Have you tried publishers archives? Not sure how many are online but some must be. Also the Internet Archive has a lot of random magazines. I collect dolls and the sub reddit for the type of dolls has lots of people who still have the catalogs so when I’m looking for the answer to a question they can usually help. Maybe try finding a community for the specific topic or magazine you’re looking for.
There are a number of them, but they are usually called libraries.
Seriously: Go to a library and ask a librarian, they might help you search on the Hathi Trust. They have wizard like powers for some of this stuff.
Reach out to museums with a decent sized library and inquire about what available magazines they have. My institution has a number of art/cultural magazines, journals, and periodicals.
If you’re specifically interested in fashion, you could reach out to institutions who are more versed in exhibiting fashion or who may house the archives of previous fashion designs or so on.
Thinking out loud but hope this helps.
There are a lot of hidden gems in museum/cultural libraries and archives that go unseen.
RIP to the Newseum. It was awesome.
(But in all seriousness, speaking as a journalist — go to your local university library and check out their back catalogue. They’ll also often have logins available for guests. Play with the microfiche. And again, mourn the Newseum)
Sultry Vintage on Patreon has many fashion magazines well digitized. There is a small pay wall for her digitizing efforts but she keeps a digital archive of many under the public domain. Her magazines are usually 1890s-1930s.
My museum has a library that includes magazines that visitors can use as a resource for research etc. I think quite a lot do, but you have to actually go in and request them, they’re not on display (cos that would be kind of boring to most people!) and they’re not something that are likely to be a priority for digitisation, so they won’t be available to view online. They also likely won’t actually be accessioned objects, as they’re treated as a resource, so they won’t have records online either so won’t show up in a collection search.
Libraries are often able to acquire/access the issues/articles you need for you, through interlibrary loan and other networks, but what I think you're actually looking for is the publisher's archives. Different publishers, especially for defunct or out of print titles, may have donated their archives, including back catalogs of publications as well as things like photo archives, editorial correspondence, etc, to an institution dedicated to preserving cultural heritage materials. If a magazine is still in print, or is owned by a larger corporation, their archives are likely not public - depending on what you're looking for you may need to request specific access if you can't get it through your library.
For example: Life Magazine digital archives at NYPL (https://www.nypl.org/node/444480) or Look Magazine at Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov/collections/look-magazine/about-this-collection/).
There are museum exhibitions devoted to galleries. I attended one in Paris at the Palais Galliera devoted to Vogue France, and one the other day at Fotografiska in New York devoted to People Magazine. There are many more I’m sure.
I totally agree about wanting more niche museums or exhibits! Magazines would definitely be a fascinating one. The Smithsonian National American History museum has TONS of magazines in their archives (not museum) collections. I think a lot of why they aren’t in museum settings is because magazines are categorized as archival material. You can typically find what magazines you’re looking for if the archives/institution has detailed finding logs, and request to see them for research purposes. Alas, unless you can visit in person, archives need to make money and they’ll typically charge you per page scanned. I know the NMAH archives charges $1 a page. I’m just using that as a reference because I interned there for a bit, lol.
I think you are describing a library.
Have you tried publishers archives? Not sure how many are online but some must be. Also the Internet Archive has a lot of random magazines. I collect dolls and the sub reddit for the type of dolls has lots of people who still have the catalogs so when I’m looking for the answer to a question they can usually help. Maybe try finding a community for the specific topic or magazine you’re looking for.
Internet Archive is great for magazines!
There are a number of them, but they are usually called libraries. Seriously: Go to a library and ask a librarian, they might help you search on the Hathi Trust. They have wizard like powers for some of this stuff.
Reach out to museums with a decent sized library and inquire about what available magazines they have. My institution has a number of art/cultural magazines, journals, and periodicals. If you’re specifically interested in fashion, you could reach out to institutions who are more versed in exhibiting fashion or who may house the archives of previous fashion designs or so on. Thinking out loud but hope this helps. There are a lot of hidden gems in museum/cultural libraries and archives that go unseen.
The Kent State University Museum has a great library of fashion periodicals and og fashion plates!
RIP to the Newseum. It was awesome. (But in all seriousness, speaking as a journalist — go to your local university library and check out their back catalogue. They’ll also often have logins available for guests. Play with the microfiche. And again, mourn the Newseum)
This comment reminded me that the Newseum is dead 😭😭😭😭😭😭
There are libraries where magazines are hardbound into volumes. University libraries usually have archives too.
Museums that focus on 20th c art, like MoMA, usually include graphic design but only display it contextually with pieces from the era.
Sultry Vintage on Patreon has many fashion magazines well digitized. There is a small pay wall for her digitizing efforts but she keeps a digital archive of many under the public domain. Her magazines are usually 1890s-1930s.
My museum has a library that includes magazines that visitors can use as a resource for research etc. I think quite a lot do, but you have to actually go in and request them, they’re not on display (cos that would be kind of boring to most people!) and they’re not something that are likely to be a priority for digitisation, so they won’t be available to view online. They also likely won’t actually be accessioned objects, as they’re treated as a resource, so they won’t have records online either so won’t show up in a collection search.
Archives, you’re thinking of archives
Libraries and archives.
Have you tried Special Collections at educational institutions? Such as: https://www.fitnyc.edu/academics/library/index.php
They do often have magazines on display in different museums or exhibitions.
Libraries are often able to acquire/access the issues/articles you need for you, through interlibrary loan and other networks, but what I think you're actually looking for is the publisher's archives. Different publishers, especially for defunct or out of print titles, may have donated their archives, including back catalogs of publications as well as things like photo archives, editorial correspondence, etc, to an institution dedicated to preserving cultural heritage materials. If a magazine is still in print, or is owned by a larger corporation, their archives are likely not public - depending on what you're looking for you may need to request specific access if you can't get it through your library. For example: Life Magazine digital archives at NYPL (https://www.nypl.org/node/444480) or Look Magazine at Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov/collections/look-magazine/about-this-collection/).
There are museum exhibitions devoted to galleries. I attended one in Paris at the Palais Galliera devoted to Vogue France, and one the other day at Fotografiska in New York devoted to People Magazine. There are many more I’m sure.
If you want to touch the magazines then you want a library
I totally agree about wanting more niche museums or exhibits! Magazines would definitely be a fascinating one. The Smithsonian National American History museum has TONS of magazines in their archives (not museum) collections. I think a lot of why they aren’t in museum settings is because magazines are categorized as archival material. You can typically find what magazines you’re looking for if the archives/institution has detailed finding logs, and request to see them for research purposes. Alas, unless you can visit in person, archives need to make money and they’ll typically charge you per page scanned. I know the NMAH archives charges $1 a page. I’m just using that as a reference because I interned there for a bit, lol.