Magazine art has always been focused on the more glamorous side of life, and of course the main reason is that it helps sell magazines. Pet ownership is really no different, and it's not at all hard to find magazine covers depicting the more idealized aspects of owning a pet, (but we also think the reason they are so ubiquitous is simply that pets are among the best things in life!)
Let's start with everybody's favorite: Dogs.
Dogs have been a big part of our lives since about 12 to 14 thousand years ago, when wolves were first domesticated, and our pet dogs are all descended from these wild origins. The bond between human and wolf was so rapidly and firmly established that there is an abundance of archeological evidence of deep affection. For example, a Paleolithic tomb in northern Israel contains the remains of a man who was buried with his four legged friend. His hand perched tenderly on the animal's shoulder touchingly suggests that the two had a very close bond. [Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk]
As our bond with these friendly animals has been so firmly cemented in our daily lives, their presence on magazine covers is inevitable, and right away, we can see an abundance of different artistic depictions. The first one we're going to show you is probably one of the most relatable scenes of dog ownership. In it, a young boy is just coming home from school and is immediately greeted by his little dog, who is so happy to see him that it's as if they were separated for many years.
[Image source: http://www.magazineart.org]
The magazine itself is "The Country Gentleman," which was an agricultural periodical issued between 1831 and 1955, when it was bought by Farm Journal, a more largely circulated periodical which is still around today. The artist is Ray C. Strang (1893-1957) a popular illustrator who specialized in Western scenes, but frequently contributed to this and several other magazines. His best known piece was called Slow Poke, and prints of it are available everywhere. [Source: Wikipedia]
Although we all love dogs, there are some things most of us wish they wouldn't do. Even these are depicted on magazine covers, though mainly for comic effect rather than as a more idealized depiction. One of the most puzzling behaviors that fit this category is licking. It seems that dogs can't seem to keep their tongues off anything, from their paws, and (ahem!) their more unmentionable parts, to your hands, feet and face. The image we're about to show you next depicts a little girl with a piece of toast, which, to her disappointment, she can no longer eat because her dog beat her to the punch. To cap it all off, there is a tongue-in-cheek caption in the lower left that says "I know on which side my bread is buttered!" We can't help but laugh a little when we see this, even though perhaps we should be sorry for the girl.
[Image source: http://www.magazineart.org]
This issue of Life magazine was published on January 10, 1930, and the signature of the cover artist says "Edwina". A brief Google search reveals that this refers to Frances Edwina Dumm (1893-1990), a cartoonist who drew the comic strip "Cap Stubbs and Tippie" and was America' first full-time female editorial cartoonist. She was awarded the Gold Key by the National Cartoonists Society in 1978. [Source: Wikipedia]
And of course, the other major four-legged contender for that special place in our hearts is the cat. Cats have been domesticated for a slightly shorter time than dogs, (roughly 12,000 years,) but their independence, and their anatomical similarities to their wild ancestors, have made it unclear when they first became domesticated, and for a long time it was thought that they have been our companions for only 8,000 years. [Source: http://www.smithsonianmag.com] Be all that as it may, cats are another popular pet that has abundantly graced the covers of magazines. Up next are a couple of magazine covers depicting our feline friends.
[Image source: http://www.pinterest.com]
As common as it is, for example, to see art featuring young boys with their dogs, the same can be said of beautiful young women with their cats. This magazine cover is for a publication called "Picture Play," which was in circulation between 1915 and 1941, when it merged with Charm Magazine. The motion picture industry was at this time rapidly maturing into the mainstream form of entertainment we know it as today, and this was one of several magazines that emerged to fill the need for news on the film industry. Just as today, news about the various personal affairs of celebrities was in high demand. (People Magazine, anyone?) The young woman who is proudly holding up her cat for all the world to see is film actress June Collyer (1906-1968). According to IMDB, she was in 36 different films between 1927 and 1958.
[Image source: http://www.pinterest.com]
No offense to dogs, but it seems cats are popular enough to have their own literary magazine named after them. This one, The Black Cat, was published between 1895 and 1922, and specialized in short stories. One of the magazine's most notable contributions was A Thousand Deaths, an 1899 short story by Jack London. Other noteworthy authors who contributed to The Black Cat were O. Henry and Henry Miller.
Next up, we'll talk about horses. Though not strictly pets, horses have amazing personalities and make great companions, so it's not unusual for people to keep them as pets. One of the best things about horses is that you can ride them, and although this is how people got around before the car was invented, we now mostly ride them for pleasure and for sport. Magazines depicted horses quite often, and even as their practical use for a means of transportation was on the decline, agricultural magazines still depicted them performing various tasks. This next cover we're about to show you features a team of two horses pulling a cart. Heavy farming tasks were (and sometimes still are) assisted by horses, and this depiction is a perfect example of the magazine art appealing to the more practical need for them, rather than an emotional need for companionship or love.
[Image source: http://www.magazineart.org]
But horses were still as much an emotional component of magazine cover art, and although they themselves weren't the object of our emotional response, it was the broader context in which they were depicted. In the early twentieth century, old west nostalgia was a big part of motion pictures, books, and art. Author Zane Grey and artist F. C. Yohn are two of the most prolific contributors to nostalgic depictions of the old west in pop culture. This next cover features an idyllic old west scene with a young woman in a cowboy hat riding her horse.
[Image source: http://www.magazineart.org]
The Woman's Home Companion was a hugely popular periodical that circulated between 1873 and 1957. It enjoyed a massive circulation rate of over four million subscriptions in the 30s and 40s, and published contributions by such notables as P. G. Wodehouse, Willa Cather, and John Steinbeck.
But what about those pets that we like just for their ornamental beauty? Birds and fish are two that come to mind, and although they can certainly add color and charm to a living space, those of us who are more scientifically-minded will want them around because they appeal to our intellectual need to observe and to study. Birds on magazine covers are especially interesting because, in most cases, they are depicted as colorful and whimsical accents in a larger scene, and as such, although they recede to some extent from the main focus of the images, they add an undeniable charm that makes them all the more irresistible.
[Image source: http://www.magazineart.org]
[Image source: http://www.magazineart.org]
And as we mentioned earlier, there are intellectuals who keep such pets as hobbies, and the aquarium fish crowd has its own periodical devoted to keeping aquariums as a hobby. Here are two covers of The Aquarium, both published in the 1930s.
[Image source: http://www.magazineart.org]
[Image source: http://www.magazineart.org]
We hope you've enjoyed this journey into the realm of pets in magazine cover art. We all love our pets every day of the year, but today is a special day to honor that love. We've done our part, and now we ask all pet owners the world over: have you loved your pet today?
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