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The Saturday Evening Post
The November 28, 1903 cover featuringOtto von Bismarck,illustrated byGeorge Fort Gibbs
FrequencyBimonthly
PublisherSaturday Evening Post Society
Curtis Publishing Co.(1897–1969)
Total circulation237907(December 2018)[1]
First issueAugust 4, 1821(1821-08-04)[2]
CompanySaturday Evening Post Society
CountryUnited States
Based inIndianapolis,Indiana,U.S.
LanguageEnglish
Websitesaturdayeveningpost.com
ISSN0048-9239

The Saturday Evening Postis an Americanmagazine,currently published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influential magazines among the American middle class, with fiction, non-fiction, cartoons and features that reached two million homes every week.

In the 1960s, the magazine's readership began to decline. In 1969,The Saturday Evening Postfolded for two years before being revived as a quarterly publication with an emphasis on medical articles in 1971.

As of the late 2000s,The Saturday Evening Postis published six times a year by the Saturday Evening Post Society, which purchased the magazine in 1982. The magazine was redesigned in 2013.[3]

History

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19th century

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Cover of the January 19, 1924, issue

The Saturday Evening Postwas first published in 1821[2]in the same printing shop at 53Market StreetinPhiladelphia,where theBenjamin Franklin-foundedPennsylvania Gazettewas published in the 18th century.[4]While theGazetteceased publication in 1800, ten years after Franklin's death, thePostlinks its history to the original magazine.[4][5]

Cyrus H. K. Curtis,publisher of theLadies' Home Journal,bought thePostfor $1,000 in 1897.[6]Under the ownership of theCurtis Publishing Company,thePostgrew to become the most widely circulated weekly magazine in the United States. The magazine gained prominent status under the leadership of its longtime editorGeorge Horace Lorimer(1899–1937).[7]

The Saturday Evening Postpublished current event articles, editorials, human interest pieces, humor, illustrations, a letter column, poetry with contributions submitted by readers, single-panel gagcartoons,includingHazelbyTed Key,and stories by leading writers of the time. It was known for commissioning lavish illustrations and original works of fiction. Illustrations were featured on the cover and embedded in stories and advertising. SomePostillustrations continue to be reproduced as posters or prints, especially those byNorman Rockwell.[citation needed]

20th century

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In 1929, at the beginning of the Mexican Repatriation,The Saturday Evening Postran a series on the racial inferiority of Mexicans.[8]

In 1954, it published its first articles on the role of the U.S. in deposingMohammad Mosaddegh,Prime Minister of Iran,in 1953. The article was based on materials leaked byCIAdirectorAllen Dulles.[9]

ThePostreadership began to decline in the late 1950s and 1960s. In general, the decline of general interest magazines was blamed on television, which competed for advertisers and readers' attention. ThePosthad problems retaining readers: the public's taste in fiction was changing, and thePost's conservative politics and values appealed to a declining number of people.[citation needed]Content by popular writers became harder to obtain. Prominent authors drifted away to newer magazines offering more money and status. As a result, thePostpublished more articles on current events and cut costs by replacing illustrations with photographs for covers and advertisements.[citation needed]

In 1967, The magazine's publisher,Curtis Publishing Company,lost a landmarkdefamationsuit,Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts388 U.S. 130(1967),[10]resulting from an article, and was ordered to pay$3,060,000 indamagesto theplaintiff.ThePostarticle implied thatfootballcoachesPaul "Bear" BryantandWally Buttsconspired tofixa game between theUniversity of Alabamaand theUniversity of Georgia.Both coaches sued Curtis Publishing Co. for defamation, each initially asking for $10 million. Bryant eventually settled for $300,000 while Butts' case went to theSupreme Court,which held thatlibeldamages may be recoverable (in this instance against a news organization) when the injured party is a non-public official, if the plaintiff can prove that the defendant was guilty of a reckless lack of professional standards when examining allegations for reasonable credibility. (Butts was eventually awarded $460,000.)[citation needed]

William Emersonwas promoted to editor-in-chief in 1965 and remained in the position until the magazine's demise in 1969.[11]

In 1968,Martin Ackerman,a specialist in troubled firms, became president of Curtis after lending it $5M. With the magazine still in dire financial straits, Ackerman announced that Curtis would reduce printing costs by cancelling the subscriptions of roughly half of its readers. Those who lost their subscriptions were offered a free transfer to a subscription toLifemagazine;LifepublisherTime Inc.paid Curtis $5M for the exchange, easing the company's mounting debts.[12]The move was also widely seen as an opportunity for Curtis to abandon older and more rural readers, who were less valuable to thePost's advertisers.[13]ColumnistArt Buchwaldlampooned the decision, suggesting that "if theSaturday Evening Postconsidered you a deadbeat, you didn't have much choice but to either pretend you were still getting the magazine and live a lie, or move out of the neighborhood before anyone found out. "[14][15]

These last-ditch efforts failed to save the magazine, and Curtis announced in January 1969 that the February 8 issue would be the magazine's last. Ackerman stated that the magazine had lost $5M in 1968 and would lose a projected $3M in 1969.[16]In a meeting with employees after the magazine's closure had been announced, Emerson thanked the staff for their professional work and promised "to stay here and see that everyone finds a job".[17]

At a March 1969post-mortemon the magazine's closing, Emerson stated thatThe Post"was a damn good vehicle for advertising" with competitive renewal rates and readership reports and expressed whatThe New York Timescalled "understandable bitterness" in wishing "that all the one-eyed critics will lose their other eye".[18]Otto Friedrich,the magazine's last managing editor, blamed the death ofThe Poston Curtis. In hisDecline and Fall(Harper & Row, 1970), an account of the magazine's final years (1962–69), he argued that corporate management was unimaginative and incompetent. Friedrich acknowledges thatThe Postfaced challenges while the tastes of American readers changed over the course of the 1960s, but he insisted that the magazine maintained a standard of good quality and was appreciated by readers.[citation needed]

In 1970, control of the debilitated Curtis Publishing Company was acquired from the estate ofCyrus Curtisby Indianapolis industrialistBeurt SerVaas.[19]SerVaas relaunched thePostthe following year on a quarterly basis as a kind ofnostalgiamagazine.[19]

In early 1982, ownership of thePostwas transferred to the Benjamin Franklin Literary and Medical Society, founded in 1976 by thePost's then-editor, Corena "Cory" SerVaas[20](wife of Beurt SerVaas).[21]The magazine's core focus was now health and medicine; indeed, the magazine's website originally noted that the "credibility ofThe Saturday Evening Posthas made it a valuable asset for reaching medical consumers and for helping medical researchers obtain family histories. In the magazine, national health surveys are taken to further current research on topics such ascancer,diabetes,high blood pressure,heart disease,ulcerative colitis,spina bifida,andbipolar disorder."[22]Ownership of the magazine was later transferred to the Saturday Evening Post Society; SerVaas headed both organizations. The range of topics covered in the magazine's articles is now wide, suitable for a general readership.[citation needed]

By 1991, Curtis Publishing Company had been renamed Curtis International, a subsidiary of SerVaas Inc., and had become an importer of audiovisual equipment.[23]Today thePostis published six times a year by the Saturday Evening Post Society, which claims501(c)(3)non-profit organizationstatus.[citation needed]

21st century

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With the January/February 2013 issue, thePostlaunched a major makeover of the publication, including a new cover design and efforts to increase the magazine's profile, in response to a general public misbelief that it was no longer in existence.[24]The magazine's new logo is an update of a logo it had used beginning in 1942.[25]As of October 2018, the complete archive of the magazine is available online.[26]

Legacy

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Illustrations

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ANorman RockwellPostcover illustration in January 1922

In 1916,Saturday Evening PosteditorGeorge Horace LorimerdiscoveredNorman Rockwell,then an unknown 22-year-oldNew York Cityartist. Lorimer promptly purchased two illustrations from Rockwell, using them as covers, and commissioned three more drawings. Rockwell's illustrations of the American family and rural life of a bygone era became icons. During his 50-year career with thePost,Rockwell painted more than 300 covers.[citation needed]

ThePostalso employed Nebraska artistJohn Philip Falter,who became known as "a painter of Americana with an accent of theMiddle West,"who" brought out some of the homeliness and humor of Middle Western town life and home life. "He produced 120 covers for thePostbetween 1943 and 1968, ceasing only when the magazine began displaying photographs on its covers.[citation needed]

Another prominent artist wasCharles R. Chickering,a freelance illustrator who went on to design numerous postage stamps for the U.S. Post Office. Other popular cover illustrators include artists George Hughes,Constantin Alajalov,[27] John Clymer,Alonzo Kimball,W. H. D. Koerner,J. C. Leyendecker,Mead Schaeffer,Charles Archibald MacLellan,John E. Sheridan,Emmett Watson,Douglass Crockwell,andN. C. Wyeth.[28]

Cartoonists have included:Irwin Caplan,Clyde Lamb,Jerry Marcus,Frank O'Neal,Charles M. Schulz,andBill Yates.The magazine ranTed Key's cartoon panel seriesHazelfrom 1943 to 1969.[citation needed]

Literature

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Each issue featured several original short stories and often included an installment of a serial appearing in successive issues. Most of the fiction was written for mainstream tastes by popular writers, but some literary writers were featured. The opening pages of stories featured paintings by the leading magazine illustrators.[citation needed]

ThePostpublished stories and essays byH. E. Bates,Ray Bradbury,Kay Boyle,Agatha Christie,Brian Cleeve,Eleanor Franklin Egan,William Faulkner,F. Scott Fitzgerald,C. S. Forester,Ernest Haycox,Robert A. Heinlein,Kurt Vonnegut,Paul Gallico,Normand Poirier,Hammond Innes,Louis L'Amour,Sinclair Lewis,Joseph C. Lincoln,John P. Marquand,Edgar Allan Poe,Mary Roberts Rinehart,Sax Rohmer,William Saroyan,John Steinbeck,Rex Stout,Rob Wagner,Edith Wharton,andP.G. Wodehouse.[citation needed]

Poetry published came from poets including:Carl Sandburg,Ogden Nash,Dorothy Parker,andHannah Kahn.[citation needed]

Jack London's best-known novelThe Call of the Wildwas first published, in serialized form, in theSaturday Evening Postin 1903.[29]

Emblematic of thePost'sfiction was authorClarence Budington Kelland,who first appeared in 1916–17 with stories of homespun heroes, "Efficiency Edgar" and "Scattergood Baines". Kelland was a steady presence from 1922 until 1961.[citation needed]

For many yearsWilliam Hazlett Upsoncontributed a very popular series of short stories about the escapades of Earthworm Tractors salesman Alexander Botts.[30]

Publication in thePostlaunched careers and helped established artists and writers stay afloat.P. G. Wodehousesaid "the wolf was always at the door" until thePostgave him his "first break" in 1915 by serializingSomething New.[31]

Politics

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After the election ofFranklin D. Roosevelt,PostcolumnistGaret Garrettbecame a vocal critic of theNew Deal.Garrett accused theRoosevelt administrationof initiatingsocialiststrategies.[citation needed]

After Lorimer died, Garrett became editorial writer-in-chief and criticized the Roosevelt administration's support of theUnited Kingdomand efforts to prepare to enterWorld War II,and allegedly showed some support forAdolf Hitlerin some of his editorials. Garrett's positions aroused controversy and may have cost thePostreaders and advertisers in the aftermath ofPearl Harborandthe Holocaust.[citation needed]

Editors

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(Listed from the purchase by Curtis, 1898)[32]

Other notable staff

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[edit]

See also

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Similar magazines

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References

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  1. ^"eCirc for Consumer Magazines".Alliance for Audited Media.December 31, 2018.RetrievedJuly 12,2019.
  2. ^abThe Saturday Evening Post Society (August 4, 2011)."On Our Birthday, a Look at Our Earliest Issues".
  3. ^Higgins, Will (January 2, 2013)."Saturday Evening Post looking for dramatic turnaround".USA Today.RetrievedSeptember 4,2020.
  4. ^ab"History of The Saturday Evening Post".The Saturday Evening Post.RetrievedJune 20,2022.
  5. ^"About the 'Saturday Evening Post'".The Saturday Evening Post.Archived fromthe originalon February 22, 2009.
  6. ^"Curtis Publishing - The Art of Licensing".www.curtispublishing.com.Archived fromthe originalon June 14, 2018.RetrievedJune 14,2018.
  7. ^Tebbel, John.George Horace Lorimer and the Saturday Evening Post.Doubleday & Co., 1948.
  8. ^Ruiz, Vicki L. (1998).Out of the Shadows: Mexican Women in Twentieth-Century America.New York: Oxford University Press. pp.27–29.ISBN978-0-19-513099-7.
  9. ^Douglas Little(November 2004). "Mission Impossible: The CIA and the Cult of Covert Action in the Middle East".Diplomatic History.28(5): 667.doi:10.1111/j.1467-7709.2004.00446.x.JSTOR24914820.
  10. ^388U.S.130(1967)
  11. ^Applebome, Peter."William A. Emerson Jr., Editor in Chief of Saturday Evening Post, Dies at 86",The New York Times,August 26, 2009. Accessed August 30, 2009.
  12. ^"Publishers Agree In Financial Plan",The Kansas City Star,May 19, 1968, page 4A.
  13. ^Lambert B (August 4, 1993)."Martin Ackerman, 61, publisher; closed The Saturday Evening Post".The New York Times.
  14. ^Buchwald, Art."Saturday Evening Post, How Could You?",viaNewsday,May 21, 1968, page 28.
  15. ^Buchwald, Art."The Saturday Evening Post Saga",via theAkron Beacon-Journal,January 19, 1969, page D 11.
  16. ^Bedingfield, Robert E."February 8 Issue of Saturday Evening Post to Be Last",The New York Times,January 11, 1969. Accessed August 29, 2009.
  17. ^Carmody, Deirdre."Magazine staff says sad good-by; Post Secretaries Find a Rose on Desk to Mark the Day",The New York Times,January 11, 1969. Accessed August 29, 2009.
  18. ^Dougherty, Philip H."Postmortem on Saturday Evening Post",The New York Times,March 30, 1969. Accessed August 29, 2009.
  19. ^ab"Return of the Post".Time.June 14, 1971. Archived fromthe originalon February 13, 2009.RetrievedApril 12,2008.
  20. ^"Around the Nation: Saturday Evening Post Sold to Franklin Society".The New York Times.January 10, 1982.RetrievedSeptember 28,2010.
  21. ^Melissa Mace (Fall 2005)."Beyond the Original Mission".Iowa Journalist.Archived fromthe originalon August 3, 2010.RetrievedSeptember 28,2010.
  22. ^"Saturdayeveningpost.com publishes a classic American bi-monthly magazine".RetrievedSeptember 28,2010.
  23. ^"Company News: Briefs".The New York Times.June 26, 1991.RetrievedSeptember 28,2010.
  24. ^Bloomgarden-Smoke, Kara (January 15, 2013)."Magazine Success Story: The Saturday Evening Post Keeps on Going".New York Observer.RetrievedApril 3,2014.
  25. ^The Saturday Evening Post Society."Rockwell—1940s – The Saturday Evening Post".
  26. ^Aridi, Sara (October 24, 2018)."Craving Some Americana? The Saturday Evening Post Archive Is Online".The New York Times.RetrievedFebruary 5,2020.
  27. ^Denny, Diana (December 30, 2011)."Classic Covers: Constantin Alajalov".The Saturday Evening Post.RetrievedMay 23,2013.
  28. ^"Amos Sewell".The Saturday Evening Post.December 3, 2014.RetrievedMay 4,2018.
  29. ^"Jack London: First edition ofThe Call of the Wildin theSaturday Evening Post".manhattanrarebooks-literature.com.The Manhattan Rare Book Company.RetrievedFebruary 9,2010.
  30. ^"Tractor Actor Wins Oscar".Caterpillar Inc.Archived fromthe originalon August 1, 2018.RetrievedSeptember 4,2020.Upson wrote more than 100 stories featuring his exploits with the Earthworm Tractor Company for the Saturday Evening Post from 1927-1974.
  31. ^"The Art of Fiction – P.G. Wodehouse"(PDF).The Paris Review(reprint ed.). 2005. p. 21. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on May 29, 2008.RetrievedJune 9,2008.
  32. ^Otto Friedrich,Decline and Fall(Harper & Row, 1970), flyleaf, chapter 2, and passim, provides info for 1898–1969
  33. ^"Letters: From the Editor".The Saturday Evening Post.RetrievedJuly 7,2009.
  34. ^Smith, Steve (January 18, 2012)."Steve Slon to Lead The Saturday Evening Post".Archived fromthe originalon January 25, 2012.RetrievedJanuary 31,2012.
  35. ^Slon's resume atstevenslon.com/sts_01CV.htmlshows editorial direction since October 2010 [when Stephen George left]
  36. ^Editorial realignment revealed in masthead of September/October 2022 issue.
  37. ^"Jane Nickerson Steinberg, 83, Food Editor".The New York Times.March 2, 2000.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedSeptember 28,2023.

Further reading

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  • Cohn, Jan.Creating America: George Horace Lorimer and the Saturday Evening Post(University of Pittsburgh Press, 1990)
  • Damon-Moore, Helen.Magazines for the millions: Gender and commerce in the Ladies' Home Journal and the Saturday Evening Post, 1880–1910(SUNY Press, 1994)
  • Hall, Roger I. "A system pathology of an organization: the rise and fall of the old Saturday Evening Post."Administrative science quarterly(1976): 185–211.in JSTOR
  • Tebbel, John William.George Horace Lorimer and the Saturday Evening Post(1948)
[edit]
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