1940s/1950s/Early 1960s Italian Women's Magazines

Grand Hotel is a weekly magazine whose first issue was published on 29th June 1946. In the beginning, it featured romance comics, then fotonovelas (in Italian fotoromanzi). In the following years, showbiz news and gossip gained increasing room and became the main subjects of the magazine.


29th June 1946 - Cover of the first issue.


9th August 1946.


27th December 1947.


5th June 1948.


7th January 1950.


6th January 1951.


26th May 1951.


5th January 1952.


7th February 1953.


2nd November 1957.


14th October 1961.

Sogno (Dream) or Il mio Sogno (My dream) was a weekly magazine (now a monthly magazine) whose first issue was published on 8th May 1947. Sogno was the first magazine to feature fotonovelas (in the beginning called romance novels in frames) in Italy.


13th August 1948.


22nd August 1948.


29th August 1948.


12th September 1948.


17th October 1948.


21st November 1948.


30th January 1949 - Hedy Lamarr and Clark Gable.


27th February 1949 - Ingrid Bergman and Gary Cooper.


3rd March 1949 - Lana Turner and Robert Young.

Bolero Film was a weekly magazine whose first issue was published on 26th May 1947, mainly focused on fotonovelas (fotoromanzi) and showbiz news.


26th May 1947 - Cover of the first issue.


27th December 1953 - Virginia Mayo.


30th November 1952 - Maureen O'Hara.


14th September 1952 - Susan Hayward.


3rd January 1954 - Italian movie star Silvana Pampanini.

Annabella (now Anna) was a weekly magazine whose first issue was published in 1933 as Lei-Rivista di vita femminile (She-Magazine of feminine life). The name was changed in Annabella in 1938.
The magazine is focused on current news and fashion.


18th March 1941.


24th February 1942.


6th December 1942.


25th July 1954.


2nd December 1954.


25th March 1955.


12th August 1956.


25th November 1956.


29th May 1960.


22nd January 1961.

Gioia! or Gioia (Joy) is a weekly magazine whose first issue was published on 7th March 1937. The magazine is focused on current news and fashion.


7th March 1937 - Cover of the first issue featuring Janet Gaynor.


8th February 1949 - Linda Christian and Tyrone Power newly wed.


15th March 1949 - To Gioia-Yvonne De Carlo.


5th January 1950.


16th November 1950.


26th December 1954 - Giulietta Masina.


13th December 1959.


3th January 1960 - Cover featuring Farah Diba and announcing a service on her wedding with the Shah of Persia.

Confidenze (Confidences) is a weekly magazine whose first issue was published in 1946 as Confidenze di Liala (Liala's confidences). The name was after Liala, pseudonym of Amalia Liana Negretti Odescalchi Cambiasi, the most popular Italian author of romance novels (or feuilletons) from the 1930s to the 1960s (her pseudonym was conceived by Italian poet, theatre author and novelist Gabriele d'Annunzio). In the beginning, the magazines mainly featured short stories written by Liala. In the following years, it also featured fotonovelas (fotoromanzi) and gave increasing room to current news, fashion and beauty.


22nd December 1946 - Ginger Rogers and David Niven.


1st December 1946 - Donna Reed.


10th November 1946 - Betty Hutton.


29th December 1946 - Jennifer Jones.


11th August 1946 - Ann Sheridan.


20th April 1958.


22nd June 1958.


24th August 1958.

Intimità (Intimacy) is a weekly magazine whose first issue was published in 1946. In the beginning, it featured romance short stories and fotonovelas (fotoromanzi). In the following years, current news, fashion and beauty gained increasing room in the magazine content.


23rd January 1948.


5th March 1948.


14th May 1948.


16th June 1948.


2nd November 1950.


3rd April 1952.


10th April 1952.


8th May 1952.


14th March 1961.


17th May 1962.

Novella (Short story, now Novella 2000) is a weekly magazine that started its publications in 1919 as a literary review. In the follwing years, the magazine content deeply changed, giving increasing room to showbiz news and then to gossip.


10th May 1920 - Cover of Novella as a literature review.


26 May 1933 - Italian opera singer (soprano) and movie star Nelly Corradi.


15th March 1953 - Gina Lollobrigida.


28th June 1953 - Barbara Rush.


27th September 1953 - Danny Kaye.


23rd December 1956 - Italian movie star Rossana Podestà.


21st December 1958 - Leslie Caron.

Grazia (Grace, both as a name and as a noun) is a weekly magazine whose first issue was published in 1938. The magazine features current news, fashion and beauty.


9th October 1941.


15th January 1949.


3rd June 1950.


9th December 1950.


12th May 1951.


9th February 1952.


10th January 1953.


28th July 1957.

Lei (She) was a weekly magazine whose first issue was published in 1949. It was mainly focused on current news, fashion and beauty.

Eva (now Eva 3000) is a weekly magazine whose first issue was published in 1934. In the beginning, it featured romance short stories and episode novels, current news and fashion. In the following years, it gave increasing room to showbiz news and gossip.

Arianna was a monthly magazine whose first issue was published in 1957. It featured current news, fashion and beauty.

Serena (as a name or as the feminine of calm, serene) was a weekly magazine whose first issue was published in 1953. It featured current news and fashion.

La Domenica della Donna (The Sunday of the woman) was a weekly magazine whose first issue was published in 1949. It featured current news, fashion and practical life (on the cover).
This magazine was not related to the popular weekly newsmagazine La Domenica del Corriere.