The Delineator

The Delineatorwas an American women's magazine of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, founded by theButterick Publishing Companyin 1869 under the nameThe Metropolitan Monthly.Its name was changed in 1875. The magazine was published on a monthly basis inNew York City.^[1]In November 1926, under the editorship ofMrs. William Brown Meloney,it absorbedThe Designer,founded in 1887 and published by the Standard Fashion Company, a Butterick subsidiary.^[2]

One of its managing editors was writerTheodore Dreiser,who worked with other members of the staff such asSarah Field Splint(later known for writingcookbooks) andArthur Sullivant Hoffman.^[3]The novelist and short story writer,Honoré Willsie Morrowserved as editor, 1914–19.^[4]

Seal of approval of the Delineator Home Institute

The Delineatorfeatured the Buttericksewing patternsand provided an in-depth look at the fashion of the day. Butterick also produced quarterly catalogs of fashion patterns in the 1920s and early 1930s.^{[citation needed]}

In addition to clothing patterns, the magazine published photos and drawings of embroidery and needlework that could be used to adorn both clothing and items for the home. It also included articles on all forms of home decor. It also published fiction, including manyshort storiesbyL. Frank Baum.^{[citation needed]}

The magazine also published articles on social and political reform. Charles Dwyer, editor from 1894-1906, expanded the magazine's coverage to include editorials, fiction, and women's increasing involvement in public life.^[5]His successor, Theodore Dreiser published articles addressing women's roles as consumers, and invited readers to write in about current social problems.^[6]

In the late 1920s, it featured covers by noted fashion artistHelen Dryden.^[7]

It ceased publication in 1937 when it was merged withThe Pictorial Review.^[8]

Features

In May 1894 the magazine began a monthly series on "Women's Colleges" with a piece onVassar.Published by graduates of those colleges, the series covered locations, academics, traditions and costs. After the first year, the series' focus shifted to women's experiences at co-ed schools, starting withCornell Universityand expanding to otherland-grant universities.^[6]

From 1907-1911, the magazine published the Child-Rescue Campaign, in which readers could write to the magazine to adopt children whose photographs and stories were serialized in each issue.^[9]Over two thousand institutionalized children of white working-class and/or European immigrant parents were placed in private homes during the campaign.^[9]It eventually resulted in the 1909White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children,hosted by PresidentTheodore Roosevelt.^[6]

In 1921 theBetter Homes in Americacampaign was launched by editorMarie Mattingly Maloneyto celebrate home ownership, modernization, and beautification. In 1923 it became a national campaign, with support from PresidentCalvin Coolidgeand Secretary of CommerceHerbert Hoover.