We all know there have been some well-loved magazines that have disappeared over the last several years, so you can imagine how many have come and gone in the last century. One of the most popular during the late 1800's to 1937 was the Delineator, a magazine that began with a focus on ladies' fashion but morphed into a general interest magazine.
Around the 1920's the Delineator included a series of pamphlets for children titled The Little Delineator, which included short stories, contests, and craft ideas for boys and girls.
The colorful artwork on the covers of The Little Delineator pamphlets really grabbed me, and I bought a stack of them from one of my favorite stores recently:
Most issues were built around a theme, like a holiday, event, or topic like health.
Inside one booklet there was an article from Cho Cho, the Health Clown. Evidently Cho Cho had been going around the country, visiting schools, and had noticed that children were too skinny and didn't have enough pep. Cho Cho challenged kids to write to him to find out how much they should be eating each day. I hate to break the news to old Cho Cho, but he'd be in for a rude awakening if he visited our schools nowadays! Kids may not have enough "pep", that's for sure, but they certainly seem to be consuming enough calories!
Little fairies, sprites, and naked babies playing pan flutes were always popular topics for illustrators during the early 20th century:
I like the way animals were depicted years ago, before the Hallmark cutesy-ness took over. They still looked like real animals that could bite you if you didn't mind your P's and Q's:
The lion and tiger in the picture below illustrate my point perfectly:
I can have a lot of fun with a pile of little magazines. I just enjoy the glimpse of childhood from another era, a simpler time. Sometimes it makes me feel sorry for the children of today, and what they are missing by sitting in front of a computer or TV all the time, twiddling a video game control. They should be outside, going on a nature walk, discovering what our beautiful world has to offer, or maybe creating something with their hands that they can be proud of.
Do you feel the same way I do?
Mitzi




















