Magazines are a relatively new journalistic invention in the world of writing. The first magazines appeared in the eighteenth century and these reading materials looked like books. It wasn’t until after World War II that the magazine took the form we recognize today. In the same sense, the magazine rack is a relatively new creature as well.

The first magazines were written for a very limited audience, namely the male upper class. Over time, the magazine gradually began to appeal to a mass audience until it reached its current state. The magazine rack as we know it today emerged as the reading material became mainstreamed into society.

When I think of a magazine rack, I immediately picture a city street with a vendor leaning on a counter surrounded by slots that display various sleek reading materials for the everyday man. In my vision, it is misty outside and a little chilly. This is not an appealing picture of a magazine rack, but it is the first thing that comes to mind.

Unfortunately, I have the same vision no matter what. I read a lot and I have a ridiculous collection of magazines in my home. Right now, the collection is organized in a cabinet that is supposed to house sweaters and other large items of clothing. I just can not find a magazine rack that is attractive to me. They are mostly sterile, cold pieces of furniture that do little to organize my precious reading materials.

I did see an interesting magazine rack that was originally a ladder. The creator of this magazine rack simply put a wooden ladder in his living area and hung the journals on the narrow rungs of the old-fashioned wooden ladder. This was very appealing, but it really was suitable for that particular room. My décor would not support a magazine rack made out of an old ladder.

My décor is not rustic and it is not modern, either. The sterile, metal magazine rack is not a viable option for my home. It would look like a refugee from a doctor’s waiting room. My style is old world. I have hardwood floors, a reddish-brown leather couch with rivets and a dark chocolate coffee table with a leather inlay. It is nearly impossible for me to incorporate a magazine rack in such an environment. Hopefully, an old world magazine rack will magically appear in a store near me.