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The most provocative feature teased on the cover is the interview-driven "What Betty Ford thinks about homemakers." The First Lady, "so outspoken in favor of the Equal Rights Amendment and legalized abortion," made her position clear. Inside the book are portraits of the whole family, alongside captions no more interesting than, "Even when they live in a palace, parents and teenagers can't always agree." I couldn't help thinking, Prince Rainier and family are just like US! The Good Housekeeping cover that month featured Princess Grace of Monaco and her daughter, Princess Caroline. He went on to champion women's issues for the rest of his career, and was appointed to an International Women's Year commission by President Ford in 1976. "During the meeting with group representatives, Carter said that they have a point, but that he did not plan to resign," the Associated Press reported. If you're musing to yourself about a man holding such a position you aren't the first: a few years prior, 100 feminists had staged a sit-in at Ladies Home Journal, his previous job, demanding that he resign his post. The issue we're perusing was edited by John Mack Carter, who spent 19 years at the top of the masthead. If a product with that seal turned out to be faulty, the magazine would issue readers a refund.Ĭirca 1976, Good Housekeeping boasted a circulation of roughly 5 million readers. As the final issue of 1909 went to press, editors made the contract between reader and publication explicit by introducing the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval, one of the most successful editorial features in history. Solid performers were recommended to readers to spare them from the era's hucksters. Staffers tested products in a research laboratory built for that purpose. "The editors soon discovered that to answer the questions satisfactorily, the magazine had to begin a program of intensive investigation and research to develop firsthand information to pass along." "Little was known about the new machines, and questions about them began to pour in to Good Housekeeping," an official history states. Home electricity and early household appliances began to reach mass markets. Its founder hoped "to produce and perpetuate perfection as may be obtained in the household." A little more than a decade later, the moment for that mission arrived. Good Housekeeping debuted on May 2, 1885. It's got Betty Ford! A clip & save guide to home canning! A contest to win your own Benji puppy, just like in the movie! But first, an introduction to the magazine. The August 1976 issue of Good Housekeeping is as good a place to begin as any. In this occasional series, I'll explore some of them, one glossy bundle at a time. Every forgotten magazine collecting dust on a shelf is a tiny window into a bygone moment. Or take periodicals, my favorite window into America's past. Yellowing land records preserved by a dutiful bureaucrat.
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And marvels can be seen from that height! But I'd rather land in an obscure corner of the landscape and look around. Today these facts can be found on the first page of a Google search. In August of 1976, for example, the USSR tested a nuclear weapon 8,000 died after an earthquake hit the Philippines Liz Taylor divorced for the sixth time "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" by Elton John and Kiki Dee topped the charts. The exercise can't help but teach you something. Years ago, a history teacher assigned me a report on a bygone year, and I dutifully consulted textbooks, encyclopedia entries, and even Billboard's archives to complete it. The magazine's "seal of approval" for consumer products is one of history's most recognized, successful editorial features.