Christmas Magazines Through The Years Woman’s Realm 1970

What was 1970 like?

The 18th year of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign featured a general election in June that neatly split the political year into two halves. For the first half of the year Harold Wilson led his Labour Government with a very thin majority. Despite this, they were able to pass the bill reducing the Age of Majority, the legal definition of adulthood in effect, from 21 to 18 for the most purposes. The election was almost impossible to predict with the Conservatives coming into 1970 with a 20 point lead in the opinion polls and Labour calling the election with an apparently healthy 5 to 8 point lead themselves. In the end, the Conservative and Unionist Party which included the Northern Irish Ulster Unionist Party at the time, won by a surprisingly comfortable 30 seats. Some tongue in cheek commentators suggested that England losing their 1970 World Cup Quarter Final to West Germany just before the election was what swung it back to the Conservatives! Even more surprisingly for anyone brought up in today’s political environment was the fact that Harold Wilson did not instantly resign, but stayed on largely unopposed to fight and win two elections in 1974.

A number of events from 1970 caught my eye because of their offbeat nature. On 31 July the Royal Navy issued its last ration of grog to all sailors. Usually, consisting of rum and water, grog was distributed to all sailors from 21 August 1740! It’s amazing to think that this tradition continued unbroken for very nearly 230 years. Glastonbury Farm held its first festival, headlined by Tyrannosaurus Rex (soon to become T Rex), with an attendance of 1500! It would become somewhat more popular over the next half century! Finally, I must mention a staple of many teenage years in the 70s and beyond which debuted on November 17, the Sun Page Three Girl, an almost perfect microcosm of the permissive society of the late 60s and the saucy postcard from the UK’s beach resorts. It made stars out of some of its topless models and gave writers free rein for innuendo for decades to come!

Musically speaking it was the end of one era and the dawn of at least two others. The Beatles released their last single and album as a group and on 31 December Paul McCartney filed a lawsuit against the rest of the band to dissolve their partnership. In February, Black Sabbath released their eponymous debut album which was the acknowledged start of the heavy metal genre. T Rex were already experimenting with what would become Glam Rock, a genre that became the predominant chart music of the first half of the 1970s.

The start of the 70s was a watershed for the UK’s younger viewers. The first colour episodes of Doctor Who were shown as Jon Pertwee took over the role and gave an iconic portrayal of the Doctor. Three programmes from the US that were to become staples of children’s viewing were all shown in the UK for the first time. Scooby Doo, Where Are You?, The Banana Splits and Dastardly and Muttley all burst onto our screens with a verve and humour unknown in their more restrained UK counterparts. That said, the UK always had the edge when it came to quality drama, and Timeslip also debuted this year.

Woman’s Realm 1970

The first thing I want to reflect on is the completely atypical cover. The woman in skiing gear on a mountain reflects the anticipation of a new decade and a new more dynamic female approach to life. For most women, this vision would have remained just that, as everyday lives carried on for most in a typically low key fashion. However, it indicated a new aspirational image that would see in the decade of the Women’s Liberation movement that pushed for women to be independent and equal participants in UK society. Remember, that in 1970, women could not open their own bank accounts or apply for credit without a male guarantor! It’s incredible to think that it was 1973 before women were allowed to be financially independent. At the time, they would have had to rely on a husband or father to buy that skiing gear. Looked at from our modern perspective they really were the dark ages! However, there is a nod to the everyday reader as they are going to have to knit the sweater themselves before they hit the slopes!

On Page 5, there is a reflection on the gospels from The Padre who talks about failure and how to deal with it. This is interesting from two perspectives. Firstly, you have the fact that it puts a religious element right at the start of the magazine, something that would be unthinkable today in our more secular times. Secondly, the acknowledgement of failure as a likelihood would be incredibly unlikely in today’s magazines where everything is seemingly rosy and life is there for the taking. Actually, if you read it, the advice is as pertinent to 2025 as it is to 1970, pointing out that very often you are just tired and that’s what leads to failure. A companion article appears later on in the magazine, entitled ‘So Depressed!’ which focuses on recognising the difference between sadness and depression and some strategies for dealing with the situation. Once again, the advice is timeless although the final paragraph betrays its origins in a different medical time by mentioning ‘… skilled care either with drugs or with electrical treatment’.

For the average woman in her own realm, she could cook Christmas Dinner courtesy of the recipes in the four page section ‘A Real Old-Fashioned Christmas’. We would still recognise Mincemeat, Puff Pastry for Mince Pies, Christmas Cake and Gingerbread. Plum Pudding, Candied Chestnuts and Spiced Pears would be less familiar, and probably only read about in old novels, while Black Bun and Drunken Prunes would be absolutely baffling! For the record, Black Bun is a Scottish cake encased in pastry, which you don’t eat and Drunken Prunes are soaked in sherry for four days, which might do it! She could knit the aforementioned jumper, girls’ dresses and a cuddly Lennie the Lion. With the time she would probably have left (!) she could also upholster a chair! This definitely reflects the ‘make do and mend’ approach required of so many families in those days. Yes, you could afford the occasional treat but only if you saved money where you could.

What interested me on flicking through the magazine was the fact that the family are referred to only in passing. Children and husband are there, but they are not necessarily the centre of these women’s lives. The different slant on the life of the average reader is quite clear when you compare it to the previous two decades. No longer do women have to clean the house, prepare the dinner and still look desirable when their hard working husband comes home!

In terms of the adverts, significantly fewer than would be the case in years to come, they were again very focused on the woman herself. It is very much a practical set of products that would enhance their lives quite easily and relatively cheaply. If all else failed and you had had enough of the cold British Winter, which actually gave us a rare White Christmas in the South of the UK, then Australia was interested in you! Assisted Passages, known to everyone else as the Ten Pound Pom scheme, are advertised with the ultimate in aspirational lifestyle style for a British woman. As you can see, they could transform themselves into bikini clad Australians smoking a cigarette on a boat with Sydney Opera House in the background!

Final Reflections

This is, perhaps more than any of the others I have read, a most fascinating time capsule. We are on the cusp of a new era for women, and it is an era that Woman’s Realm are very much at the forefront of. They tread a very fine line between what was possible at the time and what may be possible in the future. Their vision of a more independent lifestyle is at odds with a time when women wouldn’t be trusted with their own money, but change was in the air and Woman’s Realm could sense it. They seem to be saying the future is here, and it could be female.