Dear Readers,
Good afternoon!
Welcome to another post of our Blog Ariane Crafts Historical Research! Thank you for joining me today to discuss the Woman’s Journal Issue of October 1958.
I have chosen this issue in particular because it is the year in which the Woman’s Journal, offices in The Fleetway House, London, EC4, decided to publish its issues with a supplement of the Carpet of Flowers tapestry kit.
Before I go further, I want to type in full the poem Prelude to Love by Marion Lineweaver in page 143. To me, she is exiting the loneliness of the kitchen to meet her love:” It’s a black night and raining, / But my window’s open wide. / I love the smell of seaweed/ In the wind outside,/ And I’m listening for the sound of oars / Approaching on the tide. / The green flames of driftwood / Flick my sanded floor. / And flowers bow in the yellow light / That swings above the door / To guide the beaching of his boat / On the hard rocky shore / I’ve kilted up my cotton skirt / And bared up my restless feet, / And the pounding of my pulse / Is like the surf’s demanding beat, / The surge, and burst of longing- / Repeat, repeat,repeat./ I’ve been ticking off the kitchen clock/ The seconds, one by one; / Oh, I can’t stay alone here, / With the night half begun, / So I’m running in the grass now, And calling as I run.” By Marion Lineaweaver
What initially strikes most with this magazine is the sheer contrast of consumerism materialised in clothing adverstisement in sheer contrast to the pauperism of woman’s magazines 15 years prior, where the first pages were covered with articles on how to make garments and goods. Now, even beauty and youth is offered via lingerie and out garments.
To be continued……… Ariane Crafts
ARIANE CRAFTS 