Town & Country(magazine)

For the British publication, seeTown and Country Magazine.

'Home Journal' redirects here. For the Swedish women's magazineTidskrift för hemmet,seeHome Review.

Town & Country

Cover of the October 2024 issue, featuringDiane von Furstenberg
Editor	Stellene Volandes
Former editors	Frank Zachary
Photographer	Ronny Jaques
Frequency	Monthly
Total circulation (2015)	486,297
Founder	Nathaniel Parker WillisandGeorge Pope Morris
Founded	1846
Company	Hearst Magazines
Country	United States
Based in	New York City
Website	www.townandcountrymag
ISSN	0040-9952

Town & Country,formerly theHome JournalandThe National Press,is a monthlyAmericanlifestyle magazine.It is the oldest continually published general interest magazine in the United States.

History

Early history

The magazine was founded asThe National Pressby poet and essayistNathaniel Parker WillisandNew York Evening Mirrornewspaper editorGeorge Pope Morrisin 1846.Eight months later, it was renamedThe Home Journal.After 1901, the magazine's name becameTown & Country,and it has retained that name ever since.

Throughout most of the 19th century, this weekly magazine featured poetry, essays, and fiction. As more influential people began reading it, the magazine began to include society news and gossip in its pages. After 1901, the magazine continued to chronicle the social events and leisure activities of the North American upper class, includingdebutanteorcotillion balls,and also reported on the subsequent "advantageous marriages" that came from people meeting at such social engagements.

The magazine's earlier readership consisted of members ofthe Establishment.This included older wealthy families ofNew York City,Boston Brahminsand, later, those people in other parts of the United States whose surnames may have appeared in theSocial Register(established 1887).

Willis owned and edited the magazine from 1846 until his death in 1867.

Modern history

After Willis's death, the magazine went through several owners and editors untilWilliam Randolph Hearstacquired ownership in 1925. The first editor under Hearst ownership was Harry Bull. He edited the magazine from 1925 through 1949. Henry B. Sell became Bull's successor.

The magazine is still owned and published by theHearst Corporation.It is published monthly, and its readership is composed of mainly youngersocialites,café society,andmiddle classprofessionals.

Most of the advertising copy in the magazine is forluxury goodsand services. The feature articles and photography focus primarily onfashion,arts, culture, interior design, travel, weddings, parties, gala events and other interests and concerns of theupper class.

In May 1993, Pamela Fiori became the first womaneditor-in-chiefofTown & Countrymagazine. During her tenure, Fiori was credited with increasing circulation by making the magazine more fashion forward and in recent years, makingphilanthropymore of a priority for the magazine.

Fiori also pushed for more diversity in the magazine's coverage. In an effort to play down the magazine's perceived snobbish andelitistWASP,orpreppyimage, morecelebritieshave been showing up on the magazine's covers, and there has been an increase in the number of articles showcasing the events and weddings of socially prominent blacks, as well as the social activities of people of other ethnicities.

On April 6, 2010, Fiori was replaced by Steven Drucker as the editor-in-chief of the magazine.Jay Fielden was named editor-in-chief in 2011.Fielden was previously editor-in-chief ofMen's Vogue.Earlier in his career, he had worked atVogueandThe New Yorker.He said his goal was to bring "a lot of people under the tent" of "a snooty, exclusionary magazine."He later said, "I gaveTown & Countrysome teeth, reporting on behavior that wasn't always that which, well,Emily Postwould approve, like having an evening toke instead of a Scotch on the rocks. "In 2014, Fielden convinced novelistJay McInerneyto move his column about wine from theWall Street JournaltoTown & Country.

Fielden inaugurated the T&C 50 lists, including rankings of philanthropists and influential American families. In 2014, he founded theTown & CountryPhilanthropy Summit, which has featured speakers such asMichael Bloomberg,Chelsea Clinton,Julia Louis-Dreyfus,Bradley Cooper,Lin-Manuel Miranda,andGeoffrey Canada.Fielden leftTown & Countryin 2016, when he replacedDavid M. Grangeras editor-in-chief ofEsquire Magazine.Adweekwrote that Fielden had transformed the magazine from "dusty publication to buzzy brand."

According toHuffPoston May 9, 2018,Town & Countrytook criticism for disinvitingMonica Lewinskyfrom its philanthropic summit because former PresidentBill Clintondecided to attend the event.Hollywood producerJudd Apatowcommented, "This is what everyone is fighting against."He then added thatTown & Country"should be ashamed of themselves."

Spin-off

In September 2003, a spin-off magazine entitled,Town & Country Travel,appeared. It is published quarterly. In September 2007,Town & Country Travellaunched a travel website and a staff travel blog. There is a special edition of the magazine focusing on wedding planning. In the past decade, the magazine has also published severaletiquette,wedding and lifestyle guidebooks. Among the most recent books published by the magazine is "Modern Manners: The Thinking Person's Guide to Social Graces," released in 2005 and edited byTown & Countrysenior editor Thomas Farley.

In 2003,Town & CountryreleasedTown & Country Weddings,which is published twice yearly.

The first international version of the magazine, calledTown & Country Philippines,was launched bySummit Mediain 2007.

A BritishTown & Countrymagazine was launched by Hearst Magazines UK, a subsidiary of Hearst Corporation, in May 2014.

External links

• Official website
• Town & Country Travel
• Town & Country Travels blog
• Official BritishTown & Countrywebsite