Started in April 1942, rooi rose’s first issue had 4 000 copies because it was during World War II. Permission to print had to be obtained from the paper controller, a challenge which continued until the end of the war.
“The early issues were full of romanticism and stories of love and hope, things the poverty stricken and war-tired Afrikaans women, who had been relocated to harsh city life, really craved,” says Martie Pansegrouw, editor at rooi roise. “Somewhat later, there were also tales of the glamour and excitement of Hollywood’s movie stars and celebrities, and the Afrikaans of the day was somewhat formal and high-flown.”
From the late 1950s, rooi rose was published countrywide until the end of the year 2000, when it became a monthly – the first women’s magazine in the country to adopt this trend.
During the 1980s and early 1990s, the cover girls were mainly models, including a 16-year-old Charlize Theron who won Model van die Jaar in 1991, creating an opportunity for her to travel abroad to model.
Pansegrouw adds, “While other magazines have struggled and given up, rooi rose has been setting the pace for more than seven decades now. In a world where the pace seems to be picking up year after year, we have grown and changed with the reader and the environment. Instead of focusing on an age group, we recognise the various stages of a woman’s life.”
rooi rose offers original journalism with fashion, beauty, food, décor, and gardening features. The magazine aims to entertain, inspire, and empower its readers in print, the web, on cellphones, on tablets, and across social media.
“If there is a recipe for success, it lies therein that rooi rose gives the modern Afrikaans woman more of what she wants, and, at its core, it still remains the classic women’s glossy for today,” concludes Pansegrouw.
For more information, visit www.rooirose.co.za. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.