''Town Topics: The Journal of Society'' was a magazine published in New York City by
William d'Alton Mann and others from 1879 to 1937 (v. 1-105, no. 56). Title varies: ''Andrew's American Queen; Art, Music, Literature and Society'' (Jan. 1879-Sept. 16, 1882); and ''American Queen'' (Sept. 23, 1882-Feb. 21, 1885)
The magazine had begun life some years earlier as ''The American Queen'', edited by
Louis Keller, the founder of the
Social Register
The ''Social Register'' is a semi-annual publication in the United States that indexes the members of American high society. First published in the 1880s by newspaper columnist Louis Keller, it was later acquired by Malcolm Forbes. Since 2014, ...
, and "dedicated to art, music, literature, and society." Under Mann, however, it ripened into a
scandal sheet, faithfully reporting high-society peccadilloes and often identifying perpetrators by name.
It was possible for the wealthy public figures to delay or bury a story by buying some advertising in the newspaper.
The main method it used was to print an innocuous article with the name of the individual on which it had a piece of hot gossip. On the other side of the page would be a
blind piece going into the scandal without the name of the person involved. By running the article giving identification and the scandal separately it was possible for Mann to avoid liability for extortion, libel and slander.
The publication was responsible for the divorce of
Emily Post
Emily Post ( Price; October 27, 1872 – September 25, 1960) was an American author, novelist, and socialite famous for writing about etiquette.
Early life and education
Post was born Emily Bruce Price in Baltimore, Maryland, possibly in Octob ...
from her husband, Edwin in 1906, when the magazine's most popular feature, titled “Saunterings," exposed Mr. Post's affair with another woman.
[Kolbert, Elizabeth]
"Place Settings"
''The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'', October 20, 2008
References
External links
"A Short History of Rudeness* Love, Robert
"Shakedown!" ''
Columbia Journalism Review
The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its original purpose was "to assess the performance ...
'', April 2006
"Buoyant Buccaneer""New York's School for Scandal Sheets"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Town Topics (magazine)
Defunct magazines published in New York City
Local interest magazines published in New York City
Magazines established in 1879
Magazines disestablished in 1937