Mass Quality

A few years back a friend of mine was receiving dating advice from his close friend who was sharing his secrets of successful dating strategies. Sharing the office, I listened in on the conversation. To this day, I remember not the exact words, but the spirit of what was said. My friend was interested in a relationship, not a lay, and so the advice was to attend one of the Border's single's nights which were organized at that time on friday nights. The spoken assumption was that bookstores are where "quality" women are found. Quality women, quality content, and quantity over quality have been occupying my thoughts ever since I stopped at Acorn bookstore on Polk street in San Francisco earlier today...The store specializes in used and rare books. I admittedly have an old publication fetish, and so immediately I reached for a small volume, about palm size, compact, nicely leather bound. There were five of those single tomes, the earliest I leafed through was published in 1829. To my delight they turned out to be a 19th century version of yesteryear's Women's magazine. Ladies' Magazine which was edited by Sarah Josepha Hale, published by her husband, was later purchased by Louis A. Godey a publisher and editor, and became known as the Godey's Lady's Book. Mrs. Hale remained the editor of the new form of the magazine and aimed to educate women while steering away from religion, politics and social issues.

"Gradually the periodical matured into an important literary magazine and contained extensive book reviews and works by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Edgar Allen Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and many other celebrated 19th century authors who regularly furnished the magazine with essays, poetry and short stories. The Lady`s Book was also a vast reservoir of handsome illustrations, which included hand-colored fashion plates, mezzotints, engravings, woodcuts, and ultimately chromolithographs. (...) In addition to extensive fashion descriptions and plates, the early issues included biographical sketches, articles about mineralogy, handcrafts, female costume, the dance, equestrienne procedures, health & hygiene, recipes & remedies, etc. Each issue also contained two pages of sheet music, written essentially for the piano forte."

It was a thrill to see poetry, literature and historical informative articles along side more practical advice on laundry recipes and needle point patterns. Mrs. Hale stated: "The greatest triumph of this progression is redeeming woman from her inferior position and placing her side by side with man, a help-mate for him in all his pursuits." Sadly yet, understandably within the historical perspective, she was trying to accomplish the goal through reinforcing Home as a women's sphere opposite and complementary the men's domain of work outside of the home. Despite it's dated bias, I wish this was the format of current day Women's magazines. Instead, news stands today, carry large, flashy, glossy magazines with headlines such as: "Guys tell what's sexy in bed - Love Your Hair - Free Stuff, lucky breaks - Sex and Amnesia - Shine and Sparkle"... Need I say more... Mass literacy brought on the demise of quality content. More women can read than ever before. If only we cared to be informed and not merely entertained, educated and not merely pretty, smart and not merely "hot in bed", there'd be Masses of Quality Women for men to live up to.