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''Good Housekeeping'' is an American
women's magazine This is a list of women's magazines from around the world. These are magazines that have been published primarily for a readership of women. Currently published *'' 10 Magazine'' (UK - distributed worldwide) *''Al Jamila'' (Saudi Arabia) *'' All ...
featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, and health, as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good Housekeeping Seal", a limited
warranty In contract law, a warranty is a promise which is not a condition of the contract or an innominate term: (1) it is a term "not going to the root of the contract",Hogg M. (2011). ''Promises and Contract Law: Comparative Perspectives''p. 48 Cambri ...
program that is popularly known as the "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval". ''Good Housekeeping'' was founded in 1885 by American publisher and poet Clark W. Bryan. By the time of its acquisition by the Hearst Corporation in 1911, the magazine had grown to a circulation of 300,000 subscribers. By the early 1960s, it had over 5 million subscribers and was one of the world's most popular women's magazines.


History and profile

On May 2, 1885, Clark W. Bryan founded ''Good Housekeeping'' in Holyoke, Massachusetts as a fortnightly magazine. The magazine became a monthly publication in 1891. The magazine achieved a circulation of 300,000 by 1911, at which time it was bought by the Hearst Corporation. It topped one million in the mid-1920s, and continued to rise, even during the Great Depression and its aftermath. In 1938, a year in which the magazine advertising dropped 22 percent, ''Good Housekeeping'' showed an operating profit of $2,583,202, more than three times the profit of Hearst's other eight magazines combined, and probably the most profitable monthly of its time. Circulation topped 2,500,000 in 1943, 3,500,000 in the mid-1950s, 5,000,000 in 1962, and 5,500,000 per month in 1966. 1959 profits were more than $11 million. ''Good Housekeeping'' was one of the " Seven Sisters", a group of women's service magazines, and is one of the three of them still published in print. In 1922, the Hearst Corporation created a
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
edition along the same lines, named ''British Good Housekeeping''. Famous writers who have contributed to the magazine include
A. J. Cronin Archibald Joseph Cronin (19 July 1896 – 6 January 1981), known as A. J. Cronin, was a Scottish physician and novelist. His best-known novel is ''The Citadel'' (1937), about a Scottish doctor who serves in a Welsh mining village before achievi ...
,
Betty Friedan Betty Friedan ( February 4, 1921 – February 4, 2006) was an American feminist writer and activist. A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book ''The Feminine Mystique'' is often credited with sparking the se ...
, Frances Parkinson Keyes, Clara Savage Littledale,
Edwin Markham Edwin Markham (born Charles Edward Anson Markham; April 23, 1852 – March 7, 1940) was an American poet. From 1923 to 1931 he was Poet Laureate of Oregon. Life Edwin Markham was born in Oregon City, Oregon, and was the youngest of 10 children; ...
,
Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...
, Edna St. Vincent Millay, J. D. Salinger,
Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires '' Decl ...
, and
Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...
. Other contributors include
advice column An advice column is a column in a question and answer format. Typically, a (usually anonymous) reader writes to the media outlet with a problem in the form of a question, and the media outlet provides an answer or response. The responses are wr ...
ists,
chefs A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...
, and politicians.


Good Housekeeping Research Institute

In 1900, the "Experiment Station", the predecessor to the Good Housekeeping Research Institute (GHRI), was founded. In 1902, the magazine was calling this "An Inflexible Contract Between the Publisher and Each Subscriber." The formal opening of the headquarters of GHRI – the Model Kitchen, Testing Station for Household Devices, and Domestic Science Laboratory – occurred in January 1910. In 1909, the magazine established the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. Products advertised in the magazine that bear the seal are tested by GHRI and are backed by a two-year limited warranty. About 5,000 products have been given the seal. In April 1912, a year after Hearst bought the magazine,
Harvey W. Wiley Harvey Washington Wiley (October 18, 1844 – June 30, 1930) was an American chemist who fought for the passage of the landmark Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 and subsequently worked at the Good Housekeeping Institute laboratories. He was ...
, the first commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (1907–1912), became head of GHRI and a contributing editor whose "Question Box" feature ran for decades. Beginning with a "Beauty Clinic" in 1932, departments were added to the Institute, including a "Baby's Center", "Foods and Cookery", and a "Needlework Room". Some functioned as testing laboratories, while others were designed to produce editorial copy. After the passage of the
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act The United States Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (abbreviated as FFDCA, FDCA, or FD&C) is a set of laws passed by the United States Congress in 1938 giving authority to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to oversee the safety of f ...
in 1938, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Rexford Tugwell sought to promote a government grading system. The Hearst Corporation opposed the policy in spirit, and began publishing a monthly tabloid attacking federal oversight. In 1939, the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against ''Good Housekeeping'' for "misleading and deceptive" guarantees including its Seal of Approval, and "exaggerated and false" claims in its advertisements. The publisher fought the proceedings for two years, during which time competing editors from the ''
Ladies Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States. In ...
'' and ''
McCall's ''McCall's'' was a monthly American women's magazine, published by the McCall Corporation, that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. It was established as a small-f ...
'' testified against ''Good Housekeeping''. The FTC's ultimate ruling was against the magazine, forcing it to remove some claims and phraseology from its ad pages. The words "Tested and Approved" were dropped from the Seal of Approval. But the magazine's popularity was unaffected, steadily rising in circulation and profitability. In 1962, the wording of the Seal was changed to a guarantee of "Product or Performance", while dropping its endorsement of rhetorical promises made by the advertisers. In its varying forms, the Seal of Approval became inextricably associated with the magazine, and many others (e.g., ''McCall's'', ''
Parents Magazine ''Parents'' was an American monthly magazine founded in 1926 that featured scientific information on child development geared to help parents in raising their children. Subscribers were notified of the magazine’s dissolution via a postcard maili ...
'', and '' Better Homes and Gardens'') mimicked the practice. In 2012, the test kitchen of the Good Housekeeping Research Institute was implemented into a new instructional cooking, nutrition, and exercise TV show on the
Cooking Channel Cooking Channel is an American basic cable channel owned by Food Network, a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (69%) and Nexstar Media Group (31%). The channel is a spin-off of Food Network, broadcasting ...
, entitled ''Drop 5 lbs with Good Housekeeping''.


International editions

''Good Housekeeping'' began to be published in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
in 1922.
William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...
appointed Alice Maud Head initially as assistant editor. Head rose to be the Managing Director, as well as purportedly being the highest paid woman in Europe. As Hearst's deputy, Head would make decisions on his behalf about not just editing, but also buying for him
St Donat's Castle St Donat's Castle ( cy, Castell Sain Dunwyd), St Donats, Wales, is a medieval castle in the Vale of Glamorgan, about to the west of Cardiff, and about to the west of Llantwit Major. Positioned on cliffs overlooking the Bristol Channel, the si ...
, expensive art objects, and three giraffes for his zoo. Head remained head until 1939. In Latin America, the magazine was known as ''Buenhogar''. It was published in the United States and Latin America by Editorial Televisa.


American editors

* Clark W. Bryan (1885–1898) *James Eaton Tower (1899–1913) *William Frederick Bigelow (1913–1942) * Herbert Raymond Mayes (1942–1958) *Wade Hampton Nichols Jr. (1959–1975) *
John Mack Carter John Mack Carter (February 28, 1928-September 26, 2014) was an American magazine editor, best known for his editorship of multiple women's magazines. Mack served as editor of each of the “Big Three” women's magazines: ''McCall's'' from 196 ...
(1975–1994) * Ellen Levine (1994–2006) *Rosemary Ellis (2006–2013) *Jane Francisco (2013–present)


See also

*'' Consumer Reports'' * John Cecil Clay *
Nat Mags National Magazine Company (or Nat Mags) is a British magazine publisher based in London. It was established in 1910 by William Randolph Hearst and was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Hearst Corporation. Arnaud de Puyfontaine became chief execut ...
(UK publisher)


References


External links

Official web sites:
U.S. edition
including th


U.K. edition
including th
Good Housekeeping Institute



Russian edition

Official subscription site Spanish edition BuenHogar

Online archive
of the covers of many early issues

on the
Cooking Channel Cooking Channel is an American basic cable channel owned by Food Network, a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (69%) and Nexstar Media Group (31%). The channel is a spin-off of Food Network, broadcasting ...
From the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
:
February 1926 issue
(262 pages)

featuring ''Good Housekeeping'' *
Good Housekeeping
' at the HathiTrust {{Authority control 1885 establishments in Massachusetts Consumer magazines Hearst Communications publications Magazines established in 1885 Magazines published in New York City Magazines published in Massachusetts Monthly magazines published in the United States Women's magazines published in the United States Mass media in Springfield, Massachusetts