We are all very excited about Kazoo, the new magazine for girls which just exceeded its funding goal on Kickstarter. We love the idea of a new magazine for girls encouraging them to be “smart, strong, fierce, and, above all, true to themselves.” Before we were old enough for Seventeen and Sassy, we learned to be confident and inquisitive thanks to these magazines! Put on your protective eyewear, you’re about to get a “blast from the past!”
1. Girls’ Life
Since 1994, Girls’ Life has been teaching us how to cope with peer pressure and and raise the roof on our self-esteem! They also (apparently) answered the question “Who is Miley Cyrus really?” back in 2006, which was like, 8 years before anybody even thought to ask. Nice.
Founded in 1938, Jack and Jill is one of the oldest and longest-running children’s publications in America. It’s like, 15 years older than Playboy. Weird.
3. Stone Soup
Founded by a group of college students in California in 1973, Stone Soup is entirely for kids and by kids, publishing original artwork and writing submitted by its readers — children from around the world! Awww! If your parents were hippies with Liberal Arts degrees, they probably pressured you to get published in Stone Soup.
4. Highlights
Who doesn’t remember sitting in the dentists’ waiting room as a kid (yikes!), trying to distract yourself from your dental fears by completing the puzzles in Highlights magazine? Now that’s what I call “Fun with a purpose.” Highlights: since 1946, going strong.
You probably forgot all about Zelda Van Gutters, Nick mag mascot, until you saw her face on this cover. I bet you do remember trying to convince your mom to let you make “slime cake,” though. What if I promise to clean the dishes afterwards, mom??? Gee whiz.
Since 1952, Humpty Dumpty has been entertaining little ones with stories, crafts, nonfiction articles, comics and games. I wonder if Humpty ran his magazine like Miranda Priestly ran Runway magazine in The Devil Wears Prada. Based on this photo, I’m going to say yes.
To this day, I can’t touch my toes to save my life, but I do remember coveting American Cheerleader back in ’95 for its glossy images of poised, athletic preteens grinning on the cover. The closest I ever came to being a cheerleader was memorizing and performing the cheer from the movie But I’m A Cheerleader in high school. No relation between the two.
8. Zoobooks
If you grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, you saw the ads for Zoobooks on TV and you begged your parents for a subscription. “Why don’t we check out some animal books from the library (for free)?” they asked. BECAUSE IT’S NOT THE SAAAAAME. Be honest, you still kinda want that tiger poster.
With the first issue of American Girl magazine in 1993, the American Girl company completed the trifecta of products that “indoorsy” girls coveted: books, dolls, and magazines. Smaaaaart.
You remember them, you loved them, and the good news is these are all still running to this day! You can get a subscription for any of these for the kids in your life — and then read them yourself!
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