American Magazine
Encyclopedia
The American Magazine was a periodical publication
founded in June 1906
, a continuation of failed publications purchased a few years earlier from publishing mogul Miriam Leslie
. The original title, Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly, had began publishing in 1876 and was renamed Leslie's Monthly Magazine in 1904, and then was renamed again as Leslie's Magazine in 1905. From September 1905 through May 1906 it was called the American Illustrated Magazine; then subsequently shortened as The American Magazine until publication ceased in 1956. It kept continuous volume numbering throughout its history.
In June 1906, muckraking
journalist
s Ray Stannard Baker
, Lincoln Steffens
and Ida M. Tarbell
left McClure's
to help create American Magazine. Baker contributed articles using the pseudonym David Grayson. Under John S. Phillips, who served as editor until 1915, the monthly magazine departed somewhat from the muckraking style and focused on human interest stories, social issues and fiction. Initially published by his Phillips Publishing Company of Springfield
, Ohio
, it later was taken over by Crowell Publishing Company, which merged with Collier's
. The American Magazine was published by Crowell-Collier until it folded in 1956.
Merle Crowell served as editor of American Magazine from 1923 until 1929 when Sumner Blossom
took over. Blossom, who had been editor of Popular Science
, was there for the last 27 years of the magazine's existence. Fictional serial
s and short stories
were a popular feature, and the magazine published several winners of the O. Henry Awards. High-profile writers contributed articles on a variety of topics.
During his editorship, Blossom adopted the unusual policy of hiding the author's name on all works of fiction during the selection process as a way to encourage new fiction writers. The magazine's staff learned the author's identity only once they accepted or rejected a manuscript.
The American Magazines last issue was displayed on newsstands in August 1956.
Periodical publication
Periodical literature is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar examples are the newspaper, often published daily, or weekly; or the magazine, typically published weekly, monthly or as a quarterly...
founded in June 1906
1906 in literature
The year 1906 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* December 24 - Reginald Fessenden transmits the first radio program, a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech, broadcasts....
, a continuation of failed publications purchased a few years earlier from publishing mogul Miriam Leslie
Miriam Leslie
Miriam Leslie was an American publisher and author. She was the wife of Frank Leslie and the heir to his publishing business which she developed into a paying concern from a state of precarious indebtedness....
. The original title, Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly, had began publishing in 1876 and was renamed Leslie's Monthly Magazine in 1904, and then was renamed again as Leslie's Magazine in 1905. From September 1905 through May 1906 it was called the American Illustrated Magazine; then subsequently shortened as The American Magazine until publication ceased in 1956. It kept continuous volume numbering throughout its history.
In June 1906, muckraking
Muckraker
The term muckraker is closely associated with reform-oriented journalists who wrote largely for popular magazines, continued a tradition of investigative journalism reporting, and emerged in the United States after 1900 and continued to be influential until World War I, when through a combination...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
s Ray Stannard Baker
Ray Stannard Baker
Ray Stannard Baker , also known by his pen name David Grayson, was an American journalist and author born in Lansing, Michigan...
, Lincoln Steffens
Lincoln Steffens
-Biography:Steffens was born April 6, 1866, in San Francisco. He grew up in a wealthy family and attended a military academy. He studied in France and Germany after graduating from the University of California....
and Ida M. Tarbell
Ida M. Tarbell
Ida Minerva Tarbell was an American teacher, author and journalist. She was known as one of the leading "muckrakers" of the progressive era, work known in modern times as "investigative journalism". She wrote many notable magazine series and biographies...
left McClure's
McClure's
McClure's or McClure's Magazine was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with creating muckraking journalism. Ida Tarbell's series in 1902 exposing the monopoly abuses of John D...
to help create American Magazine. Baker contributed articles using the pseudonym David Grayson. Under John S. Phillips, who served as editor until 1915, the monthly magazine departed somewhat from the muckraking style and focused on human interest stories, social issues and fiction. Initially published by his Phillips Publishing Company of Springfield
Springfield, Ohio
Springfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River, Buck Creek and Beaver Creek, approximately west of Columbus and northeast of Dayton. Springfield is home to Wittenberg...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, it later was taken over by Crowell Publishing Company, which merged with Collier's
Collier's Weekly
Collier's Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. With the passage of decades, the title was shortened to Collier's....
. The American Magazine was published by Crowell-Collier until it folded in 1956.
Editors
With the changes in 1915, the periodical's editor was John M. Siddall (1915-23), and it expanded its market considerably by concentrating on female readership. The cover of the September 1917 issue announced: "This Magazine's Circulation Has Doubled in 20 Months." The September 1922 cover stated circulation had reached 1.8 million.Merle Crowell served as editor of American Magazine from 1923 until 1929 when Sumner Blossom
Sumner Blossom
Sumner N. Blossom was an American magazine editor. During the 1920s, Blossom worked as editor for Popular Science magazine...
took over. Blossom, who had been editor of Popular Science
Popular Science
Popular Science is an American monthly magazine founded in 1872 carrying articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. Popular Science has won over 58 awards, including the ASME awards for its journalistic excellence in both 2003 and 2004...
, was there for the last 27 years of the magazine's existence. Fictional serial
Serial (literature)
In literature, a serial is a publishing format by which a single large work, most often a work of narrative fiction, is presented in contiguous installments—also known as numbers, parts, or fascicles—either issued as separate publications or appearing in sequential issues of a single periodical...
s and short stories
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
were a popular feature, and the magazine published several winners of the O. Henry Awards. High-profile writers contributed articles on a variety of topics.
During his editorship, Blossom adopted the unusual policy of hiding the author's name on all works of fiction during the selection process as a way to encourage new fiction writers. The magazine's staff learned the author's identity only once they accepted or rejected a manuscript.
The American Magazines last issue was displayed on newsstands in August 1956.
Notable contributors
- Sherwood AndersonSherwood AndersonSherwood Anderson was an American novelist and short story writer. His most enduring work is the short story sequence Winesburg, Ohio. Writers he has influenced include Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, J. D. Salinger, and Amos Oz.-Early life:Anderson was born in Clyde, Ohio,...
- Harry J. AnslingerHarry J. AnslingerHarry Jacob Anslinger held office as the Assistant Prohibition Commissioner in the Bureau of Prohibition, before being appointed as the first Commissioner of the U.S. Treasury Department's Federal Bureau of Narcotics on August 12, 1930.Anslinger held office an unprecedented 32 years in his role...
- J. Ogden ArmourJ. Ogden ArmourJonathan Ogden Armour was an American meatpacking magnate in Chicago, and owner and president of Armour and Company. During his tenure as president, Armour & Co...
- Irving BachellerIrving BachellerAddison Irving Bacheller was an American journalist and writer who founded the first modern newspaper syndicate in the United States.- Birth and education :...
- John BarrymoreJohn BarrymoreJohn Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
- Neith BoyceNeith BoyceNeith Boyce Hapgood was a U.S. novelist and playwright.She married Hutchins Hapgood on June 22, 1899...
- Frances Hodgson BurnettFrances Hodgson BurnettFrances Eliza Hodgson Burnett was an English playwright and author. She is best known for her children's stories, in particular The Secret Garden , A Little Princess, and Little Lord Fauntleroy.Born Frances Eliza Hodgson, she lived in Cheetham Hill, Manchester...
- Ellis Parker ButlerEllis Parker ButlerEllis Parker Butler was an American author.Butler was born in Muscatine, Iowa. He was the author of more than 30 books and more than 2,000 stories and essays and is most famous for his short story "Pigs is Pigs", in which a bureaucratic stationmaster insists on levying the livestock rate for a...
- Leslie CharterisLeslie CharterisLeslie Charteris , born Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin, was a half-Chinese, half English author of primarily mystery fiction, as well as a screenwriter. He was best known for his many books chronicling the adventures of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint."-Early life:Charteris was born to a Chinese father...
- Agatha ChristieAgatha ChristieDame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
- Eustace Cockrell
- Arthur Conan DoyleArthur Conan DoyleSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
- Courtney Ryley CooperCourtney Ryley CooperCourtney Ryley Cooper was an American circus performer, publicist and writer. During his career he published over 30 books, many focusing on crime; J. Edgar Hoover considered him at one time "the best informed man on crime in the U...
- Jane CowlJane CowlJane Cowl was an American film and stage actress and playwright "notorious for playing lacrymose parts". Actress Jane Russell was named in Cowl's honor.-Biography:...
- Will DurantWill DurantWilliam James Durant was a prolific American writer, historian, and philosopher. He is best known for The Story of Civilization, 11 volumes written in collaboration with his wife Ariel Durant and published between 1935 and 1975...
- Amelia EarhartAmelia EarhartAmelia Mary Earhart was a noted American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first woman to receive the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded for becoming the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean...
- Edna FerberEdna FerberEdna Ferber was an American novelist, short story writer and playwright. Her novels were especially popular and included the Pulitzer Prize-winning So Big , Show Boat , and Giant .-Early years:Ferber was born August 15, 1885, in Kalamazoo, Michigan,...
- F. Scott FitzgeraldF. Scott FitzgeraldFrancis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
- Henry FordHenry FordHenry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
- Graham GreeneGraham GreeneHenry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
- Zane GreyZane GreyZane Grey was an American author best known for his popular adventure novels and stories that presented an idealized image of the Old West. Riders of the Purple Sage was his bestselling book. In addition to the success of his printed works, they later had second lives and continuing influence...
- Dashiell HammettDashiell HammettSamuel Dashiell Hammett was an American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories, and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade , Nick and Nora Charles , and the Continental Op .In addition to the significant influence his novels and stories had on...
- Eric HatchEric S. HatchEric S. Hatch was an American writer on the staff of The New Yorker and a novelist and screenwriter best known for his book 1101 Park Avenue that became a hit film under the title My Man Godfrey....
- Syd HoffSyd HoffSyd Hoff was a Jewish-American cartoonist and children's book author. Although best known for his classic early reader Danny and the Dinosaur, his cartoons appeared in a multitude of genres, including advertising commissions for such companies as Eveready Batteries, Jell-O, S.O.S Pads, Rambler,...
- Clarence Budington KellandClarence Budington KellandClarence Budington Kelland was an American writer. He once described himself as "the best second-rate writer in America"....
- Jack LaitJack LaitJack Lait was an American journalist.-Life:Born Jacquin Leonard Lait in New York City, he became renowned during his fifty year career in journalism as one of the leading newspapermen of the first half of the 20th century...
- Walter LippmannWalter LippmannWalter Lippmann was an American intellectual, writer, reporter, and political commentator famous for being among the first to introduce the concept of Cold War...
- William J. Locke
- Edison Marshall
- Helen Topping Miller
- John A. MorosoJohn A. MorosoJohn Antonio Moroso was an American author.Moroso was born into an Italian-American family, possibly in South Carolina. During the 1910s he wrote short stories for Collier's Weekly and other major publications. He also contributed his writings to the "American Boy Adventure Stories," a series of...
- Honoré Willsie Morrow
- Albert Jay NockAlbert Jay NockAlbert Jay Nock was an influential United States libertarian author, educational theorist, and social critic of the early and middle 20th century.- Life and work :...
- Kathleen NorrisKathleen NorrisKathleen Thompson Norris was an American novelist and wife of fellow writer Charles Norris, whom she wed in 1909...
- Vance PackardVance PackardVance Packard was an American journalist, social critic, and author.- Life and career :He was born in Granville Summit, Pennsylvania to parents Philip J. Packard and Mabel Case Packard...
- William Dudley PelleyWilliam Dudley PelleyWilliam Dudley Pelley was an American extremist and spiritualist who founded the Silver Legion in 1933, and ran for President in 1936 for the Christian Party.-Family:...
- General John J. PershingJohn J. PershingJohn Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing, GCB , was a general officer in the United States Army who led the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I...
- Channing PollockChanning Pollock (writer)Channing Pollock was an American playwright, critic and writer of film scenarios.-External links:* from Howard University*...
- Olive Higgins ProutyOlive Higgins ProutyOlive Higgins Prouty was an American novelist and poet, best known for her pioneering consideration of psychotherapy in Now, Voyager Olive Higgins Prouty (10 January 1882 – 24 March 1974) was an American novelist and poet, best known for her pioneering consideration of psychotherapy in Now,...
- Mary Roberts RinehartMary Roberts RinehartMary Roberts Rinehart was an American writer, often called the American Agatha Christie. She is considered the source of the phrase "The butler did it", although she did not actually use the phrase. She is considered to have invented the "Had-I-But-Known" school of mystery writing...
- Grantland RiceGrantland RiceGrantland Rice was an early 20th century American sportswriter known for his elegant prose. His writing was published in newspapers around the country and broadcast on the radio.-Biography:...
- Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin D. RooseveltFranklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
- Upton SinclairUpton SinclairUpton Beall Sinclair Jr. , was an American author who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle . It exposed conditions in the U.S...
- Rex StoutRex StoutRex Todhunter Stout was an American writer noted for his detective fiction. Stout is best known as the creator of the larger-than-life fictional detective Nero Wolfe, described by reviewer Will Cuppy as "that Falstaff of detectives." Wolfe's assistant Archie Goodwin recorded the cases of the...
- Booth TarkingtonBooth TarkingtonBooth Tarkington was an American novelist and dramatist best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novels The Magnificent Ambersons and Alice Adams...
- Frederick Winslow TaylorFrederick Winslow TaylorFrederick Winslow Taylor was an American mechanical engineer who sought to improve industrial efficiency. He is regarded as the father of scientific management and was one of the first management consultants...
- S. S. Van DineS. S. Van DineS. S. Van Dine was the pseudonym of Willard Huntington Wright , a U.S art critic and author. He created the once immensely popular fictional detective Philo Vance, who first appeared in books in the 1920s, then in movies and on the radio.-Early life and career:Willard Huntington Wright was born...
- H. G. WellsH. G. WellsHerbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
- Peter Dale WimbrowDale WimbrowDale Wimbrow was an American composer, radio artist and writer. He is best known for the poem, The Guy in the Glass, written in 1934.-Early life and education:...
- P. G. WodehouseP. G. WodehouseSir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...
- Harold Bell WrightHarold Bell WrightHarold Bell Wright was a best-selling American writer of fiction, essays, and non-fiction during the first half of the 20th century. Although mostly forgotten or ignored after the middle of the 20th century, he is said to have been the first American writer to sell a million copies of a novel and...