Modern Step Mother, September 1961

Modern Step Mother, August 1958

Known for its frank discussions on the sacrifices of sending ones beloved step children to the best boarding schools, and being a rock for ones husband in not flying them home for the holidays ("Charlton, now what kind of holiday will they have if they have to spend 13 hours on a jet each way?  And think of the good you'll be undoing by throwing them into an English speaking holiday - they'll lose all their proficiency in French!"), each issue of Modern Step Mother was filled with handy tips for keeping the hubby happy and his ex wife at bay.

Modern Step Mother, 1948

Copyright 2010 SJ Koblentz

There are magazines such as Good Housekeeping and Better Homes & Gardens - magazines for the young homemaker, but what to do for the many, many women who find themselves in the awkward position of being a child's stepmother?  For these women, who walked a razors edge of being the wife their husband's desire, and a surrogate to the children that he had for a lousy excuse of a first wife, Modern StepMother was created in 1939. 

Modern StepMother picked up where HomeWreckers left off.  Each issue contained hints for women who never wanted children, but suddenly discovered that they had a nest full of whiney, bacteria laden kiddies to contend with.  One of the records that the magazine could crow about was that it contained more pages of advertisements for boarding schools, military acdemies, convent schools and homes for disturbed children than any other magazine.