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Time Inc. Records Overview

Call Number

MS 3009

Date

1853-2015, inclusive

Creator

Time, inc.

Extent

4404.22 Linear feet

Language of Materials

The documents in the record groups are in English.

Abstract

The Time Inc. Records document the history of the company from its incorporation in 1922 through the early twenty-first century. The record groups Subject Files, Bio Files, Reference Files, and Annex Files are collections assembled by the Time Inc. Archives that document the history of Time Inc., its departments, and its staff. Other record groups contain files directly from corporate offices and the offices of the editorial and publishing sides of the various publications and other departments at Time Inc. along with smaller collections assembled by the Time Inc. Archives and Library. Because departments frequently collaborated on projects and events or received the same updates via group memoranda or reports, records on the same topic may be found in several record groups or series. These records will generally reflect different viewpoints on the same topic. This Guide is an overview of the portion of the archive that is processed and open to researchers. More detailed description of the content is included in the Guides for the individual record groups that constitute the archive.

Biographical / Historical

HISTORY OF TIME INC.For a comprehensive history of Time Inc. and its founders, see the authorized histories of Time Inc. listed in the citations at the end.

Henry Robinson Luce and Briton Hadden met while classmates at the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut. They became friends while working on rival school publications. Both went on to Yale University and joined the Yale Daily News as freshmen. After graduation in 1920, Luce and Hadden went their separate ways. Luce traveled, briefly studied at Oxford, and worked at The Chicago Daily News. Hadden also traveled and worked at The New York World. Ultimately both ended up working at The Baltimore News in 1922.

There they conceived of the magazine that became Time, with the working title Facts, before forming Time, Incorporated on November 28, 1922 in New York. They published the first issue on March 3, 1923 with a circulation of around 9,000. Luce and Hadden alternated as the president of the company, but shared the masthead as managing editors. Hadden died suddenly in 1929. Luce died in 1967.

Besides the flagship magazine, Time Inc. also launched Fortune, Life, Sports Illustrated, and People, along with the radio news program March of Time. Time Inc. created divisions for wider entertainment offerings such as Time-Life Books and the cable television channel Home Box Office, later known as HBO, and subsidiaries to handle the technical side of printing such as Printing Developments, Inc. Time Inc. also acquired companies such as publisher Little, Brown and Company, and lumber company Temple Industries; and publications such as Architectural Forum and the Washington Star. In 1990, Time Inc. merged with Warner Communications Inc. resulting in Time Warner. Time Inc., the magazine publishing branch, separated from Time Warner in 2014.

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CORPORATE ARCHIVES.The earliest documentation regarding the establishment of the Time Inc. Archives dates from 1941, when a proposal was sent to one of the company's top executives, stating, "We are in favor of starting a confidential file of Archives, which can be kept up to date and which, as time goes on, should prove invaluable for...a comprehensive history of the company...Things we'd like to save: original dummies, prospectuses, and first copies of all the magazines, complete sets of annual reports, complete and up to date material on H.R.L. and his writings, a complete set of all company bulletins, pictures, diaries and personal accounts of all early employees, etc...But there is at present, so far as I know, no systematic effort to keep track of all documents which have long range value to the company...Main thing I am anxious to establish is the habit of saving valuable material. If you approve the project, we can start delving almost at once."

In 1950, after passing through the hands of several long time employees, the Archives Department was formally established, reporting up to the company's Central Services division.

REASON FOR ESTABLISHING ARCHIVES.One of the guiding reasons for establishing the Archive was, as noted above, that as early as 1941, Time Inc. was considering a "comprehensive history of the company." A memo in an Archives folder in the Reference Files, from April 1950, expresses the desire for a "definitive, scholarly history of Time Inc." Three authorized histories have been published so far:

Elson, Robert T. 1968. Time, Inc.: The Intimate History of a Publishing Enterprise, 1923-1941. New York: Atheneum.

Elson, Robert T., and Duncan Norton-Taylor. 1973. The World of Time Inc.: The Intimate History of a Publishing Enterprise, 1941-1960. New York: Atheneum.

Prendergast, Curtis, and Geoffrey Colvin. 1986. The World of Time Inc.: The Intimate History of a Changing Enterprise, 1960-1980. New York: Atheneum.

According to Robert T. Elson, "Luce had a very strong sense of history, and a feeling that Time Inc. was a unique institution. What he wanted was a record of the men and women who worked there."

Arrangement Note

The Time Inc. records are organized into record groups, each described in more detail in its own finding aid. See the Container List for summary information about each record group and the link to the detailed Guide for each group. The detailed Guides provide more information about the scope and arrangement of each record group, including the container inventory.

Scope and Contents Note

The Time Inc. Records document the history of the company from its incorporation in 1922 through the early twenty-first century. Because departments frequently collaborated on projects and events or received the same updates via group memoranda or reports, records on the same topic may be found in several record groups or series. These records will generally reflect different viewpoints on the same topic. Records throughout the collection frequently use the shorthand "34th" to refer to the corporate level offices whcih were on the 34th floor of the Manhattan Time & Life Building, and "541" to refer to the Chicago Time & Life Building.

The four major record groups that document the history of the company as a whole include the Subject Files, created as a reference tool for the writers of authorized histories of Time Inc., focusing on the areas of corporate, editorial, and publishing; the Bio Files documenting the careers of Time Inc. staff, non-staff closely associated with the company, and notable figures; the Reference Files, originally Time Inc.'s central file, documenting the history of various Time Inc. divisions, franchises, and staff organizations, along with runs of staff newsletters; and the Annex Files, an extension of the types of records kept in the Subject Files, but not part of that record group.

Additional record groups that relate to the entire company include the Corporate Administration Records containing files from the corporate-level offices and executives of Time Inc. as well as stock certificates, five-year plans, notary seals, patents, printing agreements, and organizational records from affiliates and subsidiaries; the New Building Department Records documenting the design, construction, and furnishing of the Time & Life Building at Rockefeller Center; the Administration, Human Resources and Personnel Records documenting employee relations, benefits, and personnel policies; Staff Organizations documenting membership organizations involving only Time Inc. staff; the Real Estate Division Records on building and land purchases, construction, and alternations for offices and other facilities of Time Inc. and its subsidiaries; Corporate Public Affairs Department Records documenting the promotion of Time Inc. through newstours, radio and television appearances, community projects, and speeches to groups in the publishing arena; the Time Inc. Annual Reports documenting the creation of new departments and new ventures; transcripts and recordings of staff interviews from an oral history project undertaken by the Time Inc. Archives; files from the Production Department about the supply of paper products and the subsidiary the East Texas Pulp and Paper Company (Eastex); files on the creation of a new corporate logo and trademark; the Corporate Circulation Records documenting the marketing of subscriptions for all of the company's magazines; the Travel Services Records regarding business travel arrangements for Time Inc. employees; the Company Services Records containing flight logs of an aircraft owned by Time Inc. and invoices for purchase of various items of office furniture and equipment; the records of the Comptroller documenting the accounting and financial reporting for the whole company; the realia collected by the Time Inc. Archives documenting branded material created by Time Inc. or awards received by Time Inc.; Time Inc.'s corporate identity rebranding; and Time Inc. International records documenting Time Inc.'s publishing efforts outside of the United States.

Records groups from the editorial side of Time Inc. may include files from a magazine's managing editors, executive editors, and art departments. Of note are the Corporate Editorial Records, a department overseeing all publications at Time Inc. and containing files from Editors-in-Chief Donovan Hedley, Henry Grunwald, and Jason McManus; and the Magazine Development Group's work on designing and launching new magazines.

Other editorial record groups include Time Editorial Records; Fortune Editorial Records; Life Editorial Records; People Editorial Records; Money Editorial Records; Architectural Forum and House & Home Editorial Records; Sports Illustrated Editorial Records; and Sports Illustrated for Kids Records. Additional records regarding Time include a chronological run of covers and bound and annotated issues.

Reference materials used by editorial staff include the Index Cards containing groups of index cards used for searching and cross referencing subject terms in Time Inc.'s major magazines; and files on people, presidents, and subjects from the Time Research Center.

Records groups from the business and publishing side of Time Inc. may include files from a magazine's publishers, business managers, general managers, and advertising, promotion, and circulation departments. Of note are the Advertising Promotion and Circulation Promotion Files assembled by the Time Inc. Archives and containing records and mailings from the advertising promotion and circulation promotion departments of many Time Inc. publications. Additional records on the marketing of the magazines are in the Consumer Marketing Records.

Other business and publishing records groups include Time Publishing and Business Records; Fortune Publishing and Business Records; People Publishing and Business Records; Life Publishing and Business Records; Discover Publishing and Business Records; TV-Cable Week Publishing and Business Records; and Sports Illustrated Publishing and Business Records. The Time Inc. Invitational Records document an annual invitation-only sporting event organized by the magazines' Advertising Sales Departments and held to foster relationships with advertisers. The Time Inc. Postal Rates Records document Time Inc. advocating for its position on postal rates for mailing publications.

Record groups that cover Time Inc.'s forays beyond magazine publishing include the Time-Life News Service Records documenting Time Inc.'s news gathering and reporting service; the The March of Time with files on production of the radio, film, and television versions; the Books Group Records documenting Time Inc.'s ventures in book publishing and book and gift subscription services; the Video Group Records documenting Time Inc.'s work in the cable, film, and television industries including records from Time-Life Films, Time-Life Broadcast, and Home Box Office (HBO); the New Media Records documenting the management of Time Inc.'s internet projects; sales data from music record labels managed by Time Warner Entertainment; and newspaper company records from the previous owner of a newspaper acquired by Time Inc.

Record groups regarding subsidiaries of Time Inc. include the Printing Developments, Inc. containing business expense ledgers and payroll books; the Time Canada Ltd. Records regarding the subsidiary that published the Canadian edition of Time; and Selling Areas-Marketing, Inc. (SAMI) which produced reports on the sale of consumer goods and offered them for sale by subscription.

This Guide is an overview of the portion of the archive that is processed and open to researchers. Further summary of the content is found in the Container List. More detailed description of the content is included in the Guides for the individual record groups that constitute the archive. Researchers with inquiries that appear to fall outside the scope of this material should contact the Curator of Manuscripts.

Access Restrictions

The record groups summarized in this overview Guide are processed and are open to qualified researchers. Any particular restrictions applicable at the record group level are noted in the Guide for that specific group.

Unprocessed material in the archive is not described in this Guide or in record group level Guides, and remains subject to restrictions. Requests for access to unprocessed material in response to specific research inquiries should be directed to the Curator of Manuscripts.

Related Archival Materials Note

The Henry Luce Papers (MS 3014) were acquired with the Time Inc. Records. The collection of books acquired with the records are cataloged as the Time Inc. Reference Library.

Accruals Note

The Time Inc. Records will continue to accrue additional record groups and, in some instances, additional material for existing record groups. Over time these additional materials will be processed and made publicly available, consistent with N-YHS's access policies for its manuscript archives.

Bibliography

Elson, Robert T., and Duncan Norton-Taylor. 1973. The World of Time Inc.: The Intimate History of a Publishing Enterprise, 1941-1960. New York: Atheneum.
Prendergast, Curtis, and Geoffrey Colvin. 1986. The World of Time Inc.: The Intimate History of a Changing Enterprise, 1960-1980. New York: Atheneum.
Elson, Robert T. 1968. Time, Inc.: The Intimate History of a Publishing Enterprise, 1923-1941. New York: Atheneum.

Collection processed by

Holly Deakyne, Samantha Brown, Melanie Rinehart, Nora Soto, Allen Thomas, Aleksandr Gelfand, Aaron Roffman, Larry Weimer

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:50:49 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Description is in English

Processing Information Note

In 2016 Holly Deakyne, Melanie Rinehart, and Samantha Brown processed and described RG 2.

In 2016 Brown processed and described RG 4.

In 2016 and 2017 Deakyne, Rinehart and Brown processed and described RG 1.

In 2016 to 2017 Deakyne and Rinehart processed and described RG 3.

In 2016 to 2017 Deakyne and Rinehart processed and described RG 16.

In 2016 and 2017 Deakyne and Brown processed and described RG 20.

In 2017 Deakyne processed, and Deakyne and Brown described, RG 31.

In 2017 Rinehart processed, and Rinehart and Deakyne described, RG 32.

In 2017 Deakyne and Rinehart processed and described RG 22.

In 2016 and 2017 Deakyne processed and described RG 17.

In 2017 Rinehart processed and described RG 12.

In 2017 Deakyne, Brown, and Rinehart processed and described RG 6.

In 2017 Deakyne processed and described RG 23.

In 2017 Deakyne and Rinehart processed and described RG 18.

In 2017 Deakyne and Brown processed and described Series I of RG 5.

In 2017 Deakyne processed and described RG 29.

In 2017 and 2018 Brown processed and described Series II of RG 13.

In 2017 and 2018 Rinehart processed and described Series I of RG 13.

In 2018 Deakyne processed and described RG 33.

In 2018 Deakyne processed and described RG 42.

In 2017 and 2018 Deakyne, Brown, and Rinehart processed and described RG 9.

In 2018 Deakyne processed and described RG 19.

In 2018 Aaron Roffman processed, and Roffman and Larry Weimer described, RG 38.

In 2017 and 2018 Deakyne, Brown and Rinehart processed and described RG 7.

In 2017 and 2018 Brown and Rinehart processed and described Series III of RG 13.

In 2018 Brown processed and described RG 8 with additions by Deakyne in 2019.

In 2018 and 2019 Brown processed and described RG 25.

In 2018 Rinehart processed and described RG 10.

In 2018 and 2019 Rinehart processed and described RG 27. Deakyne processed additions in 2021.

In 2019 Brown processed and described RG 26.

In 2019 Brown processed and described RG 14.

In 2018 and 2019 Deakyne and Rinehart processed and described RG 24.

In 2019 Deakyne processed and described RG 44.

In 2019 Deakyne processed and described Series IV and V of RG 13.

In 2018 and 2019 Brown and Aleksandr Gelfand processed and described RG 41.

In 2018 Brown processed and described RG 15. Some records were removed and reorganized into RG 39 in 2019.

In 2019 Brown processed and described RG 11.

In 2017 Brown processed and described Series II of RG 28. In 2019 Deakyne processed and described the other series and updated the title from Books and Arts Associates Records to Books Group Records.

In 2019 Rinehart and Nora Soto processed, and Soto described, RG 21.

In 2019 and 2020 Deakyne processed and described RG 40.

In 2020 Deakyne processed and described RG 43.

In 2017 and 2020 Rinehart and Deakyne processed, and Deakyne described, RG 45.

In 2020 Allen Thomas processed and described RG 46.

In 2020 Deakyne and Soto processed and described RG 47.

In 2020 Deakyne processed and described RG 49.

In 2019 and 2020 Thomas and Brown processed and described RG 39.

In 2020 Thomas processed and described Series I and Series II of RG 50. Deakyne processed and described Series III in 2021.

In 2021 Thomas processed and described RG 51.

In 2021 Thomas processed and described RG 52.

In 2021 Thomas processed and described RG 53.

In 2021 Thomas processed and described RG 54.

In 2018 and 2021 Thomas and Gelfand processed and described RG 36.

In 2021 Thomas processed and described RG 37.

In 2021 Thomas processed and described RG 48.

In 2021 Deakyne processed and described RG 34.

In 2020 and 2021 Deakyne processed and described RG 35.

In 2021 Deakyne processed and described RG 55.

In 2021 Thomas processed and described RG 56.

In 2021 Thomas processed and described RG 57.

From 2017 to 2021, Deakyne, Brown, and Soto processed and described Series II through Series XII of RG 5 along with some additions to Series I.

In 2021 Thomas processed and described RG 60.

In 2021 Thomas processed and described RG 58.

All processing of the Time Inc. Records from 2016 to 2021 is made possible by a generous grant from the Henry Luce Foundation.

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024