The magazine century -- The 1890s: the emergence of modern magazines -- 1900-1920: pioneers create a prosperous century -- The 1920s: good times, great magazines -- The 1930s: more readers, but fewer advertisers -- The 1940s: paper shortages, censorship, and more magazines -- The 1950s: television spurs leisure activities, magazine growth -- The 1960s: social change for magazines and America -- The 1970s: magazines and "the me decade" -- The 1980s: computers and celebrities dominate the decade -- The 1990s: new media, new magazines, new controversies, new problems -- Post-2000: a look back, a look forward.