History and Evolution of Magazines

Research work on History how magazines have changed overtime

Introduction

Magazines hold great importance in our society. They play a huge role in spreading culture and interests from all over the world. They are a type of publication which target audiences in order to distribute related general and specialized information. Other than that they are also a source of entertainment, marketing, surveillance and providing services.

The Background of Publications

Technological advancements in printing press technology gave way to varied types of publications in Europe. Publications started appearing during the early 17th century in the form of brochures and pamphlets. However, publishers soon realized that printing brochures and pamphlets took too much time and were not feasible on their own in many cases. Accordingly, the trend was shifted to more regular publications suc as magazines which had the potential of acquiring much wider readership.

The History of Magazines

The word "Magazine" comes from a French word which means storehouse. The first ever magazine was published in the 17th century in Germany. It was released in 1663 and was named "Erbauliche Monaths Unterredungen" focusing mainly on literacy and philosophy. This was a huge success which helped it to spread to the vast European market. Subsequently, magazines received immense popularity in the United States where the magazines started gaining popularity during the 1830's. As a direct consequence of their wide circulation and popularity, magazines started becoming cheaper and more affordable to the wider audience. In order the meet the widespread demand, the production of these magazines was enhanced manifold.

Magazines Now

At the onset of the 20th century, new types of magazines like, news, business, and picture magazines with high quality publications came on the market. These provided very reliable and upto date information on various topics such as current affairs, business, sports, etc backed up by high resolution pictorial representations in color thus making the magazines even more attractive for the mass readers.