Abstract
Since their conception, women’s magazines have been selling images and messages of domestic culture to readers. In the 1950s, the advertising in Ladies Home Journal outlined a specific recipe for American culture and product consumption for white, middle class, housewives. Current scholarship approaches the 1950s, and specifically the female experience, mostly from a home based lens. This study reexamines the ads in the Ladies Home Journal between 1950 and 1959 for traces of romance in home cleaning and beauty advertisements. In this study, romance emerged as an important component of the messages conveyed to women through ads. The beautiful home, beautiful self, and beautiful romance acted together in the Ladies Home Journal, particularly for women who’s primary role was in the home, as a measurement of happiness.
Advisor
Hettinger, Madonna
Department
History
Recommended Citation
Amis, Chelsea, "A Beautiful Self, A Beautiful Home, A Beautiful Romance: Magazine Advertisements and the Creation of Domestic Culture in the 1950s" (2015). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 6678.
https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/6678
Disciplines
American Studies | Cultural History | Social History | United States History | Women's History
Keywords
Magazines, Ladies Home Journal, Romance, Advertisements
Publication Date
2015
Degree Granted
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type
Senior Independent Study Thesis
© Copyright 2015 Chelsea Amis