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Thanks to increases in literacy and public education, the development of faster printing technologies, and improvements in mail delivery (through rail transportation), demand for national (versus local) magazines soared. Whereas in 1825, a mere one hundred magazines struggled for survival, by 1850 nearly six hundred magazines were being published regularly, many of them with national readerships. Magazines were on their way to becoming a mass medium. Significant national magazines of this era included Graham’s Magazine (1840–1858), Knickerbocker (1833–1864), the Nation (1865–present), and Youth’s Companion (1826–1929).

The advent of illustration further moved magazines toward mass-medium status. By the mid-1850s, drawings, engravings, woodcuts, and other forms of illustration had become a major feature of magazines and greatly heightened their appeal for readers. During the 1890s, magazines (and newspapers) also began including photographs with printed articles, helping to launch an entirely new profession: photojournalism.