The Home Front Journal: The Ladies’ Home Journal and the Making and Distribution of American World War I Propaganda

Abstract

This thesis attempts to exemplify how mass media outlets played an integral role in the creation of the voluntaristic mindset that characterized the American home front during World War I by using the Ladies’ Home Journal as a case study. Due to the limited size of the federal government in 1918, war time agencies such as the Committee on Public Information and the Food Administration were reliant on assistance from the private sector to direct a diverse population towards unified goals. Commercial publications, such as the Journal, were pivotal in the successes of selective service, thrift, and numerous other issues of mobilization during the Great War. The Ladies’ Home Journal was chosen for this study because it was the largest magazine of the time, and remained so throughout the war, and because of its efforts towards aiding the war effort. This study examines how certain key individuals within the Journal’s leadership grew the publication into the largest, and one of the most influential, magazines prior to America’s entrance into World War I, as well as select reform attempts undertaken by these individuals using the magazine prior to 1918. From there, it outlines how the Journal propagated and enhanced war messages from various federal agencies, completely shifting its focus towards achieving the various aims of mobilization on the home front. Finally, since the Journal was so influential in many American homes, this paper will also explain how the magazine reconciled the focus change with its readers.