First up..Happy New Year friends! We made it to 2021! I hope you had a nice and safe new years (mine was a quiet night in with the hubby and zoom).

To kick of 2021 I wanted to share some of my favorite vintage magazine covers from ‘The Australian Women’s Weekly‘ which is a series of magazines I have been enjoying online (for FREE..HERE) during Toronto’s on and off lockdowns (which I am going back into come Thursday).

Source for ALL the covers in this post: Archive.org

If you have never heard of this magazine or seen the content inside, you MUST take some time to check it out. They are filled with loads of juicy vintage content that would make any lover of times gone by, head spin! Fashions, stories, news, advertising and so much more! The fashions are what truly caught my eye but it was everything else that held my attention.

So for today’s post I want to share some of my favorite covers from the 1940s and due to the shear number (hello..weekly magazine!), I will make this into a series focusing on different time’s and months. But for today I want to just showcase some of my favorite covers from various dates in the 1940s.

Let’s begin!

The 1940s Vintage Magazine Covers of ‘The Australian Women’s Weekly’

Brief History of ‘The Weekly’:

• The magazine was started in 1933 by Frank Packer as a weekly publication.
• It was to have two distinctive features: firstly it would be a newspaper with an element of topicality in all its features. Secondly it would be an attempt to appeal to all Australian women, regardless of class, and have a national focus. Wanting it to appeal to a mass audience.
• The overall popularity of the magazine between the 1930s-1980s meant that articles and advertisements published in it were widely read across Australia not only by women, but men as well.
• The magazines power to influence and shape culture across the nation intersected with the rise of various women’s and parenting issues.
• As of February 2019, The Weekly has overtaken Better Homes and Gardens, coming out on top as Australia’s most read magazine (Source).

The Vintage Magazine Covers:

The Australian Women’s Weekly 06-07-1940. So many things I love about this cover illustration. First up, the adorable what looks like a Scottie dog that our fashionable woman is playing with. Secondly the cute 1940s victory rolls hairstyle she is sporting with a snood. So 1940s!

The Australian Women’s Weekly 13-07-1940 featuring the Winter Cookery Book. How cute is our 1940s housewife with her curls and red and white polka dot bow that matches her dress?

If you click HERE you can see what those vintage recipes were.

The Australian Women’s Weekly 15-02-1941. Summer is here! Why not be the most stylish on the block? (what dreamy 1940s women’s fashion on display).

The Australian Women’s Weekly 22-11-1941. “Till we meet again”.

The Australian Women’s Weekly 28-02-1942. Victory Gardens help you do your part!

I love to garden and this woman in her 1940s pants and blouse with straw hat, is making me want to replicate this look for my next digging in the dirt adventures.

The Australian Women’s Weekly 12-12-1942. Even in times of war one must ensure that your hair and makeup was on point! It was your duty for any women during WW2. Gosh what amazing vintage hairstyle goals!

The Australian Women’s Weekly 09-10-1943. Women all over the world were stepping up to help on the homefront, working in factories, making victory gardens and more.

The Australian Women’s Weekly 23-01-1943. On this cover we have an angry woman folding up her precious nylon stockings (which were rationed all over during WW2), to be given away (I’m assuming). Inside of the magazine, there is an article entitled “Can you bear to go without stockings?” which seems to reflect our cover.

Side note…I LOVE our cover model’s brightly coloured pattern, puffed sleeved 40s dress with matching bracelets (maybe bakelite if this was a real image).

The Australian Women’s Weekly 18-03-1944. Buy those victory loans and keep helping the cause. This cute image features a pretty woman tipping her husbands pants upside down to find extra money to buy those victory loans.

The Australian Women’s Weekly 13-01-1945. The cover features the women of Australia who entered the service to help the cause.

The Australian Women’s Weekly 05-01-1946. What is your summer style? Is it anything like our young woman on the cover in her cute 2 piece 1940s swimsuit and sandal wedges?

The Australian Women’s Weekly 23-02-1946. Time to wash your hair! What a pretty floral bowl we have in this photo.

The Australian Women’s Weekly 23-03-1946 was a special knitting issue! Gosh I wish I could knit! I would make that blanket and that sweater. All so fantastic!

The Australian Women’s Weekly 07-06-1947. June is for weddings! What a stunner of a wedding dress and our bridesmaid featured is not looking so bad either (love the yellow).

The Australian Women’s Weekly 06-11-1948. I liked this cover because it reminded me of my “vintage tennis style” post I did last year.

The Australian Women’s Weekly 19-02-1949. Elizabeth and her new baby..Charles!

Share in the comments section below what your favorite cover was!

FURTHER READING:

Vintage Magazine Covers from the 1920s-1960s (Collection of blog posts by the Vintage Inn)

Liz