The Farmer’s Wife New Book of Quilts was an extension of Farmer’s Wife, a magazine that catered to rural women. Even during the Great Depression, 1,000,000 women subscribed to the monthly periodical. This full-page, full-color advertisement placed inside the back cover—a coveted position for advertisements—sampled the quilts included in the book.

As quiltmaking’s popularity surged beginning about 1915, publishers included quilt advertisements in magazines that reached female readers. Publishers increased their income by creating products, such as quilt patterns, and selling them by mail order. The Farmer’s Wife New Book of Quilts sold for just 25-cents.