Chatelaine (magazine) - Chatelaine in The 1920s and 1930s

Chatelaine in The 1920s and 1930s

The first issue of Chatelaine was published the very same month that Emily Murphy presented the Person's Case to the Supreme Court, a major turning point in Canadian women's history. In December 1929, Murphy wrote an article for Chatelaine entitled "Now That Women Are Persons, What's Ahead?" In its first years, the magazine served as a sounding board for women at the end of the first wave of feminism. Along with providing advice on style, cooking, homemaking, and child-rearing, Chatelaine published editorials from some of the most influential female thinkers of the time. In 1928 and 1929, article topics included panic over the rising divorce rate, "Wages and Wives" (April 1929), and the high maternal mortality rate in rural Canada (July 1928).

The economic hardships of the Great Depression changed the tone of Chatelaine magazine. During the 1930s, the magazine became less political. Popular parts of the magazine included monthly budget meal plans and romantic fictions. There was a rise in male-authored articles, including "Men Don't Want Clever Wives," and "What Did Your Husband Give Up For Marriage?"(August 1938).

In order to maintain Chatelaine's selling feature as a Canadian woman's magazine that reflected the ideas of women across the country, Chatelaine encouraged participation from their readers, offering a prize of $25 to the best letter written in response to one of their articles. In October 1938, Edith Hunter of Calgary won the $25 for her letter in response to "What Did Your Husband Give Up For Marriage?" contesting the article. Chatelaine tried to maintain its position as a voice for Canadian women, and included a few political articles with a feminist edge such as "When Women Enter Public Life?" (September 1938), and "Why I Had a Civil Marriage" (March 1935).