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This chapter looks at the history of American magazines during the period 1741–1860. It first traces the origins of magazines in Europe, where magazine publishing began in the late seventeenth century as printing presses became widespread. Among the early English-language magazines in this period were the Philosophical Transactions, A Review of the Affairs of France and of all Europe, and Gentleman's Magazine. The chapter proceeds by discussing the growth of the magazine industry in America from 1741 to 1860 as well as the evolving nature of magazine distribution in terms of audience, content, format, and genre variety, as well as publishing and readership geography. The chapter highlights the sharp distinction between the short-lived, small-circulation magazines of the mid-eighteenth century and the often long-lived, mass-circulation periodicals of the mid-nineteenth century.

This chapter examines the interplay between magazines and religion, with emphasis on how the growing number and variety of magazines supported and channeled community building in America—including the translocal communities that were a big part of the modernization of American society. It first considers how American religion evolved during the period 1740–1860, citing in particular the rise of national religious organizations. It then explores the relationship between religious events and institutions, on the one hand, and religious magazines on the other. It also describes the fragmentation of American churches in disputes over theology and politics and concludes by explaining how the proliferation of religious magazines affected the rest of the magazine industry.

This chapter examines the changes taking place in the economies, technologies, and markets of women's magazines in the late twentieth century by focusing on three publishers: Hearst Magazines, Condé Nast, and Time, Inc. Although each of these companies produces several women's fashion, beauty, and/or service titles, their organizational structures are becoming quite varied as they reorient departments, positions, and routines to address contemporary industry challenges. The chapter considers the extent to which changes in the magazine industry can be ascribed exclusively to digital innovations, whether such changes are being felt evenly across the industry, and how they have created a perfect storm that has opened up the question of “what is a magazine?” It also discusses the ways that Condé Nast, Time, and Hearst are addressing the challenges of digitization. The chapter shows that women's magazine companies venture into online and digital spaces as part of their concentrated efforts to resuscitate their magazine titles.

This chapter describes the impact of television on fan magazines. In the 1950s, television not only challenged the film industry for audience and revenue, but also created an audience for a new type of fan magazine—one in which the motion picture had to compete with television for space and publicity. By the mid-1950s, television fan magazines included TV People, TV Star Parade, and TV World. Between 1961 and 1966, fan magazines discovered that television stars sold as many issues as several of their movie counterparts.

This concluding chapter returns to the guiding question “What is a magazine?” used by the book to explore the industry transformations associated with digitization and participatory culture by revisiting the concepts of organizational identity, professional identity, and gendered identity. It also discusses the many different ways in which contemporary producers of women's magazines are redefining their processes and products. It shows that the evolution from magazine as object to magazine as brand represents a conundrum for magazine publishers as they struggle to reach a consensus about “who we are as an organization.” While contemporary threats to the magazine industry are very real, the chapter argues that the actual shifts taking place are much more nuanced than universal accounts about media convergence suggest. As some traditional media boundaries collapse, others are being remade to preserve historical and cultural identity articulations.