"We Can Not Publish What We Can Not Procure": Women Readers as Content Providers in Keramic Studio (1899–1924)

Practical art magazines faced significant challenges in terms of procuring content. Editors required sufficient monies to compensate artists for their contributions and to pay the high costs of printing images. Because of these constraints, many practical art magazines had limited images, limited appeal, and limited publication runs. Keramic Studio, however, took a different approach to obtaining content, one that involved its readers, who were mostly women, at nearly every level. Editor Adelaide Alsop Robineau created mechanisms whereby readers could contribute designs and offered incentives for doing so, ultimately allowing readers to shape the magazine's brand. As a result, Keramic Studio was one of the longest lived and most successful practical art magazines of its generation.