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Our Victorian Magazine Collection:   Demorest Monthly Magazine

Home > About Our Victorian Magazines > Demorest Monthly Magazine Demorest Monthly Magazine is an interesting publication in its own right, and doubly interesting for its background. It was founded by William Jennings Demorest, an American magazine publisher and prohibition leader, and his wife Ellen Louise Demorest, who was a milliner and fashion designer. Ellen Demorest is credited with having invented mass-produced tissue-paper patterns for dressmaking (yes, the kind you find today at the fabric store). The couple launched Mme. Demorest's Mirror of Fashions in 1860 as a quarterly magazine designed to market and promote the patterns. The magazine quickly became popular, becoming monthly in 1863. In 1864, the company purchased the New York Illustrated News and combined it with the fashion magazine. It became Demorest Monthly Magazine, and then Demorest Family Magazine in 1879. It ceased publication in 1899. Ellen Demorest was an activist at many levels, and believed wholeheartedly in women's entrepreneurship, emancipation, education and equality. She employed both white and black women in her businesses, including her millinery store. The magazine included a monthly "What Women Are Doing" column that highlighted the achievements of women around the world. Contributors included many female writers, including journalist Jenny (aka Jennie) June (many of whose articles are posted herein). Thanks no doubt to the influence of William Demorest, the magazine also included many articles on temperance and prohibition. Demorest isn't the easiest magazine to find, and a search on Archive.org only turns up two volumes. We have only three full annuals and a selection of individual monthly issues on VictorianVoices.net; we hope to acquire more in the future! Update: A helpful reader pointed out that 127 issues of Demorest, from 1879-1901, are available here: https://vtext.valdosta.edu/xmlui/handle/10428/2079 MORE INFORMATION: William Jennings Demorest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Jennings_Demorest Ellen Louise Demorest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Louise_Demorest Fashion History: Love to Know http://fashion-history.lovetoknow.com/fashion-clothing-industry/fashion-designers/mme-demorest Crusades and Crinolines: The Life and Times of Ellen Curtis Demorest and William Jennings Demorest by Ishbel Ross; New York: Harper and Row, 1963.

View the Issues On This Site: 1873 1879 1880 1888 Individual Monthly Issues