WOMEN'S JOURNALS, 1919-1968: FROM FRANCHISE TO FEMINISM

Part 1: Eve, 1919-1929

Eve is a marvellous source for the exploration of popular culture. There are regular features on the Cinema, the Theatre and the Musical Theatre. There are articles on movie stars and musicians, and reviews of the Diaghalev Ballet, the entertainments of Nol Coward and the Ziegfield Follies. The impact of popular culture on dance, dress and behaviour is shown through features such as "Their Gestures" which shows, among other things, the stylish way to hold a cigarette.

Serious articles such as "Why be Shocked?" by Margot Hirons (27 February 1929) explore the psychological under-pinning of "today’s freedoms" compared with "the artificiality of the past". There are detailed reviews of new literature by Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis and Lewis Bromfield. An article in the issue dated 7 October 1925 discusses the poetry of Rimbaud and Verlaine. There are excerpts from new novels by authors such as Rose Macaulay, and original stories such as "The Infant Prodigy" by Colette (26 August 1920).

Above all, Eve pays homage to the new Consumer Age. "Eve goes Shopping" is a regular feature and the magazine is a rich source of advertising - whether for "Minerva, The Goddess of Automobiles" or "Lacoste Snow Vanishing Cream - the inseparable companion of the woman of refinement". This makes Eve an ideal source for the study of Consumption and Desire.

Eve makes it clear that luxury goods and an elegant lifestyle were now within the reach of a much broader audience and this was having a powerful transformative effect. In the Victorian period Babylonish commodities such as powder, cold cream, lipstick and lingerie were kept out of the middle class home. Now they were available to all.

The Domestic Space was also undergoing a transformation. In the period in which Eve was published - from 1919 to 1929 - the number of households with electricity rose from 1 in 17 to 1 in 3. An advertisement by the Electricity Development Association offered:

"ELECTRICITY at your service. The ELECTRICITY which fills your house with light, will also cook your food, warm your rooms, do your washing and ironing, and clean the house for you...."

Labour-saving devices supposedly generated new freedoms and reduced the need for servants. An advert for Singer Electric Sewing Machines claimed that "An extra sewing maid could not be a greater help."

Part of the appeal was the "Scientific" basis of the new domestic breakthroughs. As one woman exclaims: "I love sewing now! All the drudgery is removed and better, quicker stitches are produced with SCIENTIFIC NEEDLES."

Articles such as "Other People’s Houses" and "On Decorating the Average Small London House" (13 January 1926) further describe the geography of the home. The rise of the Modernist movement in furniture, household design and architecture is reflected in articles such as "More about Modern Decoration" and "The Ingenuity of these Moderns" (13 Feb 1929).

Eve and her Car asks the question: "Does the manufacturer study her needs?" It describes the way in which cars are presented at the Olympia Motor Show so as to appeal to women and considers the requirements and interests of women drivers. Eve Plays the Game discusses the increasing range of sporting activities open to women including ski-ing, golf, athletics and tennis. The recipe section is entitled Feed the Brute, and a series of essays in 1920 discuss notions of "The Ideal Love", "The Ideal Friendship" and "The Ideal Marriage."

Eve also acted as the Hello magazine of the 1920’s with features on the Asquiths in America, Society Events, Life on the Riviera and Who’s Who in Switzerland. Many readers must have lived vicariously with the daughters of the New Rich and thrilled at their revolt against the ancien rgime.

Profusely illustrated throughout, Eve is the embodiment of the "Roaring Twenties" and will enable scholars to take a fresh look at the rise (and fall?) of the New Woman. It will be welcomed by libraries supporting gender studies, fashion, twentieth century social history and women's studies.