120 Years of House Beautiful

Have you seen the November issue of House Beautiful?  A tribute to the magazine's 120th anniversary, this special issue is a celebration of both a classic American magazine and the classic American decorating that it has long championed.  As I'm a contributing editor to the magazine, I might be biased, but the issue really is something special.

I was inspired to take a romp through my old issues of House Beautiful, especially those from 1934, which I'm particularly fond of.  Scroll through those issues, and you'll see that much of what House Beautiful brought to readers back then, such as articles on table settings and household technology, is similar to what the magazine offers readers today. 




Entertaining and table settings. One difference between then and today is that yesteryear's tables were more formal.  Those food and table accessory-laden buffet tables? They were veritable lands of bountiful.




Modern Design.  Along with traditional decor (see below), modernism has long found a welcome home on the pages of House Beautiful.  That dining room directly above?  It was by Donald Deskey.





Traditional Decorating.  The yin to modernism's yang.  In my opinion, the magazine has long done traditional design well, even when design trends gravitated to elaborate draperies and frilly lampshades.




Household Innovation.  The latest in household technology has been championed by HB for years.  In 1934, the magazine touted novel lighting, warming drawers, and cutting-edge glassware.




Fabrics and Wallpaper.  Yes, even back in 1934, House Beautiful featured layouts of yummy fabrics and snappy wallpaper.






The Dog Show.  This is one column that, sadly, the magazine no longer publishes.  But in the Thirties, shelter magazines, including House Beautiful, devoted pages to dog kennels, protection from fleas, and champion dogs, including, from top to bottom, Kenwanna Titi (a Japanese spaniel), Hei T'Sun (a Pekingese), Nunsoe Duc de la Terrace (Standard Poodle), and Clover of Reynalton (English bloodhound). 

And finally, if you're wondering why the covers of the 1934 issues feature the names of both House Beautiful and Home & Field, that's because the magazines merged briefly around this time.