Looking for a Late Victorian Teen Girls' Magazine/Newspaper Archive
April 4, 2023 8:21 PM Subscribe
A few years ago, I came across a sizable archive of a British (maybe English) magazine or "little newspaper" for girls in their mid to late teens. It was probably published in the late 1880s to the mid to late 1890s (it may have been published outside of this window, too, but this is what I remember). Snowflakes within!
- The archive was text, not scanned images. I think it was part of some kind of larger archive of publications.
- There was a lot of focus on a letter column, where the editors might respond to the readers. The archive might even consist *only* of this material.
- A lot of the readers expected to go into household service, but some intended to marry. The idea that the girls would have jobs wasn't off the table, and some of the correspondence was about housekeeping, easy recipes, etc. Some wasn't. It seemed like the readership was educated working class and middle class.
- This was not a book about "little newspapers" -- I've found that.
- It could be surprisingly witty! The vibe was more "late Victorian Sassy magazine" than "a magazine meant to train girls to be pious and obedient."
My best guess/recollection is that I found this link in the spring or summer of 2019. At the outside, it might have been 2018 or 2020. I think it was black text on a white background (kind of a similar aesthetic to McSweeney's, but still definitely an education-oriented online archive).
Anyway, I can't find it again, after a lot of searching and a lot of digging through my bookmarks. Has anyone else run across this site?
- The archive was text, not scanned images. I think it was part of some kind of larger archive of publications.
- There was a lot of focus on a letter column, where the editors might respond to the readers. The archive might even consist *only* of this material.
- A lot of the readers expected to go into household service, but some intended to marry. The idea that the girls would have jobs wasn't off the table, and some of the correspondence was about housekeeping, easy recipes, etc. Some wasn't. It seemed like the readership was educated working class and middle class.
- This was not a book about "little newspapers" -- I've found that.
- It could be surprisingly witty! The vibe was more "late Victorian Sassy magazine" than "a magazine meant to train girls to be pious and obedient."
My best guess/recollection is that I found this link in the spring or summer of 2019. At the outside, it might have been 2018 or 2020. I think it was black text on a white background (kind of a similar aesthetic to McSweeney's, but still definitely an education-oriented online archive).
Anyway, I can't find it again, after a lot of searching and a lot of digging through my bookmarks. Has anyone else run across this site?
Please make an FPP about this so we can quote our favourite parts at each other!
posted by Iteki at 9:47 AM on April 5, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Iteki at 9:47 AM on April 5, 2023 [1 favorite]
I collect these! I’m trying to accumulate the first 50 volumes, I think I need 9 more. They’re fun and interesting to read, and many of them are very attractively bound with lovely colour plates.
They’re very large and heavy though, not good for bedtime reading.
posted by antiquated at 6:24 PM on April 5, 2023
They’re very large and heavy though, not good for bedtime reading.
posted by antiquated at 6:24 PM on April 5, 2023
How Girls are Presented at Court, 1880; there’s an incident I am _amazed_ I haven’t seen in a fluffy novel yet.
posted by clew at 9:18 PM on April 5, 2023
posted by clew at 9:18 PM on April 5, 2023
Response by poster: So, ironically, I found The Girl's Own Paper about five minutes after I posted this ask, via this Wikipedia list of 19th Century British Periodicals. Isn't that always the way?
I doubted it at first, because it was a somewhat religious magazine that didn't accord with my memory of the very practical periodical. But yes, I think this is the one I was looking for! I think I might have seen it on its earlier Durham link, depending on the date it transferred over to its current URL. Thanks, @verstegen, for getting there too.
I'll do the FPP soon. (What a great idea!)
posted by verbminx at 12:11 AM on April 8, 2023
I doubted it at first, because it was a somewhat religious magazine that didn't accord with my memory of the very practical periodical. But yes, I think this is the one I was looking for! I think I might have seen it on its earlier Durham link, depending on the date it transferred over to its current URL. Thanks, @verstegen, for getting there too.
I'll do the FPP soon. (What a great idea!)
posted by verbminx at 12:11 AM on April 8, 2023
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See also Highlights from The Girl's Own Paper, which includes 'Answers to Correspondents'.
posted by verstegan at 9:30 PM on April 4, 2023 [2 favorites]