Magazines have been around since 1663, when the first magazine, Edifying Monthly Discussions, appeared in Germany. This magazine today would be called a literary magazine and was aimed at an elite, literate audience. The three most influential literary magazines in England in the early 18th century were Review, Tatler, and Spectator. Paradoxically the first periodical to use the word magazine in its title was Gentleman's Magazine in 1731, which was the predecessor of Reader's Digest. American magazines were slow to emerge, because people didn't have time to read them. People in colonial days worked from dawn to dusk. The first magazine in America was American Magazine, followed three days later by General Magazine. Both of these magazines failed after a short life because they were expensive and magazines were seen as a luxury, while books and newspapers were necessities. Most early magazines plagiarized stories and essays from British publications, due to the absence of copyright laws at the time. Women's magazines helped spur the growth of the magazine industry. The first women's magazine ever published was Ladies' Mercury, published in 1693 in London. The most successful first women's magazine in the United States was Ladies' Magazine, published in 1828. This magazine led to color animation and was the predecessor of other women's magazines, such as Ladies' Home Journal. Another category of magazines are general interest magazines. The Saturday Evening Post was the first magazine to generate general interest and became the longest-running American magazine. The success of the Post led to the golden age of magazines that lasted from 1885 to 1905, where the number of magazines published......half a newspaper......in 21 languages. It has a global circulation of 17 million copies, making it the most widely circulated paid magazine in the world. Additionally, it is also published in braille, digital, audio, and a large-print version called Reader's Digest Large Print. The magazine is compact, with its pages about half the size of most American magazines. I can't help but wonder why, if these magazines are so popular in terms of circulation, tabloids like People and US Weekly are more prevalent in everyday life? When you go shopping and are ready to pay for your items, do you see at least 10 different tabloids and digests before AARP magazine or those published by Jehovah's Witnesses? Photos of Paris Hilton gaining weight over the weeks and Kim Kardashian's new item of clothing or "viral video" are more important than advice on aging and health insurance??