#also donna regularly joins them and it’s always funny | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

grandmamasscomm · 6 years

Text

Interview 4: Print

My grandma and Donna’s first experiences with print, or more specifically newspaper, was reading the comics. They believe they were in grade school when they regularly read the comics in the paper. Donna remembers reading Brenda Star and Mary Worth, and she describes them as not being super funny but having a continuous story line that you would have to follow with each new paper. My grandma remembers reading Nancy and Li’l Abner. They both also remember reading different magazines about new movies and actors. The ones they remember are PhotoPlay and Modern Screen magazines. Donna remembers the center of these magazines having 8”x10” glossy photographs that she would take out and hang on her bedroom wall. She was in 6th grade around this time. She recalls having quite a few photos of Doris Day because she was a fan. She even remembers writing Doris Day and asking for an autograph, to which she never got a response. Both Donna and my grandma describe these magazines as being similar to People magazine today.

Cover of Modern Screen | July-December 1946

Source: https://archive.org/details/modernscreen3334unse

I also asked them what newspapers they remember receiving at their homes when they were younger. They responded with the newspapers that were local to them at the time. My grandma remembers receiving both the morning and the evening newspapers, which were distributed by the same printing company but had different names. My grandma also remembers her mother enjoying McCall’s magazine, which was a women’s magazine. She also remembers the paper dolls in the magazine that were available to cut out. They both remember that their papers were delivered by carrier and the magazines and other mail was delivered by mail. My grandma also remembers her grandma buying her a subscription to Jack and Jill magazine that always had different activities and fun stories. Once my grandma got older, her grandma changed the subscription to National Geographic - and she remembers her whole family reading it. Donna remembers reading The American Girl magazine, which at the time was for Girl Scouts, not the one associated with the doll brand today. My grandma’s family also took The Saturday Evening Post and Life. My grandma recalls the Norman Rockwell illustrations in the Saturday Evening Post. I also asked them about controversial magazines that they were not allowed to look at. Both grandma and Donna immediately replied with Playboy.

I then moved into books, and I asked them about books they enjoyed growing up. My grandma remembers reading Nancy Drew and receiving those books for her birthday. Donna remembers reading The Hardy Boys when she was younger. Donna also recalls enjoying Pride and Prejudice around the 8th grade and reading a book called Peyton Place later in life - which was kind of risqué. She recalls a TV show being adapted from the book. My grandma also recalls reading a book called Hiroshima in her high school English class - which was about the bomb being dropped on Japan to end World War II. Donna got most of her books from her public or school libraries. My grandma got most of her books as gifts or from the school library.

I also asked them how newspapers and magazines have changed over the years.

“[They are] less. That’s because of the electronic media. That’s one positive, of course I’m an adult, but, you know, I don’t need a newspaper. I’ve got a CBS app and I’ve the Kansas City Star [app], and they just put the headlines and I pick the ones that interest me,” Donna explains.

They both agreed that newspapers and magazines have shrunk in size over the years, but they don’t necessarily need a constant subscription because they can find the information they want online. However, they think that magazines have a much stronger future in print than newspapers do.

Comics Section from The Enid Daily Eagle | Dec. 8, 1941

Source: Photo © Faith McDaniel

I moved into if they use electronics for reading their books. They both said no.

“I like to hold [the book] in my hands,” my grandma says.

Today, both my grandma and Donna are still avid readers. Donna takes Midwestern Living, Smithsonian magazine, and Real Simple. Grandma and Donna share newspapers as well: Donna buys the local paper and my grandma buys the Kansas City Star and they trade copies. My grandma also subscribes to different magazines like Mary Jane’s Farm, Reader’s Digest, and Country magazine.

In coordination with this interview, my grandma brought me and actual copy of The Enid Daily Eagle from Enid, Oklahoma published on December 8, 1941, when the U.S. declared war on Japan and joined World War II. This paper belonged to my grandma’s mother. I will have pictures of the paper posted throughout the blog post. Thanks again to Donna and my grandma for letting me pick their brains about early, and continued, media experiences.

Headline from The Enid Daily Eagle | Dec. 8, 1941

0 notes