Women's magazines
– sales figures 1938-59
The table below gives sales figures for women's magazines
in four of the years between 1938 and 1959. The sales figures cover
women's weeklies and women's monthlies, plus the odd fortnightly.
The women's magazines are listed by publisher:
- Odham's Press;
- Newnes & Pearson;
- Amalgamated Press, which became Fleetway;
- National Magazines (Hearst UK in 2000s);
- Conde Nast;
- Weldon's (which by 1953 was part of Amalgamated).
Women's magazines sales figures (1938-59) |
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| Publisher/Magazine | 1938 | 1952 | 1953 | 1959 |
| Odham's Press | ||||
| Woman (W) | 750,000 | 2,227,000 | 2,551,000 | 3,173,000 |
| Everywoman (M) | 100,000 | 316,000 | 312,000 | 302,000 |
| Ideal Home (M) | 45,000 | 118,000 | 138,000 | 241,000 |
| Mother (M) | 115,000 | 77,000 | 83,000 | 66,000 |
| Woman's Realm (W) | – | – | – | 1,253,000 |
Newnes & Pearson |
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| Woman's Own (W) | 357,000 | 1,770,000 | 2,124,000 | 2,405,000 |
| Home Notes (W) | 151,000 | 299,000 | 287,000 | – |
| Modern Woman (M)* | 95,000 | 197,000 | 231,000 | 181,000 |
| Homes & Gardens (M) | 24,000 | 114,000 | 145,000 | – |
| Woman's Day (W) | – | – | – | 918,000 |
| *Modern Woman | Readership: | 1,021,000 (IPA survey 1957) |
Audited net sale: | 243,099 (Jul-Dec 1957) |
Amalgamated Press/Fleetway |
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| Woman's Weekly (W) | 498,000 | 1,746,000 | 1,816,000 | 1,512,000 |
| Woman's Illustrated (W) | 148,000 | 516,000 | 535,000 | 801,000 |
| Home Chat (W) | 127,000 | 283,000 | 280,000 | – |
| Woman's Companion (W) | 176,000 | 209,000 | 221,000 | – |
| Woman's Pictorial (W) | 121,000 | 203,000 | 181,000 | – |
| Woman & Home (M) | 301,000 | 371,000 | 917,000 | 694,000 |
| My Home (M) | 189,000 | 460,000 | 449,000 | – |
| Woman's Journal (M) | 115,000 | 288,000 | 288,000 | 266,000 |
| Wife & Home (M) | 131,000 | 312,000 | 295,000 | – |
| Woman & Beauty (M) | 133,000 | 140,000 | 130,000 | 129,000 |
| Honey (M; forecast) | – | – | – | 250,000 |
National Magazine |
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| Good Housekeeping (M) | 123,000 | 200,000 | 187,000 | 194,000 |
| Vanity Fair (M) | – | 137,000 | 150,000 | 197,000 |
| Harper's Bazaar (M) | 35-40,000 | 57,000 | 57,000 | 55,000 |
| She (W) | – | – | – | 291,000 |
| House Beautiful (M) | – | – | – | 121,000 |
Conde Nast |
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| Vogue (F) | 40-45,000 | 150,000 | 150,000 | 160,000 |
| House & Garden (M) | – | 30,000 | 41,000 | 46,000 |
Weldon's (Amalgamated) |
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| Weldon's Ladies' Journal (M) | 229,000 | 180,000 | 168,000 | closed 1954 |
| Good Taste (M) | 59,000 | 102,000 | 99,000 | – |
| Mother & Home (M) | 62,000 | 131,000 | 119,000 | – |
Other publishers |
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| Britannia & Eve (British National Newspapers, M) | 82,000 | 80,000 | 80,000 | closed 1957 |
| Housewife (Hulton, M) | – | 203,000 | 200,000 | 200,000 |
| The Lady (W) | 25,000 | 71,000 | 76,000 | 89,000 |
| The Queen (F) | 8,000 | 43,000 | 51,000 | 52,000 |
| Tatler (Illustrated Newspapers, W) | – | 66,000 | 66,000 | 50,000 |
| Sources: 'Modes
and morals', Economist, 28 Nov 1953, pp642-4; 'Struggle for George
Newnes,' 23 May, p761; 'Petticoat battleground,' Economist, 21 Nov 1959, pp745-747 W=weekly; M=monthly; F=fortnightly |
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