Sorry for the absence, dear readers! I am sure all six of you have been hurting without your history fix. A real post is in the works- but in the meantime, let me share some of what has been distracting me from the blog.
On a recent weekend getaway, I stopped to grab a magazine for some beach-side browsing. To my chagrin, there was no Real Simple available to satisfy my addiction to staring at photographs of things I will never buy attractively scattered on white backgrounds. So, I ended up buying a Cosmopolitan, something I haven’t read in many years.
People: have you read a Cosmo recently?
Reading a Cosmo as an adult, feminist woman was an out-of-body experience. Not even because I was angered by it, just because it seemed to have been written by teenage aliens. I had no idea what was happening. One article was about “crunning”…crawl-running. Crunning.
My Cosmo experience got me wondering about the evolution of the lady mag. I have since been enjoying flipping through the grandmother of women’s magazines- Godey’s Lady’s Book.Godey’s was the most widely circulated magazine in pre-Civil War America. It is fabulous. Check out the collection at archive.org– you can thank me later for introducing you to articles like “How I Came to Detest Babies!”, “Tom Snuggery in Search of a Wife”, “Gossip About Gloves”, “Charades in Action”, and “Extract from an Old Fogy’s Notebook.”
Godey’s doesn’t just have great charades tips- it has great illustrations. For our mutual enjoyment, I decided to pair up some of my favorite drawings in the 1850’s and 1860’s Godey’s in archive.org’s collection with some real headlines from Cosmopolitan.com. Allow me to reiterate that these Cosmo headlines are from an actual publication written by humans that is currently being sold for legal currency.
Why the DIY Braces Trend is Seriously SO Dangerous
11 Signs Your Winter Cuff Will Become a ~Spring Bangle~Please Stop Glitter-Bombing Your Enemies10 Cutest Instagram Engagement Announcements Ever18 Debut Singles from Boy Band Exiles Who Went SoloChocolate Chip Cookie Hair is the Newest Color Trend and It’s Actually StunningWhat It’s Really Like to be a Pilot13 Guys Respond to Texts of their Girlfriends in Wedding DressesQUIZ: ARE YOU THE DAD OF YOUR FRIEND GROUP?12 Signs Someone Isn’t Really Your FriendConcealed Carry Purses are the New Hermes BirkinWatch What Happens when Refugees and Europeans Stare Into Each Other’s Eyes for Four MinutesParis Jackson Looked Absolutely Stunning at PromThe Internet’s Next Weird Trend is People Posing Naked as Frozen ChickensThis Picture of Chloe Grace Moretz’s [sic] and Brooklyn Beckham will DESTROY youThe Crucial Difference Between ‘Lit’ and ‘Turnt’ Explained, So Your Parents KnowThe Internet is Obsessed with this Woman’s Gorgeous MugshotOk, Khloe Kardashian Just Totally Slayed in one of Kim’s Signature Looks10 *Extremely* Common Relationship Arguments Nobody Can WinHere’s What It Really Feels Like to Ride Around in a Stroller Like Your BabyThis is the Reason Everybody has More Twitter Followers Than YouCelebrities Doing Things!13 Times Ariana Grande Was Obsessed with Aliens, Ghosts, and Other Creepy StuffI Gave a Witch $500 to Stop My Boyfriend From CheatingThe Latest Coke Can is Unlike Anything They’ve Ever Done BeforeBritney Spear’s Sick Abs at the Billboard Music Awards Were “100 Percent” Real
The Real Reason Justin Bieber Shaved His Head
Why This Mom of Quintuplets Says Raising 5 Babies is “a Little Bit Too Much” Some Days
What Happened After This Baby Boy Was Fat-Shamed is So Heartwarming
After Her Prom Dress Got Destroyed, This 17-Year-Old Borrowed Her Mom’s Prom DressQUIZ: ARE YOU DATING THE RIGHT GUY FOR YOU?Watch the Exact, Wonderful Moment This Woman Realizes She’s Being Proposed to Via Super Mario Bros.The 10 Worst Ways to Ask a Guy Out
A List of Surprises 