Lady Editor: "There is no better example of [Sarah Josepha] Hale's sway as the preeminent cultural influencer of the mid 19th century than two traditions she introduced in the 1840s that continue to flourish in the 21st century: the white wedding gown and the Christmas tree.".

• Author: Kirkpatrick, Melanie
• Position: USA YESTERDAY

THE ENORMOUS popularity of Godey 's Lady's Book in the 19th century was such that it acquired a bevy of nicknames. When addressing readers in his monthly "Arm-Chair" column, publisher Louis Godey referred to his magazine by his personal shorthand, "The Book of the Nation" or, simply, "The Book"--a designation he inevitably wrote with capital T and B and sometimes in all capital letters. Among his colleagues in the magazine publishing industry, "The Book" sometimes jokingly was called "Godey's Bible" or even, derisively, "Godey's Bible." Another nickname--one in which the publisher expressed special delight--was "The Bouquet of the Boudoir."

Ordinary readers, however, had a more telling nickname for Lady's Book. They called it "Mrs. Hale's Magazine." The title of their favorite magazine may have carried the name of the owner and publisher but, for the magazine's devoted readers, it was the editor, Sarah Josepha Hale, who mattered most. She was the voice of Lady's Book, the one who spoke with knowledge and authority on the issues they cared about, the one who addressed her readers as "friends." Hers was the trusted voice on matters mundane as well as sublime, whether she was advising readers on what to cook for dinner, telling them where their daughters could get a good education, or making the case for female physicians.

As the circulation numbers of Lady's Book rose in the 1840s and 1850s, so, too, did Hale's influence and celebrity. The phrase "Mrs. Hale says" became a kind of gold-medal guarantee. If Hale recommended something--a new book, a school for girls, a recipe, a health tip--the reader could be assured of its quality. She was so well-known that newspapers sometimes did not feel the need to identify her by her full name. "Mrs. Hale" was sufficient identification. In the two decades before the Civil War began in 1861, no woman was better known or more influential.

At her previous publication, Lady's Magazine, Hale had succeeded in her twin objectives of promoting education for women and encouraging the development of an American literary culture. She carried those priorities with her to Godey's Lady's Book, where she developed them more fully. She impressed upon her new readers the need for continuous self-reflection and self-improvement, along with the concept that women could take responsibility for bettering their families' lives and the lives of their communities--and she set out to help them do so.

Lady's Book brought a challenge that she had not anticipated, and which took on added importance as the years passed. As the magazine's circulation expanded, Hale became instrumental in shaping a shared popular culture--attitudes, mindsets, taste--for the emerging middle class. Women in every pocket of the nation turned...