And they print it on stone tablets

Good Housekeeping is one of the Diary’s favourite publications. Where else would one get valuable advice on how to Hoover, wash up and… er, okay, we don’t really read it, but about 400,000 people do. And, by all accounts, it’s very useful for recipes. Which, in the Diary’s view, makes it better than Jamie Oliver straight away.

The magazine is now 80 years old, believe it or not, and to celebrate its longevity it is offering one advertiser the chance to take out a facing-matter page for the 1922 rate of £40. The current rate is £17, 085. Yes, that’s £17,085.

All the lucky advertiser has to do is complete the following phrase, in no more than 20 words: “Good Housekeeping has been the most successful general interest magazine for 20 years because…”

And no, it’s not a rhetorical question. Answers to the National Magazine Company.