''Better Homes and Gardens'' (stylized as ''Better Homes & Gardens'' and abbreviated as ''BHG'') is the fourth most widely circulated

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. ''Better Homes and Gardens'' focuses on interests regarding homes,

cooking Cooking, also known as cookery or professionally as the culinary arts, is the art, science and craft of using heat to make food more palatable, digestible, nutritious, or Food safety, safe. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from ...

gardening Gardening is the process of growing plants for their vegetables, fruits, flowers, herbs, and appearances within a designated space. Gardens fulfill a wide assortment of purposes, notably the production of Aesthetics, aesthetically pleasing area ...

crafts A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...

, healthy living, decorating, and entertaining. The magazine is published 12 times per year by

Dotdash Meredith Dotdash Meredith (formerly The Mining Company, About.com and Dotdash) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, hom ...

(formerly

Meredith Corporation Meredith Corporation was an American media conglomerate based in Des Moines, Iowa, that owned newspapers, magazines, television stations, and websites. Its publications had a readership of more than 120 million and paid circulation of more than ...

Early years

''Better Homes and Gardens'' was founded in 1922 by Edwin Meredith, who had served as the

United States Secretary of Agriculture The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments The department includes several organi ...

under

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

and had previously founded the magazine ''Successful Farming.'' The original title was ''Fruit, Garden and Home''. The name was changed to'' Better Homes and Gardens'' beginning with the August 1924 issue. The first editor for the magazine was Chesla C. Sherlock.Mott1968, p. 37. One of Sherlock's contributions was an article series on "Homes of Famous Americans", which was also published as a series of books. ''Better Homes and Gardens'' is one of the " Seven Sisters", a group of women's service magazines.

Brand extension

The Meredith Corporation publishes a number of books on

home economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences (often shortened to FCS or FACS), is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and f ...

and gardening under the BH&G brand, the best known of which is the ''Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book'', colloquially known as the "''Red Plaid''" book. Now in its 15th edition (published in August 2010), the ''Red Plaid'' was originally published in 1930. Meredith also publishes the ''New Junior Cookbook'' for children learning to cook. The magazine's title was used by Meredith's real estate arm, which was sold and then called GMAC Real Estate. In October 2007, Meredith entered a 50-year

licensing A license (American English) or licence ( Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another par ...

agreement with Realogy Corporation to license the Better Homes and Gardens name to Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate. The company is based in Parsippany, New Jersey, and has offices across the country. Meredith's broadcasting division began producing the television program '' Better'' in the fall of 2007, which is a lifestyle show which has a mix of content from Meredith's various magazine titles (included BH&G), consumer advice and celebrity interviews. The program would air on stations owned by Meredith, Scripps, Fisher and

LIN TV LIN Media was an American holding company founded in 1994 that operated 43 television stations. All except one were affiliates of the six major U.S. television networks. One of the remaining stations was a low-powered weather station in In ...

groups. Some Meredith-owned stations produce their own local edition of ''Better''. The show was canceled in May 2015. The brand offered a line of home decor products through a partnership with Home Interiors and Gifts, a company based on

direct selling Direct selling is a business model that involves a party of people buying products from a parent organization and selling them directly to customers. It can take the form of either single-level marketing (in which a direct seller makes money pu ...

Overseas editions

The

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n edition of the magazine is published by

Are Media Are Media is an Australian media company. It was formed after the 2020 purchase of the assets of Bauer Media Australia, which had in turn acquired the assets of Pacific Magazines, AP Magazines and Australian Consolidated Press (ACP) during th ...

, the successor to the former Bauer Media Australia which acquired

Pacific Magazines Pacific Magazines was a magazine publisher operating in Australia owned by Seven West Media. In March 2020, it was acquired by Are Media, Bauer Media Australia in April 2020. In June 2020, Mercury Capital acquired Pacific Magazines as part of i ...

in 2020.

References in popular culture

'' Mad Magazine'' published a satire in March 1958 (issue #38) titled "Bitter Homes and Gardens," including articles titled "They Built Their House on a Lot 22 Inches Wide" (A house built between two office buildings), a "How-The..." department which suggests putting a lawn on rollers so one can drag it "to a nearby spot where it's raining", and an article on how to convert a second bathroom into a basement (with a photo of the author's wife, who has just stepped out of the shower and covers herself with a towel). The magazine was also spoofed in the 1970s as "Bitter Homes and Garbage", in a set of "Crazy Magazine Covers" produced by

Fleer The Fleer Corporation, founded by Frank H. Fleer in 1885, was the first company to successfully manufacture bubble gum; it remained a family-owned enterprise until 1989. Fleer originally developed a bubble gum formulation called ''Blibber-Blubb ...

. In an episode of ''

I Love Lucy ''I Love Lucy'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes spanning six seasons. The series starred Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz, along with Vivian ...

'', Lucy jokes about the magazine as, "Better Homes and Garbage" when she and Ethel redecorate Lucy's apartment. An episode of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'' The Springfield Files showed a brief shot of a magazine entitled ''Better Homes Than Yours.'' ''Better Homes and Gardens'' is mentioned in the song "I Save Cigarette Butts" by

Daniel Johnston Daniel Dale Johnston (January 22, 1961 – September 11, 2019) was an American singer, musician and artist regarded as a significant figure in Outsider music, outsider, Lo-fi music, lo-fi, and alternative rock, alternative music scenes. Most ...

. In ''

Little Shop of Horrors Little Shop of Horrors may refer to: * '' The Little Shop of Horrors'', a 1960 American film * ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (musical), a 1982 musical based on the 1960 film * ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (1986 film), a 1986 American film based on th ...

'' Audrey sings in "Somewhere That's Green" about how her dream house is a "picture out of ''Better Homes and Gardens'' magazine." In country recording artist

Miranda Lambert Miranda Leigh Lambert (born November 10, 1983) is an American country music, country singer. Born in Longview, Texas, she started out in early 2001 when she released her self-titled debut album independently. In 2003, she finished in third place ...

's 2010 hit single titled "The House That Built Me", there is a verse that says, "Mama cut out pictures of houses for years from ''Better Homes and Gardens'' magazine". Brandon Flowers mentions the magazine in the song "The Clock Was Tickin" from his 2010 album ''

Flamingo Flamingos or flamingoes () are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbe ...

''. The

Shel Silverstein Sheldon Allan Silverstein (; September 25, 1930 – May 10, 1999) was an American writer, cartoonist, songwriter, and musician. Born and raised in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, Silverstein briefly attended university before being drafted into ...

song "One's on the Way" (made popular by

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as "Hey Loretta", "The Pill (song), The P ...

) has the line "'Better Homes and Gardens' shows a modern way to live."

Editors

* Chesla Sherlock (1922–1927) * Elmer T. Peterson (1927–1937) * Frank W. McDonough (1938–1950) * J. E. Ratner (1950–1952) * Hugh Curtis (1952–1960) * Bert Dieter (1960–1967) * James A. Riggs (1967–1970) * James Autry (1970–1979) * Gordon Greer (1979–1983) * David Jordan (1984–1993) * Jean LemMon (1993–2001) * Karol DeWulf Nickell (2001–2006) * Gayle Butler (2006–2015) * Stephen Orr (2015–2024)

References

External links

Official site

Official site (Australia)
{{Webby Awards, cat=Home, year=1998, type=Nominee 1922 establishments in Iowa Are Media Gardening magazines Lifestyle magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1922 Magazines published in Iowa Mass media in Des Moines, Iowa IAC Inc. Monthly magazines published in the United States Horticultural magazines published in the United States Food and drink magazines published in the United States