My Life In Magazines

Not long ago I had a stack of (well, three, anyway) magazines to read.  I was so pleased with myself.  I would be reading my rags to pass the time away...a past time I had not enjoyed recently.  I don't completely remember which magazines I had invested the time and money into on that recent afternoon.  Most likely it was one of the home decorating magazines on the stands.  I enjoy the photos in the decorating magazines and enjoy dreaming about using some of the ideas in my new home. 

Through the years, magazines have been a source of pleasure for me. As my life has changed so have my magazines preferences.  My most vivid memories of magazine pleasures are of reading Teen Magazine during the summers that I spent with my cousin.  My cousin, Cathy, had a special role in my life that goes deeper than simply being a "role model". Cathy was, and is, first my friend. She was a little older than I was when we were growing up (though we are probably the same age now).  She was a teenager before I was. She got her driver's permit and later her driver's license before I did.  She was everything that I aspired to become.  During the summers, my sisters and I stayed with my cousin, at her house, while our mom was off at work.  Our summer days were filled with fun television (The Beverly Hillbillies), fun with playful kittens and reading Teen Magazine when it was delivered to Cathy's mailbox.  Cathy had her own magazine subscription.  The magazine actually had her name on the mailing label. ~~ How cool was that?  Cathy was generous in letting us take turns reading the most recent issues.  There were articles on sunbathing safety (sunscreen), keeping split ends at bay (with a cool do it yourself haircut idea), and interviews with celebrities that we teens (though only one of us was actually really a teen) were interested in. 

I have very specific memories (and often still visual memories) of this magazine.  There was a recurring single frame cartoon called "Love Is..." with cute little bf and gf sharing love thoughts.  The cartoons were inspirational.  I remember drawing several of my own strips with these inspired characters.  Pretty cool that I can remember this some 30 years later!

I also remember going home one afternoon and cutting my hair based on the "how to" article in the magazine.  My mother was cool about this.  I was almost a teenager after all...she was okay with me choosing to change my hair style.  Though, I think she would have been just as happy to take me to an actual hair dresser.  But I wanted to actually cut my hair myself, just like the photos shown in the mag.  The results were not as great as the magazine's photos but I wasn't upset by this.  The beginning of a new style was being defined by me.

I tried to find copies of Teen Magazine to refer to for this blog...but found that it is discontinued. ~~Not too surprising based on the elecronic age of media.  The magazine ended in 2008.  The teen interests were moved over to another Hearst property: Seventeen. 

Seventeen came into my life when I was, in fact a teenager, though somewhat before I was actually seventeen.

I must end this blog for now...as my new favorite show (The Good Wife) has just started.  Life is all about priorities.  I will leave you with Hearst's montage of Seventeen covers.  (Check out the link:
65 Years of Seventeen!)



65 Years of Seventeen!