Magazine Celebrate 100 Years of Better Homes & Gardens By Katy Kiick Condon Katy Kiick Condon Katy Kiick Condon is a home and lifestyle editor for Better Homes & Gardens focused on interior design, cleaning, DIY projects and crafts, and all-things holiday and entertaining. Katy has hundreds of hours invested in testing cleaning equipment and products (just ask, and she'll introduce you to your perfect robot-vac match). She has hands-on DIY experience, including wood working, outdoor gardening and building projects, crafts, and painting. Katy has edited publications detailing high-end interior design including "Country Home," "Décor," "Elegant Homes," "Country French," and "Tuscan Style." She has contributed works to The Magazine ANTIQUES, MODERN Magazine, Art in America, and the book "Utopian Images and Narratives in Advertising: Dreams For Sale."Katy Kiick Condon started her career as a historian, earning her M.A. in the history of design from New York's Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum and The New School. She's never lost touch with her background as an intense researcher and is the self-proclaimed Better Homes & Gardens historian. Between stories on interior design trends and holiday crafts, she can be found flipping through her favorite archival issues: The WWII-era magazines when BH&G exhaustively covered ways to do more with less (wash your garden tools, people!), and attending numerous trade shows and houseware launch events to stay up to date on what's new and next. Katy holds a B.F.A. in the history of art from Syracuse University, along with a minor in English and Textual Studies. She earned her M.A. in the history of design and curatorial studies from Parsons School of Design and the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, writing her thesis on "'The good life' in post-war America." Learn about BHG's Editorial Process Updated on March 24, 2022 This year BHG is turning 100! We've been helping families make their homes and lives better since our first issue in 1922. (Fun fact: We were originally called Fruit Garden and Home.) Those early magazines dealt almost exclusively with garden topics, but as the years—and our name and logo—progressed, we've been busy adding to our encyclopedia of home helpers. We built a first-of-its-kind "taste-testing kitchen" in 1928, by the 1970s, we had over 7 million subscribers. We erected a half-acre test garden in the middle of Des Moines, Iowa, in 1998, and in all the years between filled our pages with ideas for elevating everyday living. We're so proud of the friendship and trust we've built with our readers over the years. And we're excited to explore what's next in the print and digital pages of Better Homes & Gardens, all to make our homes, meals, and gardens, well, better. To kick off our anniversary year, we're highlighting the food that has graced our pages and found life in our cookbook, as well as the last 100 years of home design. BHG has been a staple in homes around the globe for the last century, and we're celebrating this major milestone throughout the year. 100 Years of Interior Design Since our very first issue, Better Homes & Gardens has reported on how our homes function. As an iconic brand, we've successfully captured the last century of home design trends—trends that first emerged in the 1920s are still roaring in 2022. Take a walk down memory lane with some of the most iconic home design trends through the last century that may bring back memories of your childhood home—and even your grandmother's home. Meet the Wassily Chair, an Icon of Modern Design Whose History Dates Back to the 1920s How Jadeite Glassware First Charmed Americans During the Depression How Modernism Became an Iconic Decorating Style During the 1940s How Melamine Became the Must-Have Plastic for Laid-Back Living Then & Now: Celebrating Food Through the Years Carson Downing The Red Plaid Cookbook What began as a 10-cent, 56-page recipe pamphlet has become the go-to cookbook for nearly 40 million home cooks. With so many issues in circulation and a best-selling cookbook, we were able to start a few trends over the years. Ask any BH&G foodie and they'll humbly tell you: 1950s Food editor Myrna Johnston made the Tossed Salad "happen." And that backyard BBQ you're looking forward to this summer? You're welcome! But not everything we did was a hit. We've had our share of misses over the years. In fact, we dug through the Red Plaid cookbook for recipes that made us wonder how they would hold up today. Watch our Then & Now video series to see how some questionable vintage food ideas look in today's kitchens: Then & Now: A Modern Take on Vintage Recipes A Modern Take on the 1950s Frosted Sandwich Loaf Recipe Does This 1950s Jello Salad Stand the Test of Time? Then and Now: 100 Years of Better Homes & Gardens Recipes Jacob Fox Take a stroll through the history of food at BH&G and discover how the food trends of today aren't necessarily so different than the ones we've seen in the past. See the Lasting Trends Baking at Better Homes & Gardens Has Always Been Sweet Our Best Birthday Cake Recipes The Best Ever Chocolate Cake You'll Never Find Cinnamon Rolls Better than These The Best Cookie Recipes of All Time PHOTO: Andy Lyons PHOTO: Adam Albright PHOTO: Scott Little The Best of the Best: Our Most Popular BH&G Recipes Pull-Apart Stuffing Ring Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole Shrimp and Sausage Boil Copycat Turkey Chili Credits Edit: Lili Zarghami, Katlyn Moncada, Katy Kiick-Condon, Stephen OrrProduction: Casey OtoDigital Creative Director: Julia Bohan-UpadhyaySr. Digital Art Director: Alice MorganMotion Graphics Designer: Ricardo Boncy Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit