The Best Throwback Photos of Martha Stewart

Many people don't realize that Martha wasn't always considering a career in media—after all, she majored in history as a student at Barnard College in New York City. At first, Martha launched her career by working as an institutional stockbroker on Wall Street: "The job taught me so much about what it takes to build a real business, a real company—a meaningful and useful enterprise," Martha recalled in a feature story about her life's work. But Martha also had plenty of experience in front of the camera by that time. Our founder had modeled during college, and there are plenty of glamorous (and fun!) photographs showcasing just how comfortable she was on set.

Martha's journey to launching her own media company isn't what many would consider conventional. She eventually left Wall Street, but not before she got married to Andrew Stewart in the early 1960s and gave birth to her daughter, Alexis, in 1965. Before she ever dreamed of publishing cookbooks, Martha told Entrepreneur magazine that she first studied Italian, German, and French cuisine while on a modeling assignment in Europe in the early '60s. Her interest in cooking quickly turned into a passion, and she eventually founded a catering company out of the basement of her now famous Turkey Hill home in Westport, Connecticut. In a 2019 interview with Barney's, Martha shared that the recipes she developed as a caterer would eventually be featured in her very first cookbook, Entertaining, in 1982.

From her youth to opening a catering company and forming what's now known as Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, we're sharing the greatest photographs of Martha along the way.

Here, Big Martha hoists our founder onto her hip. Martha was born into the Kostyra family in 1941. She has shared that Big Martha inspired her throughout her life; in 1983, she dedicated the Martha Stewart's Quick Cook cookbook to Big Martha. "To my mother, Martha Kostyra, and her mother, my early teachers," the dedication reads.

Martha has previously shared this family photo with Living editors: It shows her entire family sitting for a formal photograph, including her five siblings and parents, Edward and Martha Kostyra.

Holidays were always celebrated to much fanfare in the Kostyra family. "When I was growing up, my family celebrated every holiday with great enthusiasm," Martha recalls. "For Easter, we would dress up, go to church, and then venture off on an excursion. When I was about 3 years old, my parents took me rowing in New York City's Central Park. To this day, I love sharing the joy of special occasions with family and friends."

"I love this photo, taken by my father when I was about 6 years old with his old Rolleiflex camera in natural light," she says. "As a small girl, I often cut flowers from our garden to make arrangements for my mother. I still look forward to putting together different combinations every spring."

Martha told Living editors that she began modeling professionally in high school; eventually, she would appear in fashion editorials and fashion shows.

Martha also appeared in advertising campaigns throughout her 20s. She modeled for brands such as Breck, Clairol, and Lifebuoy Soap, our founder has said.

Clearly, Martha had some fun while modeling, too! She's always enjoyed working with farm animals: "Ever since I've owned a house, I've craved backyard farmyard animals," she writes in a post about her collection of animals.

"During my modeling days, we didn't have a team of stylists for photo shoots. I had to do my hair myself," Martha says in this guide to recreating her iconic hairstyles.

"After college, I got a job on Wall Street where I became an institutional stockbroker," Martha writes in this biographical piece.

Our founder has always enjoyed traveling, and this snapshot was captured on July 2, 1961, during her honeymoon in the beautiful Vermont countryside. "What a long, long time ago this was! I was carefree and happy on the first day of my honeymoon, wearing a linen sheath I made for the trip," she reminisces. "We drove through beautiful Vermont in our yellow Mercedes-Benz 190. I still love to head out for a drive and explore. You never know what you'll discover."

"Boating has been a favorite pastime of mine ever since I was a newlywed," says Martha, recalling her days on the open seas as pictured in this snapshot circa 1970. "Whether I'm navigating a small Laser, a 40-foot sloop, or a 200-foot yacht, the joy of the open sea, the brisk breezes, and the beauty of it all lure me back again and again."

"One of my most memorable trips with Alexis was when she was 5 years old," our founder says of the excursion pictured here. "We ventured west to Yosemite National Park, where we experienced the splendors of the giant sequoias, and the mountains and vistas of one of nature's most incredible creations. We hiked for miles and even climbed to the top of Vernal Fall. It was a proud day for all of us."

After leaving Wall Street, Martha and Andrew bought property and the home that would eventually become known as Turkey Hill in Westport, Conn. Here, Martha stands in her kitchen, a scene that would later be featured in her 1982 Entertaining guide.

Martha is all about celebrating living, including during the holiday season. "This photo was taken one Thanksgiving in our 1805 kitchen at Turkey Hill, in Connecticut," she shares of this photo. "The fire was roaring, and I was putting the finishing touches on the table, which was set with kerosene lanterns, brown splatterware dishes, and rustic flatware for a small gathering. I loved my pretty blouse and full-waisted skirt in this picture—and the meal we shared with family and friends."

"My assistant found this great photo of me in my library at Turkey Hill," Martha shares on Instagram.

"One of the very first things I did when we moved to our first home, Turkey Hill, was to build a chicken coop and populate it with a delightful assortment of laying hens," Martha recalls of this snapshot taken in 1972. "I called this effort 'backyard animal husbandry,' and it helped start a nationwide trend for homegrown poultry and eggs."

Martha's daughter Alexis Stewart was born in 1965. According to our timeline, this photo of Martha and Alexis was taken in 1975, and shows Martha teaching Alexis how to make homemade pasta in their Turkey Hill home. "One of the great joys of motherhood is passing knowledge down to your children," Martha says of this moment. "My daughter, Alexis, was an avid student of all things. She especially loved learning how to do complicated tasks in the kitchen, like making pasta. It is our lucky privilege as mothers to impart family recipes, beloved traditions, and special talents to our kids so they can, in turn, do the same. Alexis is a fantastic cook today, and an incredible teacher to her two kids, my grandchildren, Jude, 11, and Truman, 10. This makes me so, so happy!"

Eventually, Martha expanded her menagerie. "Years ago at Turkey Hill, I raised these beautiful gray geese from eggs," Martha recalls of this photo, taken in August 1976. "They were interesting and taught me a lot. They, and the chickens and turkeys I nurtured, infused in me a love of sustainable, organic, and carefully raised poultry and eggs. Today on my farm in Bedford, I have geese from five different countries, and they continue to do the same."

"I have such fond memories of when this photo was taken," Martha recalls of this snapshot from 1978. "I was learning to bake in our 1805 farmhouse's beehive oven, which was fired with wood. After much trial and error, I successfully made many delicious breads, pizzas, roasts, and even pies in it to share with family and friends."

Martha eventually left Wall Street to chase another dream: opening her catering business. "I've always loved teaching," Martha says of this candid shot, circa 1980. "Even when I was running a busy catering business, I liked hosting small cooking seminars in my professional kitchen in Westport, Connecticut. My audience has certainly grown, thanks to television, publishing, and the internet, but years later it still brings me so much joy."

Martha first published Entertaining in 1982, and the book became instantly popular before launching Martha into the media sphere. "[This is] the original cover of Entertaining; the table is set with my grandmother's china, my mother-in-law's silver, 'Depression' glass goblets, and garden poppies," Martha told Living editors.

"My father, Edward Kostyra, was a passionate organic gardener. When I was a child, he instilled in me the importance of growing one's own vegetables. As soon as I had my own home, I tilled a great big patch of ground and started planting everything my family and I loved to eat: string beans, tomatoes, cabbages, salad greens, potatoes, carrots, and on and on. The tradition continues today—indoors as well as outdoors."

While cooking is a major part of Martha's approach to homemaking, our founder has become synonymous with a golden standard in all areas of your home.

"This photo was taken more than three decades ago in my vegetable garden at Turkey Hill," Martha says of this snapshot, circa summer 1988. "But the same shot could easily have been snapped this morning, when I was outside on my farm in Bedford, transplanting broccoli. Once a gardener, always a gardener."

Martha first launched Living in the holiday season of December 1990. "By 1990, I was the 49-year-old mother of a grown daughter, a divorcée, and I knew that I was onto something big," Martha writes in this post about her journey. "I've been dubbed a 'late bloomer,' and I love the moniker. I published the first issue of Martha Stewart Living that year, and have been pursuing my dreams ever since."

"In 1993, my friend Sandy Hill persuaded me to join her and two other friends in climbing Africa's highest mountain," our founder says of her trip, pictured here. "Mount Kilimanjaro has been the subject of many famous stories, but no words can really describe the extraordinary vistas you see at sunrise from the topmost rocky ledge at 19,340 feet. At the time we summited, it actually snowed!"

"When we started the magazine, we knew we wanted to cover the holidays in a big way," she recalls of this photograph taken in the fall of 1993. "Over the years, we've handcrafted many different wreaths out of natural materials, like this one with viburnum berries and crab apples. Thirty years later, we are still dreaming up ways to make this time of year special."

"We always joke at Living that we celebrate every holiday several times during the year. This photo illustrates that fact very nicely. I remember donning winter clothes and dragging a Christmas tree into my friend Salli LaGrone's decorated house in Nashville, Tennessee, to photograph a holiday meal for our December issue. It was actually shot in September!"

Here, Martha is pictured hiking in the beautiful Zion National Park while on a trip with Alexis for her 50th birthday—she writes that "Alexis and I love visiting these 'shrines' to nature."

Martha later turned Living's success into her first television series, the Martha Stewart Living program, which launched in 1993.

Here's Martha accepting some of the first of her many awards—she's won nine Emmy awards since 1995 and has been nominated 14 other times in the daytime category, according to IMDb.

"In 1996, a group of us from Living went to Marfa, Texas, to visit and photograph the extraordinary museum, landscape, and town that the artist Donald Judd helped expand in western Texas," she recalls of this snapshot. "We savored not only the art, but also the food of the region. Here I am carrying dessert buñuelos—fried dough in the shape of baskets—that we made and filled with ice cream. They were delicious. It was an extraordinary visit!"

"My original idea was that living is limitless," she once said in the February 1998 issue of Living. "It could be expanded and expounded upon, enlarged and extolled. Thirty years later, our mission still holds true: Making your life better every day is our goal."

At the turn of the millennium, Martha embarked on a New Year's trek. "I invited a group of friends to my house on Mount Desert Island, in Maine, to celebrate the fin de siècle," she recalls. "Some believe that the sun first touches the United States at the easternmost point of the island, so we hiked there before dawn on January 1, 2000, to catch the earliest rays of the morning and welcome the new century. What fun we had! I'll never forget it."

That mission includes all special occasions. If you asked Martha what her favorite holiday is, one comes to mind: "I've always loved Halloween. I can't remember a year when I did not dress up in a costume—like this unique and ghostly equestrienne—or a fun, prankish outfit to cover up my true identity," she says of this costume featured in the Living October 2009 issue. "That's what the holiday is for me: a time of lighthearted scariness and mystery."

Speaking of guests, Martha has hosted quite the cast of individuals on her television shows over the years. Here, she poses with actress and entrepreneur Jennifer Garner.

Martha even hosted Julia Child, the spunky, all-American chef known for making French cuisine accessible to gourmet and home cooks around the globe with Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Our founder has also worked with Alice Waters, the face of farm-to-table cuisine, and Diana Kennedy, long associated with quintessential Mexican cuisine.

They're the best of friends now, but believe it or not, Snoop and Martha's friendship emerged out of a bowl of mashed potatoes when he appeared on the Martha show back in 2008. "Yeah, we were odd," Snoop shared in a Today interview over a decade later. "But we fit right in. You know, cooking with Martha just seemed like the right space to be in."

If the pandemic has taught us (and Martha) anything, it's that family is all-important. "My colleague and our dear friend, Kevin Sharkey, took this photo of my daughter, Alexis, and her two young children and me seven years ago," says Martha of this snapshot taken in September 2014. "It's hard to believe that the kids are now 10 and 9, and way too tall and heavy to carry on our shoulders. They've added so much joy to our lives and have greatly enriched our every day. Mother's Day is always special for me. I hope you can celebrate it with your family!"