The Curtis Publishing Company, founded in 1891 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, became one of the largest and most influential publishers in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

during the early 20th century. The company's publications included the ''

Ladies' Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine that ran until 2016 and was last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th centur ...

'' and ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine 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 influ ...

'', '' The American Home'', ''

Holiday A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. ''Public holidays'' are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are often ...

'', '' Jack & Jill'', and '' Country Gentleman''. In the 1940s, Curtis also had a

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

imprint, Novelty Press. The company declined in the later 20th century, and its publications were sold or discontinued. It now exists as Curtis Licensing, which licenses images of and from Curtis magazine covers and artwork.

History

19th century

The Curtis Publishing Company was founded in 1891 by publisher Cyrus H. K. Curtis, who published the ''People's Ledger'', a news magazine he launched in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

in 1872, and then moved to

, which was a major publishing center in the nation, four years later, in 1876. Curtis established the ''Tribune and Farmer'' in 1879. Curtis' wife,

Louisa Knapp Curtis Louisa Knapp Curtis (October 21, 1851 – February 25, 1910) (also known as Louisa Knapp) was an American columnist and the first editor of the ''Ladies' Home Journal'' from 1883 to 1889. It became one of the most popular magazines published in th ...

, developed a women's section to the magazine and the ''

'', which she edited from 1883 to 1889, all of which became part of Curtis Publishing Company. In 1897, Curtis bought ''

'' for $1000, and developed it into one of the nation's most popular periodicals. The magazine had its roots in

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

's ''

Pennsylvania Gazette ''The Pennsylvania Gazette'' was one of the United States' most prominent newspapers from 1728 until 1800. In the years leading up to the American Revolution, the newspaper served as a voice for colonial opposition to Kingdom of Great Britain, ...

'', which went back to 1728. When Curtis took over the ''Post'', it had a subscription base of 2,000. The base was over one million by 1906 and by 1960 was over six million. Editor George Horace Lorimer brought in top writers and illustrators and helped usher in "American's Golden Age of Illustration." Artists such as

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

were featured as well as J. C. Leyendecker, John Clymer, Stevan Dohanos, Sarah Stilwell-Weber, and John La Gatta.

20th century

Curtis Publishing created a

market research Market research is an organized effort to gather information about target markets and customers. It involves understanding who they are and what they need. It is an important component of business strategy and a major factor in maintaining com ...

division in 1911 under

Charles Coolidge Parlin Charles Coolidge Parlin (1872 – October 15, 1942) was the American "manager of the division of commercial research of the Curtis Publishing Company" in charge of selling advertising spots in the ''Saturday Evening Post''. He is credited as being ...

. The goal of the division was to understand their customers and was one of the first market research firms. Curtis reported record earnings of $21 million on $84 million in revenue in 1929. Curtis spun off their market research division, National Analysts, as an independent organization to provide market research services to business and government. In 1946, Curtis Publishing launched ''

'' magazine, focusing on travel and photo essays. The emergence of television in the late 1940s and early 1950s competed for people's attention and eroded the popularity of general-interest periodicals such as the ''Post'' and the ''Journal''. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reported that both the finance markets and Madison Avenue were watching Curtis Publishing's efforts to save itself after a financial decline. The reason the ''New York Times'' gave for the attention, "the status of the venerable Curtis empire, the colorful cast of characters directing the comeback attempt, the vast sums of money at stake. In addition, Curtis's troubles seemed to reflect the difficulties encountered by the mass magazines industry as a whole in adjusting to an era dominated by the spiraling growth of television." It wasn't until 1961 and 1962 that the struggle became evident in lost revenue. In 1961, Curtis Publishing president Robert A. MacNeal announced that the company had lost money for the first time in the more than seven decades since its incorporation. The company's financials showed a loss of $4,194,000 on $178.4 million in revenue that year. The following year, in 1962, company had total revenues of $149 million and a loss of $18.9 million. Curtis management went to Serge Semenenko who had helped the

Hearst Corporation Hearst Corporation, Hearst Holdings Inc. and Hearst Communications Inc. comprise an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate owned by the Hearst family and based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan in New York ...

to reorganize and Semenenko arranged for a six-bank syndicate to loan $10.5 million to Curtis. Many experts wrote of multiple issues tied to the decline of Curtis. Many of their competitors such as Time, Inc. and

McCall Corporation McCall Corporation was an American publishing company that produced some popular magazines. These included ''Redbook'' for women, ''Blue Book (magazine), Bluebook'' for men, ''McCall's'', the ''Saturday Review (US magazine), Saturday Review'', a ...

had diversified while Curtis remained focused on their two key periodicals, ''

'' and ''

''. Their other magazines, ''Holiday'', ''Jack & Jill'', and ''American'', could not make up the lost revenue of the main periodicals. ''The Saturday Evening Post'' had been surpassed by ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' magazine as the top mass market periodical in 1942 and then spiraled into a ten-year decline in advertising revenue after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. ''Ladies' Home Journal'' lost its position to McCall's in 1960. Other experts said that the two flagship magazines "simply grew old." Curtis "fell into a formula that tended to attract older readers rather than the young married couples that advertisers wanted to reach." They also stayed away from the more aggressive circulation promotions used by their competitors. Matthew J. Culligan, President of Curtis, cited another financial drag from using its own presses and paper. Culligan said, "This sort of self-sufficiency is fine in good times but it imposes an intolerable burden when business goes bad." They had also failed to follow the model of some of their competitors by diversifying into television, news magazines or book publishing after World War II. Ben Hibbs, the editor of ''The Saturday Evening Post'' since 1942, retired, as did Bruce and Beatrice Gould of the ''Ladies' Home Journal'' (editors since 1935). The ''Post'' attempted to reinvent itself with more controversial articles and flashy graphics. Two editors, Robert Fouss of the ''Saturday Evening Post'', and Curtiss Anderson of ''Ladies' Home Journal'', quickly came and went.

Ted Patrick Theodore "Ted" Roosevelt Patrick, Jr. (born 1930) is an American anti-cult activist, whose invention and prolific use of the practice known as deprogramming led him to being referred to as the "father of deprogramming." In the early 1970s, fol ...

, editor of ''Holiday'' magazine, said that aggressive cost-cutting would be the kiss of death to ''Holiday''. Curtis received another loan of $5.5 million in 1964 to be used to make investments in new editorial properties. Perfect Film loaned the company $5 million in 1968 at the request of Curtis's primary loan holder, First National Bank of Boston, to extend its loans. Curtis sold its Philadelphia headquarters to real estate developer John W. Merriam for $7.3 million to pay off most of the First National loan; it leased half of the building back for its operations. In 1968, Curtis Publishing sold the ''Ladies' Home Journal'' and ''The American Home'' to Downe Communications for $5.4 million in stock; it sold the stock for operating revenue. The list of six million ''Post'' subscribers was sold to ''

'' for cash, a $2.5 million loan, and a contract with Curtis' circulation and printing services subsidiaries. Despite these attempts to revive the ''Saturday Evening Post'', and failing to find a purchaser for the magazine, Curtis Publishing shut it down in 1969. In March 1969, the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...

directed Curtis to offer cash refunds for unfulfilled portions of ''Post'' subscriptions. Perfect Film purchased Curtis Circulation Company that same year. In 1976, The Saturday Evening Post Society was spun off from Curtis to resume publication of its flagship magazine. U.S. Kids was formed, which publishes their portfolio of children's magazines.

21st century

In the 21st century, Curtis Publishing licenses magazine covers and artwork from their archive of 4,000 images from over 500 artists. As Curtis Licensing, they provide images for advertising and to companies creating and selling memorabilia. The company's

cover paintings and other images have been used for fine art and prints, greeting cards, figurines, and other collectibles.

Properties and subsidiaries

*''

'' *''

'' *'' The American Home'' *''

'' *'' Jack & Jill'' *'' The Country Gentleman'' * Novelty Press * National Analysts *Royal Electrotype Company

Curtis Center and ''Dream Garden''

In 1910, the company built its headquarters building at the intersection of South Sixth and Walnut Streets about southwest of

Independence Hall Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence, Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States were debated and adopted by the Founding Fathers of ...

. The offices and press building and the company's

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the rural–urban fringe, out ...

) was designed by Edgar Viguers Seeler (1867–1929) in the

Beaux Arts style Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorporated Renaissance and B ...

. The square-block building stretches from South Sixth to South Seventh Street east to west, and from Sansom Street to Walnut Street north to south. The building was renovated in 1990 by Oldham and Seltz and John Milner Associates."The Curtis Center"
and on USHistory.org The interior of the building features a terraced waterfall and fountain, an atrium with faux-Egyptian palm trees, and the glass-mosaic ''Dream Garden'', designed by

Maxfield Parrish Maxfield Parrish (July 25, 1870 – March 30, 1966) was an American painter and illustration, illustrator active in the first half of the 20th century. His works featured distinctive saturated hues and idealized neo-classical imagery. The ...

and made by

Louis Tiffany Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is associated with the Art Nouveau, art nouveauLander, David ...

and Tiffany Studios in 1916. The glass-mosaic work was commissioned by Edward Bok, who was the Senior Editor of the company at the time. It was exhibited at Tiffany Studios in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

for a month before being installed in the building's lobby, which took six months. The mosaic is made of 100,000 pieces of hand-fixed Favrile glass in 260 different colors."Dream Garden"
on ''USHistory.org'' In 1998, the mosaic was sold to casino owner

Steve Wynn Stephen Alan Wynn ( Weinberg; born January 27, 1942) is an American real estate developer and art collector. He was known for his involvement in the luxury casino and hotel industry, prior to being forced to step down in 2018. Early in his care ...

, who intended to move it to one of his casinos in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. This was blocked by local historians and art lovers, who raised $3.5 million to purchase the work and prevent its being moved from the city. The money was provided by the

Pew Charitable Trusts The Pew Charitable Trusts is an independent non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO), founded in 1948. Pew's stated mission is to serve the public interest by "improving public policy, informing the public, and invigorating civic life". ...

to the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1805, it is the longest continuously operating art museum and art school in the United States. The academy's museum ...

, which now owns the work.

References

External links

*Finding aid to th
Curtis Publishing Company records
at th
University of Pennsylvania LibrariesCurtis Publishing Company website
* *Th
Curtis Publishing Company Records
including financial records, advertising standards, magazines and newspaper clippings, are available for research use at the

Historical Society of Pennsylvania The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is a historic research facility headquartered on Locust Street in Center City Philadelphia. It is a repository for millions of historic items ranging across rare books, scholarly monographs, family chron ...

. *http://www.ushistory.org/districts/washingtonsquare/curti.htm
Flickr photos of the Curtis BuildingCurtis Institute of Music website
at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

contains illustrative advertising posters for the Curtis Publishing Company.
FBI file on the Curtis Publishing Company
{{Authority control 1891 establishments in Pennsylvania American companies established in 1891 Companies based in Philadelphia Historic American Buildings Survey in Philadelphia Landmarks in Philadelphia Philadelphia Register of Historic Places Publishing companies established in 1891 Walnut Street (Philadelphia) Washington Square West, Philadelphia