Woman's Own, November 1972

This episode, Franki is taking the Mag Hags deeper into the archives than they have gone before… to Woman’s Own, November 1972. A relic of the mid-century suburban housewife, this mag is serving up hobby how-tos, a guide to hats, and a free sheet of ‘foil-edged cooking film’. No, we have no idea either. 

Join the discussion HERE. And if you haven’t listened to the episode yet, you can do that HERE.

Franki Cookney 00:00 

Do you want to wipe boredom from your life? Could you handle a date with the world's most wanted bachelor? Are you in the market for an alluring new hat? Well, this podcast will be a treat.

[Theme music]

Franki Cookney 00:18

Hello and welcome to Mag Hags, the podcast that goes on loving against the odds. I'm Franki Cookney. 

Lucy Douglas 00:25

And I'm Lucy Douglas. Together we're diving into the glossy archives of women's magazines to find out what's still hot and what's definitely not. 

Lucy Douglas 00:35

Franki, it's good to be back.

Franki Cookney 00:37

Hello. Yes, it is. And I actually realised that we're in sync with our magazine this week. We're releasing this episode in November, and the issue we are reading is a November issue. 

Lucy Douglas 00:51

Oh, so it's seasonally appropriate. 

Franki Cookney 00:53

It is. I mean, it's not like there's much seasonal content, to be honest. It's just the odd reference to, you know, Christmas coming up. But nevertheless, that was pleasing to me. 

Lucy Douglas 01:03

Yeah, great. So what have we got to look forward to this week? 

Franki Cookney 01:07

This week we are going further back into the archives than we have ever gone before. Boy, have we unearthed some treasures. Lucy, how much do you know about the history of modern menstruation? 

Lucy Douglas 01:19

I'm gonna say not much. 

Franki Cookney 01:21

Well, you're in luck. In this week's issue we've got an advert which I think provides an interesting little window onto the evolution of sanitary products in this country.

Lucy Douglas 01:32

Fascinating. And I mean that genuinely. 

Franki Cookney 01:36

Yeah. I mean, I think the history of how we talk about women's health is really interesting, a). And I also think the advertising is interesting, you know, the way that these products are marketed to women and how that's changed. 

Lucy Douglas 01:48

Yeah, maybe we should do a bonus episode at some point.

Franki Cookney 01:50

Oh, totally. Yes, I would love to. So, elsewhere in this issue, we've got glamour, we've got betrayal, we've got DIY flip flops. 

Lucy Douglas 02:01

Oh my god, incredible. 

Franki Cookney 02:05

Yep. So, we kick off with a glimpse into the high life. We've got a wealthy young bachelor looking for love. Could you be the next lucky lady to get picked up in his Aston Martin? Stay tuned to find out. We've got our fashion and beauty tips, and then coming up later in the episode, we're going to be discussing how common it used to be for magazines to include sewing and knitting patterns, and how much that's changed. 

Lucy Douglas 02:30

Oh yes, I love that. From tablecloths to tradwives, how feminism shaped our hobbies.

Franki Cookney 02:37

Or, as I like to think of it, crafting under capitalism. 

Lucy Douglas 02:41

Wow, I can't wait to get stuck in. 

[Music break]

Franki Cookney 02:45

Let's check out this week's cover lines. “How to give meat a built in bonus.” 

Lucy Douglas 02:51

Intrigued? Go on. 

Franki Cookney 02:52

“We're giving away 30 gold charm bracelets with our dreamy double perfume offer.” 

Lucy Douglas 02:57

Perfume and charm bracelets in one go. Giveaways on top of giveaways. 

Franki Cookney 03:02

And then the final cover line, yes there are only three, “Free inside a big sheet of… Look!” exclamation mark, “foil edged cooking film!” 

Lucy Douglas 03:14

I, I have questions. 

Franki Cookney 03:16

Unfortunately, the problem with vintage magazines is the freebies are no longer included. So we will never know what this big sheet of foil edged cooking film actually looked like or what purpose it served. We only have a very small little photo on the front cover. It's a picture of a roasting tray and I'm gonna say that is a joint, I'm gonna say it's a ham, it could be gammon, it's, I think, it's definitely, it could be pork, maybe it's lamb, do you know what, I don't… no, I'm sticking with pork, I'm sticking with pork. 

Lucy Douglas 03:52

Welcome to ‘Guess the Meat with Lucy and Franki'! 

Franki Cookney 03:56

Anyway. Let me talk you through the cover. So our model on the cover could not be more delighted with her sheet of cooking foil. She is young and fresh faced as they always are. She's got some lovely no-makeup makeup and I think I'm seeing a little tinge of white on the, uh, on the waterline there.

Lucy Douglas 04:18

Okay. 

Franki Cookney 04:19

Her glossy honey blonde hair is tied in bunches, Lucy. Bunches on an adult woman. 

Lucy Douglas 04:27

Gosh. 

Franki Cookney 04:27

And actually her, her whole vibe, I would say her whole vibe from her hair to her smile is very Olivia Newton John. 

Lucy Douglas 04:35

Okay. 

Franki Cookney 04:35

Maybe a touch of Brady Bunch too, which should be giving you some clues as to sort of what date we might be landing on here. 

Lucy Douglas 04:43

Yeah. 

Franki Cookney 04:44

She's wearing a red, pink and green crochet jumper, a bold colorway, I think we can agree. But if you do feel like making one for yourself, the pattern is obviously provided in this magazine. 

Lucy Douglas 04:53

I would expect nothing less. 

Franki Cookney 04:55

So she's got that on with some pale pink slacks and she's smiling coyly from behind one arm with a look that says, “I know how to give meat a built in bonus.” Anyway, are we narrowing it down? It is November 1972 and we are reading Woman's Own. 

Lucy Douglas 05:15

Okay, great. This is the earliest one we've done, right? 

Franki Cookney 05:20

It's the earliest one we've done and it is, I'd love to say that this was entirely strategic on our part, but it wasn't, was it? But this is going to be a real vibe shift from New Woman, which we looked at in the last episode.

Lucy Douglas 05:34

Yeah, I'm, I'm sensing the vibe shift. 

Franki Cookney 05:37

As you may have deduced, there aren't actually that many features in this magazine. There is a lot of fiction though. Three short stories. And of course, as you would expect, there is a lot, a lot of domestic and cooking tips. 

Lucy Douglas 05:51

Okay. 

Franki Cookney 05:52

Let's talk about 1972 briefly because very interesting time. We're in November with this issue, but the year started off in January, we'd had Bloody Sunday. 

Lucy Douglas 06:03

Wow, okay. 

Franki Cookney 06:04

Which is when British soldiers shot 26 unarmed civilians during a protest march in Northern Ireland. Around that same time in Great Britain, coal miners went on strike officially for the first time since the twenties, and obviously that's going to be a theme for the next decade or so, but 1972 was the first one.

Lucy Douglas 06:21

Wow, okay. 

Franki Cookney 06:22

And that strike lasted six weeks and it was awful. Like there were power cuts up to like nine hours a day because at this point something like 75 percent of Britain's electricity came from coal and it was bad to the point that the PM at the time, Ted Heath, declared a state of emergency. 

Lucy Douglas 06:39

Wow.

Franki Cookney 06:39

Yeah. Things were not great. Unemployment was high. Um, not related to unemployment, but just as a sort of, you know, interesting little note, we'd introduced decimalization the year before. We'd moved from, you know, pounds, shillings and pence to pounds and pence as we have now. On the cover of Woman's Own, it just says 6p.

Lucy Douglas 06:58

Sounds like a bargain. 

Franki Cookney 06:59

I know. 

Lucy Douglas 07:00

6p for your free big sheet of foil edged cooking film. 

Franki Cookney 07:04

Well, we'd have to compare that with how much a sheet of foil edged cooking film would cost in the shops at the time to know. 

Lucy Douglas 07:11 

We would. 

Franki Cookney 07:12 

How much of a bargain you were getting. If anyone's got any intel on that, please do get in touch with the show. We would love to hear from people who were using foil edged cooking film in 1972 who, uh, can provide an oral history. 

Lucy Douglas 007:23

Yeah. 

Franki Cookney 07:24

1972 was a great year for culture though. If you were a cinema goer, you might have been to see The Godfather. A Clockwork Orange or maybe Cabaret. 

Lucy Douglas 07:32

Wow. Okay. Some big hitters. 

Franki Cookney 07:34

Yeah. Music wise, you were probably listening to T Rex, Roxy Music, David Bowie, Al Green, Elton John, uh, Stevie Wonder had not one, but two albums out that year. So you definitely would have been hearing Superstition on the radio. 

Lucy Douglas 07:48

The Taylor Swift of his day. 

Franki Cookney 07:49

Stevie's version. But let's be honest, if you're reading Woman's Own. you were probably listening to Slade. 

Lucy Douglas 07:56

Yeah. 

Franki Cookney 07:57

And also we've touched, in previous episodes, we've touched a bit on the gap between, you know, what we think of now as the culturally significant moments in modern history, and then actually what the day to day concerns in people's lives were. And I think we really get that with this magazine. Like we really feel that gap. 

Lucy Douglas 08:17

Yeah. 

Franki Cookney 08:18

So as some examples, 1972 was the year that Ugandan President Idi Amin expelled the country's South Asian population. He basically gave them 90 days to leave. And so it's estimated that between August and November of that year, around 40, 000 Ugandan Asian people came to the UK. Obviously, you won't see that in the pages of Woman's Own. 

Lucy Douglas 08:38

No. 

Franki Cookney 08:40

1972 was also the year of the UK's first gay pride march. 

Lucy Douglas 08:43

Oh, cool. 

Franki Cookney 08:44

Yeah. Something else that's unsurprisingly absent from this mag. The first issue of Spare Rib magazine was published that year. Iconic, feminist publication, which, you know, maybe we'll come back to on Mag Hags.

Lucy Douglas 08:58

Yeah. 

Franki Cookney 08:59

So yes, second wave feminism was absolutely popping off, or women’s lib, as they called it at the time. And yet. 

Lucy Douglas 09:10

And yet here we are. 

Franki Cookney 09:11

Here we are with our cooking foil. 

Lucy Douglas 09:13

Yeah. 

Franki Cookney 09:14

A very big introduction to 1972, but with all that in mind, are you ready to go inside this issue? 

Lucy Douglas 09:19

Yes, I am. 

[Music break]

Franki Cookney 09:22

The world's most wanted bachelor. Who could we be talking about? Shall I read you the standfirst? 

Lucy Douglas 09:30

Yes, please. Yes. 

Franki Cookney 09:32

He's the world's most eligible bachelor, rich, 24 next week, handsome… and heir to the throne. Yes, listeners, it is then Prince Charles, now King Charles, and this is an entire feature, I would say there's probably about 1500 words, dedicated to who Prince Charles may or may not be dating. 

Lucy Douglas 09:59

Yeah, so it's a long list of aristocratic women. 

Franki Cookney 10:03

It literally is. 

Lucy Douglas 10:04

So my favourite posho, I really liked Bettina and her, like, beatnik existence in Paris. I had quite a vivid picture of who Bettina is based on based on those few words. There's a real energy of like a Goldsmiths graduate who like lives in Peckham and is very loudly into Jeremy Corbyn and calls everybody comrade but like actually her parents pay her rent.

Franki Cookney 10:28

So she used to live what she called a beatnik existence in Paris when she was studying drama but she's now a student teacher. 

Lucy Douglas 10:36

Oh okay. 

Franki Cookney 10:37

But she still goes for way out clothes. I wonder what way out clothes means when you're a member of the aristocracy in 1972. 

Lucy Douglas 10:45

Yeah. 

Franki Cookney 10:46

I'd really like to see this way out wardrobe. Important things we learn about, um, Prince Charles from this article: “He's not fussy about what he eats or drinks. A steak or grilled chops will do very nicely.” So you probably quite like that joint of ham in there on the cover there in the foil edged cooking film. “He prefers blondes. But not dumb blondes.”

Lucy Douglas 11:11

Oh wow, we really are in 1972, aren't we? 

Franki Cookney 11:14

Yeah, we really are. I think one of the things I really enjoyed about this feature is that it sort of starts by talking about, you know, Charles's lifestyle and his hobbies, according to the journalist. There's two journalists on this, Paula James and Gerda Paul. And then it sort of describes and lists women he actually knows and is friends with. And there's quite a lot of pictures of him sort of at the polo with people getting into cars, chatting to people out and about at public events. So there's a lot of women in this feature who are genuinely friends of his, and it's telling you a bit about them and whether or not they have dated. And then towards the end, there's a subheading that just says "suitable princesses." It's basically just a list of all the European princesses who are in their 20s, who I don't think are actually kind of prospective girlfriends, but it's just like, here are some princesses that are available. One of the princesses who might be thought eligible is Princess Xenia, the 21-year-old daughter of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia. Wow, Prussia. She and Prince Charles met each other at the wedding of King Constantine of Greece, and it was rumoured at the time that he'd taken a fancy to her. I mean, that literally means they said hello, doesn't it? 

Lucy Douglas 12:32

Yeah. Yeah. 

Franki Cookney 12:33

These people barely know each other. And then from there it just kind of doesn't even bother to suggest they might have met, never mind got on, it's just listing princesses after that.

Lucy Douglas 12:43

There's one very conspicuous absence from this long list of women though, isn't there? 

Franki Cookney 12:49

A very conspicuous absence because Charles and Camilla started dating in 1972 but clearly our reporters were not up on that piece of royal gossip yet. 

Lucy Douglas 13:02

So I wondered if they weren't up on the royal gossip or I wondered if she was deliberately absent from the feature. I wondered if there had been some sort of like briefing to press that she was not to be mentioned. 

Franki Cookney 13:19

I think it is interesting that she's not mentioned and so I'm going to give some credence to that theory, yes, because they had actually known each other for a bit, the sort of point at which they supposedly acknowledged they fancied each other, I guess, whether or not they actively started dating or not is kind of put at 1972, when they met at a party, but they had been running in similar circles for a couple of years, it seems like. And so the fact that she's not even mentioned as a maybe does seem a bit conspicuous, doesn't it? 

Lucy Douglas 13:50

Yeah. I thought so. 

Franki Cookney 13:52

Because they've literally listed every other woman he's ever met, including some princesses that he might not have, so.

Lucy Douglas 13:59

So one thing I really thought about this feature was that it felt very like, ooh, look at what a normal human being the heir to the throne is. He's just like one of us, really. 

Franki Cookney 14:12

He's not fussy about what he eats or drinks. 

Lucy Douglas 14:14

Yeah, exactly. And the other bit I really, I really like that detail about him popping to the theatre on a whim and like he'll sometimes end up in one of those shitty like obstructed view seats because that's all that's left. I mean, it's a, it's a beautifully like convenient anecdote that sort of paints this very likeable, relatable portrait of him that, you know, he's like, he's spontaneous, he likes the arts, but he's like modest and doesn't want special treatment. 

Franki Cookney 14:40

Yeah, it's definitely his view of himself as well, isn't it? You know, it's sort of like, he enjoys the hard game of polo, but he also likes to be on his own, "calling for his Labrador Bindi, simply walking out of the house for long walks." Like, he's just a down to earth guy who likes walking his dog, Lucy. 

Lucy Douglas 14:55

Yeah. 

Franki Cookney 14:55

He does also take dates on board the Royal Yacht, so let's have a little bit of perspective. 

Lucy Douglas 15:01

Yeah, fair enough. I did also think to myself, like reading that, even as a lie, they wouldn't have been able to claim that Prince William or Prince Harry did anything like that, just like popped along to the theatre. And that, just that kind of little line to give a bit of a glimpse into like how times have changed, our like obsession with celebrity in general and the royals as celebrities. I mean, they're the OG celebrities really, aren't they? 

Franki Cookney 15:29

Yeah, well, I think that's. I think it's quite interesting in terms of where the royals are at with their public image and where the public is at with their interest in the royals. So in 1969, the royal family had made a documentary with the BBC, which was kind of in an effort to present themselves as a normal family. Like it was very much sort of like home video style footage, even though it was obviously like BBC production, and it was wildly popular. Like, people absolutely loved it. They were really, really here for this version of the royal family to the point that it was actually aired again on TV in 1972, but it's never been shown again since. And there's a popular rumour that the queen massively regretted doing it, but I have now seen various royal biographers say in different places that that wasn't actually the case. It was more that it was. just supposed to be a one off and not something that got trotted out over and over again every time they wanted footage. And obviously the royal family had control over the copyright, so. But yeah, so I think because of that, I think the tone of this article is very sort of the everyday life of Prince Charles is very in keeping with that and what people wanted.

Lucy Douglas 16:45

And I feel, I'm getting the impression that it is very much the sort of thing that the readers of Woman's Own were to be interested in. 

Franki Cookney 16:54

The way it's worded is a little bit as though we might, we could be in the running. We, the readers could be in the running, if only we were in the right place at the right time. Because the way it describes what he would do, you know, if you were dating Prince Charles, this is what it might be like. That's how this sort of feature opens. So it says, “First of all, he likes everything to be informal. Say, for instance, he's met you at a party and you find you both get on. Then a few days later, he may easily give you a ring out of the blue and suggest he takes you out for the evening, say, to the theatre, then dinner. Incidentally, you don't go to him in Buck House, he comes to you. Probably he'll pick you up in his gunmetal Aston Martin.” So do you know what I mean? The way it's all phrased is very much sort of putting me, the reader, it's like, oh, it could be, it could be me. 

Lucy Douglas 17:40

This is what you can expect when you, when you play Prince Charles.

Franki Cookney 17:45

Yes. Which is good. I mean, I want to be prepared. You know, I don't want to go into that blind. 

Lucy Douglas 17:50

I feel like that happened with Prince William as well. There was a definite trend in journalism where there was like a very acute interest in his love life. I remember feeling that there was this whiff of like, it could be you.

Franki Cookney 18:03

Oh, there absolutely was. There were loads of stories about all of the women who applied to St. Andrews specifically so that they would be there at the same time as him. And you know, he did marry a "commoner" in inverted commas. So 

Lucy Douglas 18:18

Who he met at university. 

Franki Cookney 18:19

Who he met at university. People say, Oh, it could never happen to me. It happened to Kate. 

Lucy Douglas 18:23

Yeah. 

Franki Cookney 18:23

So it's not that far fetched. 

Lucy Douglas 18:26

If that's your bag, I mean, personally couldn't think of anything worse. 

Franki Cookney 18:31

That tone of like, it could be you. What I've come down on is like, it's really just for fun. I don't think Prince Charles was a heartthrob in any, by any sensible measure, but I think it's just a more fun way of writing the feature.

Lucy Douglas 18:45

Oh yeah, for sure. I've never like, heard any reference in anything that he was like, once totty. I'm obsessed with the word totty now after New Woman. 

Franki Cookney 18:55

And I particularly like the incongruousness of cracking it out in 1972 to describe 24 year old Prince Charles. Hot totty. Hot Windsor totty.

[Jingle]

Franki Cookney 19:05

Lucy, my sanitary belt is really uncomfortable. I feel like one of the pins is kind of undone. I'm going to have to go to the loo and sort myself out. 

Lucy Douglas 19:13

Oh my God, Franki, it's 1972. Why are you still using sanitary belts? Free yourself from menstrual oppression. 

Franki Cookney 19:20

All right, Germaine Greer, but what else am I supposed to do?

Lucy Douglas 19:23

You need to try Libresse. It needs no pins and no belt. Unlike your present sanitary towel. 

Franki Cookney 19:30

Really? No pins? No belts? No special panties? 

Lucy Douglas 19:34

Nope. It's held in place by a tiny but highly effective adhesive area pressed against your close fitting panties. It's half as thick as ordinary sanitary towels but equally absorbent.

Franki Cookney 19:45

Wow! Libresse really does tick all my boxes. But wait, is it flushable? 

Lucy Douglas 19:50

Completely flushable, without tearing, folding or pulling apart, which will definitely not cause massive environmental and plumbing issues and then require decades of information campaigns to dial back from. 

Franki Cookney 20:01

Aw, thanks Lucy. This really is going to make my periods less bother than ever before.

[Jingle]

Lucy Douglas 20:08

Maman, what is the secret to looking beautiful? 

Franki Cookney 20:11

Chérie, a man will always prefer you to be natural, but in my experience, nature has always needed an helping hand. 

Lucy Douglas 20:20

I know how you value your complexion as a prized possession. Please tell me what to do. 

Franki Cookney 20:25

Well, I practise my Vichy ritual every morning and evening. I start by cleansing the skin thoroughly, then reawaken the tissues. After that, it's time for the tonic lotion to tone up the tissues, keep my circulation vibrant, and keep blotches at bay. 

Lucy Douglas 20:42

And are there different milks and tonics, lotions and creams for different skin types? 

Franki Cookney 20:47

Bien sûr, you can rely on Vichy. They've been making cosmetics from the purest ingredients, under strict conditions of strict hygiene, for generations of French women. 

Lucy Douglas 20:58

I can't wait to find the beauty lying under my skin. But, can I tell my English friends? 

Franki Cookney 21:04

Of course! Why should French daughters have the monopoly on good advice? 

[Jingle]

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Franki Cookney 21:10

Can we just talk about, “I can't wait to find the beauty lying under my skin.” How fucking creepy is that? 

Lucy Douglas 21:17

That's very creepy. Also, I feel like we need to sort of issue an apology, to the whole of France. 

Franki Cookney 21:23

We actually do have some French listeners as well.

Lucy Douglas 21:28

Not anymore we don't. 

Franki Cookney 21:29

Oh God, no. Guys, seriously, nous sommes désolés. I promise we'll go back to talking about how much we idealise you. But that advert is so fucking funny I just absolutely couldn't help going to town. 

[Music break]

Franki Cookney 21:45

My husband can't resist other women. "Yet I still love him: Our intimate series about women who go on loving against the odds." So it sounds like there are gonna be a series of these features in Woman's Own entitled, "Yet I still love him," and then each week a woman describes her really shit relationship and why she's still in it, essentially. 

Lucy Douglas 22:07

Yeah, I mean, I'm not gonna lie, this feature made me profoundly sad. 

Franki Cookney 22:11

Yeah, it was a weird one, wasn't it? So, it also says, "by Mrs. Ann Gordon," but I think we can be very sure that Mrs. Ann Gordon did not write this. It's not even her real name, as is the norm with a lot of these stories, the names get changed. But this is the kind of story that would be an as told to, which is where the person whose story it is relays it to the journalist who writes it up as a first person narrative. So that is what we are looking at here. So Mrs. Ann Gordon, I'm just going to call her Ann from now on, because we're going to get quite familiar with her. She married a man who basically is a serial cheater. And at first, he would deny it, and she would sort of look the other way. And then after a while, he just stopped denying it, but was, or would always sort of come back with, "But I'm in love with you. You're my wife. Don't be jealous. This person meant nothing to me." And then it sort of just goes from there, you know, just because he just keeps cheating. And she keeps saying, you know, "I can't stand it. I'm going to leave you." And he keeps saying, "No, my darling." You know, there's a line, "He soothed me gently, tenderly, lovingly. He assured me it would never happen again. This was the first and last time he'd been unfaithful," all this sort of thing. And then it just keeps happening, keeps happening. And at one point, he even invites a woman he's been shagging to dinner with them. And she has to basically make and serve dinner to this woman. 

Lucy Douglas 23:48

And this woman's husband and his business partner, like inexplicably, and both of them speak very poor English. 

Franki Cookney 23:56

Yes, so they're, they're Dutch. Ann's husband, Peter, and his, in inverted commas, colleague, disappear off outside, possibly for cigarettes, but obviously we know there's more going on. And she's basically left with these two men she doesn't know, who speak very little English. And she's just sort of supposed to, like, keep on a bright smile and, you know, get the pudding out. And the coffees. 

Lucy Douglas 24:21

I mean, that's what made me so sad about this feature. He's just so, like, careless with her feelings and like, and then yeah, he like, really humiliates her in that instance.

Franki Cookney 24:32

And after that particular incident, it says, "When at last they left, I spun around on Peter and really let fly. He seemed honestly surprised. Good heavens, what are a few kisses, he said. I told you it was nothing serious and there isn't. Frederick didn't seem to mind, did he?" Frederick is this woman's husband that she'd brought to the dinner. "You're blowing this out of all proportion. I mean, it's not as if I flirt behind your back, is it?" So he's gone from sleeping with other people behind her back to sleeping with people, confessing and promising never to do it again, to now saying, wouldn't you rather I slept with people and you knew about it?

Lucy Douglas 25:09

Yeah. 

Franki Cookney 25:09

So it goes on like this. And she toys with whether or not she should leave, you know, "I decided I'd leave, but in my own time, because I had to make plans for Tony and myself." This is the thing, they've got a child, Tony. He then gets a job in the Middle East, and they spend three years out there. And she says, "I remember them as happy years because I loved the hot sunshine, the social life was good, and I could enjoy it because we had a nanny, a cook, and a houseboy." Okay, right. Likes life in the Middle East, "Above all, Peter had no serious affairs there. Oh, he flirted outrageously and sometimes his behaviour to me in public was humiliating. We would go to a dance together and halfway through the evening he would be dancing cheek to cheek with someone else. They would disappear and I would be left to find my own way home. But gradually I learnt to deal with this sort of situation." Oh, it's heartbreaking. 

Lucy Douglas 25:57

Oh, Ann! 

Franki Cookney 25:58

And then they moved back to England, she says, "a rather bleak town on the east coast," desperate to know which one, and stayed there for seven years. And then she was really miserable because she didn't have the same social life. She was back to, obviously, keeping house and raising the children all by herself. And he was now back in the UK, forging ahead in his career and had a lot more opportunity to, have affairs. So yeah, really feeling for Ann. Why do we think she really stayed in the marriage? 

Lucy Douglas 26:26

I feel like, so right, like early on it says when she realises he first cheats on her and it's not long after they got married. You know, he's like, he's this bright, young executive. He's 24. So we can assume that she was probably about a similar ish age when they got married, maybe a year or two younger. She also says that they've been married for 22 years. So give or take, she's been in this relationship half her life. So I think that sort of situation is often like the reason you stay is because you don't really know what not staying might look like. 

Franki Cookney 27:05

Yeah. I mean, I think definitely security. And that's kind of implicit in what you've just said. Probably money. It's clear he's earning pretty well. Like the way she talks about his career going from strength to strength, I feel like that he's making plenty of money. There's an element of them enjoy her enjoying the lifestyle. She certainly enjoys the years they spend in the Middle East with his job. I wonder whether there's also, because there are moments when she talks about the times they have and he'll kind of really treat her to, you know, he'll do something like a grand gesture. And there seems to be, when, even when they have their bust ups, there's a lot of passion. She'll say, "How could you do this? I thought you loved me." And he's like, "I do. You're the only person I've ever truly loved." 

Lucy Douglas 27:49

I definitely think there's a real like codependence there. Like she's, he is awful to her, but he's not exclusively awful to her. She definitely like gets bits of his kind of passion and his love. And yeah, when he's, when he is shining the light on her, it's shining very bright. 

Franki Cookney 28:09

Yeah. And so, is there a bit of, like, Don and Betty Draper in here, maybe? 

Lucy Douglas 28:14

Yes! Oh my god, yes, yes. I thought that so, like, I had that exact thought when I was reading it for the first time. 

Franki Cookney 28:22

Oh, did you? 

Lucy Douglas 28:23

Yeah, yeah, because I think there is also a real strong sense, like, reading between the lines of this, like, she doesn't explicitly say it, but certainly reading between the lines, there's a sense in it that, She is fucking bored. She's like really dissatisfied with the life of being a housewife. And that kind of tracks with the fact that when they go and work in the middle, in this, in this like undefined location in the Middle East, she's having a lovely time because she doesn't have to do any of the like drudgery of being a housewife, she can just go to parties and go to the fucking bridge club. She's got, she's got her ex-pat, ex-pat crew. She can just have a nice time. Whereas the situation she's in, in the UK, just, it feels so lonely. 

Franki Cookney 29:09

Yeah, it does sound really lonely. 

Lucy Douglas 29:11

And there's just this real, like, inequality in, in that. And it was a really interesting kind of window into the lives of a certain demographic of women at that time in the middle of the 20th century. And how far we've come. 

Franki Cookney 29:30

But by the end, Ann has sort of, she's made her peace with it. Basically, he has had quite a serious affair. That has broken off and he's actually been quite cut up about it and quite depressed for a while. It goes on and describes sort of how he seems to be returning to his normal self. She says, " Lately, too, I've even seen him giving an appreciative eye to a woman student. And do you know, I've actually been glad to see him switch on the old charm. He is fast recovering." And I just, yeah, I thought that was quite interesting that she got to a point where she was like, oh, thank God he's feeling better. Like he's flirting with people again. I recognize him again. Finally. 

Lucy Douglas 30:15

It could also be like slight Stockholm syndrome. Like, she's been, the whole time she's been married to him, he's behaved in a certain way. And that's been the case for like two decades and then he stopped behaving like that and that really threw her. 

Franki Cookney 30:32

The feature is certainly inviting us as readers to speculate. We are supposed to have a lot of opinions about what's really going on in this relationship. That's part of what the, where the enjoyment comes for us as the readers. You know, real life stories like this are so popular, like they are still so popular. I've written, I've written, loads of these types of stories. I would say that they, like, you get them everywhere, everywhere from like newspapers, to the sort of like weekly mags, to glossy mags, you get this kind of feature. And particularly these kinds of stories, like, well, I'm calling them 'love rat' stories because that's what we used to call them when I worked in tabloids. And I guess I'm interested to know, like, why do you think we love these kinds of stories so much? Why would Woman's Own readers have enjoyed reading your story? And why do we still love these kinds of stories? 

Lucy Douglas 31:24

I think we're just always going to be like, and I think we are always. And have always been and will always be like endlessly fascinated by other people's lives and relationships and like the real sort of vulnerabilities of people that you, that we don't see when we just kind of meet them for a conversation in the street or whatever. I think that fascination is part of like the human condition, right? Because that's why like so much art is concerned with the interiors of people relationships. I also think that we all want to know, like, the grubby details of the bad stuff so that we can spot it if it's going to happen to us. 

Franki Cookney 32:04

Yes. And there's kind of a, like, maybe if things are a bit iffy in your relationship, there's a real thrill in hearing about tempestuous marriage.

Lucy Douglas 32:13

Exactly. 

Franki Cookney 32:15

The way I imagine it is readers of Woman's Own sitting down in their own imperfect marriages and feeling like, you know, "Oh, wow, God, huh, mine doesn't look so bad after all kind of vibe."

Lucy Douglas 32:29

I think like, apart from anything else, this is a cautionary tale. Don't get married while your frontal lobe is still developing. I don't think it's wise to make any rest of your life decision before the age of 25, but you know, if you do insist on it, approach with extreme caution. 

[Music]

Franki Cookney 32:48

Hello, Franki here. Just a quick one to say if you have not yet signed up for our newsletter, you definitely should. You can read the features we talk about, see all the amazing vintage adverts, and get access to loads of other bonus bits. Plus, it's a really good way to support the show. Find us at maghags. substack. com

Franki Cookney 33:12

Your fashion tip of the week. Are you ready? Get a hat. 

Lucy Douglas 33:17

Any old hat? 

Franki Cookney 33:18

Nope, not any old hat. But hats are big fashion headline news this autumn, according to Woman's Own. "For those of us who've rarely worn a hat before, it will be a treat. They really pull an outfit together."

Lucy Douglas 33:31

Is that what it says? "For those of us who've barely worn a hat before?"

Franki Cookney 33:34

"It will be a treat." Yes. 

Lucy Douglas 33:36

Franki, I regret to inform you, but I, I look good in a hat. Hats suit me. 

Franki Cookney 33:42

Why do you regret to inform me? I'm delighted about that. 

Lucy Douglas 33:45

Because it's a little bit braggy, but, um, but yeah. I've, I have rocked many a hat over the, over the years. years and managed to pull them off. 

Franki Cookney 33:55

Oh, well, this is, this is the fashion feature for you. So here are some options for you, Lucy. You can look "pretty as picture with a flattering felt hat with a wavy wide brim." Very seventies. Love that. 

Lucy Douglas 34:11

Yeah. 

Franki Cookney 34:11

You can get a Dr. Zhivago style fur hat. You could try a beret. 

Lucy Douglas 34:17

Yeah. 

Franki Cookney 34:18

"A turban is very much an elegant hat that will give you style and grace and confidence," although it did actually say on the first page, "This year's favourite is the head hugging turban, but for some this style is too stark." So, proceed with caution on the turban, otherwise you can wear a pull on hat, I'm not sure what other kind of hat there is. 

Lucy Douglas 34:44

One that birds come and like, place on your head.

Franki Cookney 34:47

Yes. Or, you can "veil yourself in this utterly feminine hat with silver circlets," if you feel like being alluring and mysterious.

Lucy Douglas 34:56

I quite like the circlet one, it's almost got a bit of a pillarbox sort of vibe, that hat. with a little veil sort of attached to it. 

Franki Cookney 35:04

With a little veil. Do you feel like being alluring and mysterious?

Lucy Douglas 35:08

Oh god, I've never been alluring and mysterious in my life. 

Franki Cookney 35:11

Maybe this hat is going to help you on your way. 

Beauty tip of the week. You need to aim to look provocatively feminine. This is from a feature where the headline is, "Let's Face It." Which, see what they've done there. "When we're tired of Ruby lips, rainbow eyes, dotty makeups, which may be in fashion, but aren't always flattering. What we want most of all is a look that is provocatively feminine. Diana Day picks two makeups that are right for all skin tones." And once again, as with our Good Housekeeping episode, when they say all skin tones, we have a blonde. And we have a brunette. They're both white. Both of them, in fact, have blue eyes. Anyway, so the way to look provocatively feminine, as far as I can tell, is to do a sort of no-makeup makeup look. 

Lucy Douglas 35:57

Yeah, I was gonna say that, what, what they've got, there is what we would now call like the sort of barely there look or yeah, no-makeup makeup, 

Franki Cookney 36:05

Yeah. There's just like a little hint of mascara, a bit of gloss on the lips.

Lucy Douglas 36:09

Very skinny brows. Both of them. 

Franki Cookney 36:11

Very skinny brows, aren't they? Which is interesting because as we know from Honey, 1976 eyebrows are coming back, ladies, in four years time, eyebrows are gonna be back, so you better start growing them out. Have to say. Being able to chart the entire history of 20th century brow fashion wasn't something I necessarily expected to get out of making this podcast, but it's an unexpected bonus.

[Music break]

Franki Cookney 36:40

101 things to make for pleasure and profit. 

Lucy Douglas 36:44

This feature's adorable. 

Franki Cookney 36:46

"Here's a great new series to wipe boredom out of your life. Whatever your hobby, you'll find a bumper crop of craft ideas, which can save or make money for you, or for local bazaars and fates. To say nothing of the lovely Christmas presents you'll be able to give. You could even set up a business on your own." Uh oh, side hustle. Don't monetize your hobbies! And then, this is quite an extraordinary bit of copy coming up now. "Start on these wantable things now. Winter will pass in a flash. 

Lucy Douglas 37:13

Wantable. Wow. 

Franki Cookney 37:16

So there aren't 101 in this feature. It sounds like this is the first in the series, and there will be eventually 101 across the next few issues. So among the craft ideas, we've got things like decorating some hair clips to sort of personalizing them, personalising your hairbrush and combs. There's some sort of more standard ideas like a pattern for making a skirt, crochet a beret. 

Lucy Douglas 37:45

Quite like the crochet beret. 

Franki Cookney 37:46

Yeah, it's cute. Some sort of recipes and tips for making like coconut ice candy, spicy fruit mincemeat. So it's sort of, you know, like pickles and chutneys, that sort of thing. But then you've also got things like weave a stool. Simply, simply weave a stool. Make a lace tablecloth. Here you go. Here's how to make a lace tablecloth. Off you go. 

Lucy Douglas 38:09

Sure. Okay. 

Franki Cookney 38:10

Yeah, but my absolute favourite is "fun flip sandals made for a snip. Here's a pretty 'soleful' pair of flip flops that are fun for wearing around the house. To make them, all you need are three pairs of cheap flip flop sandals in contrasting colours. Remove the toe straps from two of the pairs and stick the three soles together with rubber solution to create the stacked look. Leave to dry thoroughly."

Lucy Douglas 38:37

I like that it's, uh, it hasn't, that's not a huge amount of confidence in that method if you're only supposed to wear them around the house. 

Franki Cookney 38:46

But like, what a lot of effort for something to wear around the house. 

Lucy Douglas 38:52

I have to say, I did, um, as I was reading these features, I had like an increasing, a sort of growing sense of like, what this magazine could be is and who it's speaking to and who it's, who its audience is. So like, in contrast to Honey, which really seemed to assume that its readers lived in London, and if they didn't, then that was something like to remark upon, this magazine like feels so suburban. It's giving small c conservative, it's giving like, church jumble sale, it's giving Victoria sponge for the Woman's Institute, it's giving like Queen Elizabeth II like commemorative teapot, like lovely hanging baskets, Barbara, like that's where we are with this magazine.

Franki Cookney 39:36

Yes, and rather like Mrs. Ann Gordon of our previous feature, the readers are people who are at home. 

Lucy Douglas 39:45

Yeah. 

Franki Cookney 39:45

Possibly with children, but equally the children might be at school and they might have a lot of time on their hands. Because even that, that copy in the stand first is, you know, sort of saying, "here's a great new series to wipe boredom out of your life."

Lucy Douglas 40:00

Could you imagine a magazine saying to like, women, especially like mothers today, anything like alluding to you being bored? 

Franki Cookney 40:10

Yeah. When I first looked at this, it just felt really twee and kind of, I feel sorry, like I feel a bit guilty saying this, but like a bit depressing, like, like we said, "wipe boredom from your life, winter will pass in a flash" it made me think of just like really unhappy people. Sitting at home. 

Lucy Douglas 40:27

Okay. 

Franki Cookney 40:27

Their potential crushed by patriarchal lifestyle standards. 

Lucy Douglas 40:34

See, I didn't think of it as depressing. I thought it was a bit twee, but I thought it was quite sweet. But I didn't necessarily like register that people that it was speaking to were like at a loose end and were watching their best years like fritter away while they're making lace tablecloths.

Franki Cookney 40:51

I mean, I'm projecting because that's how I would feel in that situation. I have no idea how these women felt. They may have been very happy. One thing I do think is really interesting, and I think this is to some extent has been reflected across a few of the magazines we've discussed and a few of the ones that we've got coming up, is that it back then it was assumed that every reader would at least have a kind of basic level of skill or interest in some of these crafts. It was kind of assumed that everyone could knit or sew. It was assumed that everyone could cook, and that was interesting to me. I mean, now, if you're into crafts, if you're into sewing, knitting, cooking, you sort of have to seek it out and, you know, find your tribe. And I wonder if we, like, is that good or bad?

Lucy Douglas 41:42

I mean, I feel like it's, you know, hobbies became something else to exploit by capitalism, right? So instead of having a magazine that assumed you had a base level of interest in certain things and gave you some generic content for it, publishing companies began publishing magazines that catered very specifically for those hobbies, like sewing and crocheting and gardening. I mean, I don't think you necessarily have to work that hard to find your, your kind of tribe and find your, your content for specific hobbies. 

Franki Cookney 42:14

No, you don't. I suppose I've just been noticing it because I've been getting back into sewing in the last couple of years and I'm now noticing as we do these magazines that they pretty much all have sewing patterns in and that was very normal up until, well, certainly up until the end of the eighties, you know, our Good Housekeeping in 1988 had a knitting pattern and a sewing pattern in it. But it's certainly not assumed now that people would know how to sew and when I tell people I'm sewing, I'm making my own clothes, it's definitely met with a kind of like, "Oh my goodness, get you." 

Lucy Douglas 42:44

Yeah, I think that's definitely, I think it was definitely more common around like our mum's generation. 

Franki Cookney 42:50

Yeah. 

Lucy Douglas 42:50

Like my mum, my mum used to make all her own clothes at school because she went to boarding school. And, um, now. I mean, she, she didn't make much when she was working for most of her career, but like now she's retired. She makes clothes, loads again now for me and my sister and her favourite daughter, my sister in law. I also sort of, I mean, you might not even necessarily think of them as hobbies, that something like sewing. Just think of it as like, just housekeeping skill. 

Franki Cookney 43:19

Right, yeah. It's just part of life, like cooking. 

Lucy Douglas 43:21

Yeah, exactly. 

Franki Cookney 43:22

There's something a bit sexist about that. And I think, I think there long has been with these kinds of things, you know, there's, and there's certainly a long tradition of that in this kind of craft world, like men are tailors and women are seamstresses. 

Lucy Douglas 43:39

Yeah. 

Franki Cookney 43:39

That kind of thing. Back in the day, men were chefs and women were cooks. So there's definitely 

Lucy Douglas 43:44

Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

Franki Cookney 43:45

There's definitely a hint of that, I think, which 

Lucy Douglas 43:47

Yeah. the opposite of professionalisation. 

Franki Cookney 43:50

Yeah, it's like the things that you are good at, the things that you are skilled at, are sort of irrelevant. They're just your little hobbies. Which is not at all coming through in the pages, that is purely me looking at it, feeling very cynical. The feature itself is quite joyful. 

Lucy Douglas 44:09

Yeah, it's quite sweet. I quite love it. 

Franki Cookney 44:11

As I said, I'm projecting, I'm projecting a lot of feminist rage onto the readers of 1972 Woman's Own that they probably weren't feeling. But it's like I said at the beginning of the show, like we're really in that gap between what we looking back consider to be historically and culturally significant and actually what people's day to day lives look like. And I think that's where my conflict is coming from, right? 

Lucy Douglas 44:36

But I think that's like, twas ever thus, right? If you think about right now and you think about some of the, think about the amount of features that have been published this year, or in the last 18 months or so, about non monogamy and like polyamory and doing relationships entirely differently and lots of people being quite radical about how they're kind of rethinking their relationship and then you look at something like Love Island, or like some other kind of mainstream reality TV show, and that, that whole kind of emerging scene is just not reflected at all.

Franki Cookney 45:16

Oh yeah, 100%. And you know, in 50 years time, you know, somebody making a very similar, podcast to this will be like, and what's wild is that 2024 was this really exciting time for relationship discourse. And you know, this person's non monogamy book had come out and this TV show had come out, but that's not really reflected in the pages of Grazia, is it? Apologies to Grazia, I just plucked that name out of nowhere. No shade. It is, it is something that comes up with every issue, but for whatever reason, I kind of really felt it this week with Woman's Own because it is so very domestic. 

Lucy Douglas 45:53

I mean, Woman's Own more recently is very much like a kind of, it's very much in that kind of like real life stories, sort of genre of magazine rather than 

Franki Cookney 46:08

I'm just looking at what this week's Woman's Own was. "Royals in crisis," so they still very much love the royals at Woman's Own. Yeah, a lot of real life. "Real life must reads. He's not my grandad, he's my husband." Bit of age gap discourse. And, "Shock report, is your holiday making you sick?" 

Lucy Douglas 46:26

I mean, yes, very sick. Did literally make me sick. 

Franki Cookney 46:30

You've had a bad run with holidays. A couple of your recent holidays have made you sick. 

Lucy Douglas 46:35

It's because I insist on going to interesting places and not taking very many precautions.

[Music break]

Franki Cookney 46:44

It's that time in the show when we ask, what's hot and what's not in 1972? What is hot in 1972, Lucy? 

Lucy Douglas 46:52

Well, apparently, Prince Charles.

Franki Cookney 46:54

Prince Charles! I mean, he's not, but he is eligible. He is single! Prince Charles was hot, after a fashion, in 1972. And what is not in 1972? 

Lucy Douglas 47:08

Leaving our cheating husbands. It is not hot to leave your cheating husband.

Franki Cookney 47:13

Also, sanitary belts. God, if you are still wearing or using a sanitary belt in 1972, get with the program, ladies. 

Lucy Douglas 47:24

Yeah.

Lucy Douglas 47:28

Thank you for listening. We hope you've enjoyed today's show. 

Franki Cookney 47:31

If you did, please consider leaving us a glowing review and smashing that five stars button. It'll help the podcast grow. 

Lucy Douglas 47:37

We hope you join us again next time on Mag Hags when we'll be meeting toff totty and the Beasts of Belgravia. Bye bye. 

Franki Cookney 47:45

Bye.

[Theme music]

Mag Hags is written and hosted by Franki Cookney and Lucy Douglas.
Editing and audio production by Franki Cookney.

Our theme music is Look Where That Got You, Mattie Maguire. Additional music: Leotard Haul, Dez Moran. Both courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com.