"Fashion, Family and Fancy: The 19th Century Women in Ladies' Magazines and Books" will be on display through March 29 on the second floor of the library's east wing as part of the university's Women's History Month observance.

"The exhibit shows us a vanished era," said Tony Gardner, curator of the library's special collections and one of the coordinators of the exhibit. "I think a lot of our students would breathe a sigh of relief after viewing this exhibit. Things were a lot different then, especially for women."

The Oviatt Library is located in the center of the campus at 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge. The exhibit is open to the public during the library's operating hours, which are Monday through Thursday, 7:45 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday, 7:45 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The ladies' magazines and books of the 19th century gave advice and entertained. Precursors of modern women's journals, the magazines offered the latest fashions - including hairstyles, dresses and hats - and are lavishly illustrated with fashion plates, many of them hand colored.

Besides fashion, the magazines also include women's fiction in serial form and often with a moral. These were the early romance novels.

The magazines also offered advice on all sorts of household activities, from raising children to making lace, stringing pearls, what meals to cook and how and even architectural designs for homes. They even included sheet music for the latest dances or for an evening of singing or piano music. Special features might include an article of an exotic part of the world; one the reader was never likely to visit.

Among the most popular magazines from the period was Godey's Lady's Book, which was published from 1830-1898. It was the first magazine to be edited by a woman, and had a workforce composed mostly of women. The exhibit features several Gody's pieces from the university's collection.

For more information about the exhibit, call (818) 677-2638.

The Oviatt Library is home to more than one million volumes, three million microfilms, 125,000 government publications, 7,798 periodical titles and an extensive historical collection of mixed media, rare books and archives. It serves as the main research facility for the San Fernando Valley.

California State University, Northridge has more than 31,000 full- and part-time students and offers 59 bachelor's and 41 master's degrees. Founded in 1958, it is the only four-year university in the San Fernando Valley and the third largest in the 23-campus CSU system. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges recently said CSUN "stands as a model to other public urban institutions of higher education." ###