Knitting patterns, advice for 'the child in the servantless home', romantic fiction serials and features on 'Our children's looks' are long gone. The magazine that was originally aimed at mothers, children's nurses and nannies working in privileged homes has, since the early 1980s and increasing professionalisation of the early years education and childcare sector, adapted and transformed to serve practitioners.
The modern design, full colour features, pull-out posters and issues covered could, at a glance, seem light years away from its roots. But many themes and ideas remain, above all a conviction of the importance of early childhood and supporting those who care for young children.
The early magazines' readers were interested in hearing about 'Other people's nurseries', which were usually located in the homes of wealthy families. Today, good practice continues and is often to be gleaned from visits to private and local authority nurseries, Sure Start programmes and children's centres.
In June 1926, Nursery World launched its first photographic competition, and the student writing competition started 20 years ago. Versions of these competitions continue today and there is now also an awards' ceremony to highlight and reward high standards and achievements in the early years field.
Reflecting nursery life
Eileen Elias, aged 95 and a former Nursery World contributor, remembers enjoying reading the magazine's book reviews and advice on raising children. She says, 'Nursery World was tremendously helpful in bringing up my three children but childcare has altered so much now. The difference in what is required for a baby is amazing, especially the prams.'
She is pleased that more information is now freely available to parents, with quality training for childcarers, although she wishes that parents could spend less time at work and more time at home with their children.
Mrs P Hansen, writing to Nursery World in August 1990, observed, 'I have just picked up a copy of Nursery World, after an absence of many years. The magazine amazed me, it is so changed, so colourful and vibrant. Yet it is foolish to be surprised, as it exactly reflects the life of the nursery today, just as it did over 40 years ago when I had my first baby.
'In those days, the emphasis was on the private nanny, and the mother looking after her baby. There were no communal nurseries, but lots of adverts for the sale of quality clothes for babies and toddlers and coach-built prams, and the advert usually ended "nanny maintained".
'The magazine was a great help to me in matters of mixed feeding, weaning, etc, and on all sorts of aspects of child development, about which I knew nothing, and I had no one to ask. I relied upon it in many ways, and it fitted well into life as we lived it then. Reading it today, I would say the same is true.'
Nursery World's readers have always played a huge part in contributing to the magazine. The letters page, originally called 'Over the Teacups', has been the hub of debate since the first edition. Long-running subjects discussed in 1926 were 'Nurses', 'Free time', 'Mothers' views' and 'Nannies v College Nurses'. These days, hot topics range from pay and conditions to Ofsted inspections and what term should be used to refer to a new integrated workforce.
The trend was to write letters under pseudonyms such as 'Fair Play', 'An Old Nanny' and 'Sunshine Sue'. Today that custom is reflected on the magazine's website, with contributors to the debate forums using similar pseudonyms, including 'Hardworkin', 'baby-girl' and 'the-voice-of-reason'.
Progressive ideas
From the beginning, Nursery World's attitudes to children have been progressive. Where now the magazine has its 'Ask the expert' columns covering child behaviour and legal management issues, originally there was 'Nursery Counsel' by Miss Moon. She was followed by various nursing sisters and, later, child psychologist Dr Susan Isaacs, author of The Nursery Years, who adopted the pseudonym 'Ursula Wise'.
It's surprising how many 'new' theories and innovations have actually resurfaced throughout the years. Nowadays Nursery World constantly stresses the importance of allowing and supporting children to learn through play, and the dangers of imposing testing and a formal curriculum at too young an age. But in the 1930s Susan Isaacs was already writing that 'play is the child's means of living and of understanding life'.
Current concerns about play deprivation are also not new. On 24 February 1926, Nursery World ran an article titled 'The value of mud pies' which explained, 'Mother and nurse had to be shown the danger of the "safety first" theory, and what a paralysing effect it can have upon a child if pressed too diligently. They had to learn that mud pies were much more important than the keeping clean of a pretty smock or embroidered overall, and that to have a noisy romp was far better than kneeling wistfully at the window, to watch street children sailing paper boats in the gutter below and longing in vain to joint them.'
With extended schools now high on the Government's agenda we could be excused for thinking that children today are the only generation to have faced long days away from home. But 45 years ago, in 1960, the Crother report found that 15- to 18-year-olds also spent many evenings on extra-curricular activities.
'Apparently the average boy from a grammar or modern school spends four to five nights a week on leisure activities outside the home; about a quarter of the boys had not spent any of the previous seven evenings at home. The average girl spent about half her evenings at home but one in 20 of them had not spent a single evening at home in the previous week.' (Nursery World, 14 July 1960)
Hopefully Jamie Oliver will be more successful in achieving nutritious school meals than Eddie Williams, who campaigned for much the same back in 1946. Nursery World reported that, 'Mr Williams, who is a school master himself, fully realises, however, that it is not just enough to provide school meals, they must be good school meals, prepared by competent people.
He would like to see chefs appointed to prepare them, and he wants chefs to study how to get children accustomed to the taste of the most nutritious foods so they will find "there are even tastier meals than fish and chips".'
Wealth of development
Recent years have seen a wealth of development in the early years sector as childcare has become one of the hottest political priorities. Last year saw the publication of the Government's ten-year strategy, and this year Ofsted has introduced no-notice inspections to further raise the quality of early years provision. There is now a tax exemption scheme for employer-supported childcare and children's centres are being rolled out across England.
Perhaps the most exciting recent change is landmark legislation in the form of the Childcare Bill, which was published last month.
Sadly the debate over working hours and pay, which first surfaced in very early issues of Nursery World, continues 80 years on. Nursery nurses in Scotland resorted to a long-running strike in 2004 to attain better pay and conditions. Childcarers, particularly in private provision where profit margins are low, continue to be a poorly paid workforce, despite their professional status and the vital role they play.
Hopefully this will be one of the main changes everyone in the sector - from nursery and pre-school workers to nannies and childminders - can look forward to in the near future.
Did you know?
* Nursery World was launched by Faber and Gwyer Ltd on 2 December 1925.
* Eight different publishers have produced the magazine. Current owner Exponent Private Equity bought TSL Education Ltd from News International in October.
* The magazine got a shock new identity in October 1965 when the then publishers, Purnell and Sons, changed its title to All About Children. The original name was reinstated by Haymarket Press in 1967.
* There have been more than 15 different cover designs, with the latest cover look launched in July this year.
* The NW logo on the present cover is not a new idea. Back in the 1960s readers began to abbreviate the magazine's title to NW, and in the 1990s a corresponding logo was placed at the top of each page before being moved to the end of each feature, as it is today.
* When the first Nursery World hit the book stalls it cost tuppence. It now retails at 1.30 a week.
* Today Nursery World is accompanied by 32 free supplements each year, a website (www.nurseryworld.co.uk), affiliated teaching exhibitions throughout the UK, professional books, an early years education and childcare conference, and an annual awards ceremony.
