblings and I finished the bologna sandwiches she made for lunch. Did I pick up on that feeling of respite then? Is that why I adore sitting down with a magazine and cup of tea when the world overwhelms me?
As I grew older, my magazine choices turned towards Super Mag, a publication with celebrity gossip about my crushes like Shaun Cassidy, and the Osmonds. A few years later, I was pouring over Penny Power, a magazine that taught kids about money and may have been an indicator that my first career path would be in accounting and finance.
In college, I read Cosmopolitan, and it helped me through the drama-filled years of early womanhood. Later, on a health kick, I read Self. When we bought our first house, I poured over home décor magazines like Mary Engelbreit’s Home Companion and Martha Stewart’s Living
Once I reclaimed my creative side, I began reading craft magazines and even began to get my own articles and work published in publications like Somerset Living, Artful Blogging, Cloth- Paper-Scissors, and Romantic Homes.
I began to buy foreign magazines like Flow (Dutch), The Simple Things (English), and Marie Claire Idees (French). They cost more than a book but they were beautiful and filled my head with inspiration and beauty.
My magazine addiction began to wane about ten years ago which, not surprisingly, was around the time I got a smart phone. I began scrolling instead of turning those paper pages, but something was missing.
Now I long for tightly curated content. I miss the anticipation of waiting for the next issue to arrive on newsstands, and the thrill of opening my mailbox to find a rolled-up magazine waiting. I want to consume content that is limited to the number of pages in the magazine so, when I am done reading, there isn’t more to consume, leaves me with time to try out the recipes and do the crafts that I read about.
The last magazine I wrote an article in was Taproot in their 2024 “Stitch Issue”. It was their last gasp. They went under shortly after it hit newsstands.
While I subscribe to a few writing magazines (Poets & Writers and Writer’s Digest), I haven’t been reading many others until a few weeks ago, when I leaned across my grocery cart, feeling exhausted from grocery shopping, and pulled Real Simple, House Beautiful, and Country Living off the rack by the cashier. That weekend I stayed in bed one morning, drinking coffee and reading the magazines, turning down pages of recipes I wanted to try. It was the most relaxed I have been in weeks. I think magazines might just be making it back into my life again.
At the Check-Out Desk
Hello fellow book lover!
This week, I watched My Reputation on Max. I had a dream about Barbara Stanywck the other night and felt like I should watch one of her movies. My all-time favorite holiday movie, Christmas in Connectitcut, stars Stanwyck, but I wanted to try something new. My Reputation didn’t disappoint. Babs looks gorgeous in it and the story inspiring for anyone who is the mood to stop caring what society, their mom, and children think, and start living life on their terms. The only thing I didn’t like about the movie was the leading man, but the sets and clothes more than make-up for him.
Somtimes my dream mind comes up with really good ideas.
Over in the Prairie Pages book club I host on Modern Prairie, we’re reading Caroline by Sarah Miller. It’s a retelling of Little House on the Prairie Laura Ingalls Wilder, told through the point of view of Caroline, aka Ma. If you like a book with good interiority, you’ll love this one. We’ll be discussing the book with the author on April 16. You can sign-up here. It’s free.
I remember Tiger Beat and then Seventeen Magazine from my teen years.
There really is something indulgent about a glossy magazine. Going on vacation with an armful of magazines is the height of luxury to me. If I am making a care package for someone, I want to include magazines. While I do not miss physical books vs ebooks, I do think that the feel of the pages of a magazine as you flip through is something I miss.
Thanks for another post!
One more thing we share -- a magazine addiction! My favorite way to spend Friday nights when I was in highschool (okay...kind of an introvert here) was in the bathtub reading a magazine -- Seventeen or my mom's Good Housekeeping or Better Homes and Gardens. As an adult I subscribed to Sphere, Real Simple, Sunset...they all felt so indulgent to read. I love the idea of turning back to magazines for content rather than endlessly scrolling through my phone.