Time Inc. Corporate Circulation Records
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Abstract
Corporate Circulation was a department of Time Inc. that supervised marketing of subscriptions for all of the company's magazines which included in-house creation of promotions as well as dealing with outside advertising agencies. The records consist of information on promotion efforts for specific magazines, information on magazine subscribers, and correspondence and agreements with foreign distributors.
Historical Note
Corporate Circulation was a department of Time Inc. that supervised marketing of subscriptions for all of the company's magazines which included in-house creation of promotions as well as dealing with outside advertising agencies. The department existed in two distinct periods; the first was from at least 1939 with P.I. (Pierrepont Isham) Prentice as Director from at least 1939 to 1942 and Francis Pratt serving in that role from at least 1944 to 1951, when the department was broken up to allow executives to concentrate their efforts on fewer magazines, or a single one, rather than having responsibility for all of them. This was purely a change in organizational structure with no positions eliminated so records continued to be produced by the same people with the same subject matter, which accounts for the presence in the collection of records post-dating the breakup of the unified Corporate Circulation department.
This reorganization was reversed in 1972 when the Corporate Circulation department was recreated to increase efficiency. The directorship was held by Kelso Sutton from 1972 to 1975, Ira R. "Ike" Slagter from 1975 to 1978, Lawrence Crutcher from 1978 to 1981, Christopher Meigher from 1981 to 1983, and, after a brief return by Crutcher in that year, Richard "Chip" Angle from 1983 to 1985. During Slagter's directorship some magazine concepts were studied and developed but ultimately never published. In 1985 the second incarnation of the department was divided again into two parts reporting to Chris Meigher and Bob Miller, respectively. The two parts ultimately worked underneath the umbrella of the Magazine Group.
The collection includes correspondence and contracts with foreign business entities to market and sell Time Inc. magazines abroad, many of which post-date the break-up of the first incarnation of Corporate Circulation. The most common correspondent on Time. Inc's side in these files is Vince Canavan, Credit Manager. It is likely that when the second incarnation of Corporate Circulation was created, it inherited these records.
Arrangement
The materials within the Time Inc. Corporate Circulation Files record group are organized into three series: Series I. General Files; Series II. International Distribution Files; and Series III. Magazine Development Files.
Scope and Contents
The collections consists of information on promotion efforts for specific magazines, including new magazines in development; samples of direct mailing promotions; correspondence including inter-office communications and letters from subscribers (complaints, etc.); budgets; information on magazine subscribers (subscription figures, rate of renewal, demographics, etc.); and correspondence and agreements with foreign distributors.
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Conditions Governing Access
Materials in this collection are stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.
Open to qualified researchers with the exception of restricted materials. Restricted materials include contracts. Restricted materials are located in box R86.
Conditions Governing Use
Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.
Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.
Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions
Preferred Citation
This record group should be cited as Time Inc. Corporate Circulation Records, MS 3009-RG 50, New-York Historical Society.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Time Inc. in 2015.
About this Guide
Processing Information
1956 and Before, 1970 and Later, and International Files of the Corporate Circulation Records were processed by Allen Thomas in 2020. The original folders were retained although some documents were transferred to archival containers in instances of overcrowding. Thomas created the inventory and other descriptive notes for these series and the collection-level notes. The records were organized into series based on the original groupings of folders, and arrangement was imposed. Generic binders were disassembled and not retained, and their contents rehoused.
In 2021, Holly Deakyne rearranged the finding aid to make 1956 and Before and 1970 and Later subseries within a series of General Files. Deakyne also processed the Magazine Development Files. The original folders were retained although some documents were transferred to archival containers in instances of overcrowding or when the original folder was in bad condition. Arrangement was imposed. Deakyne created the inventory and other descriptive notes for this series.