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Time Inc. Fortune Publishing and Business Records

Call Number

MS 3009-RG 25

Date

1929-2005, inclusive

Creator

Time, inc.

Extent

42.8 Linear feet in 45 record cartons including 6 reels of microfilm and 1 document case

Language of Materials

The documents in the collection are in English.

Abstract

The Fortune Publishing and Business Records contain materials from the offices and staff of the business and publishing side of the magazine's operation. The majority of materials are records from from the office of Publisher William Geer; advertiser record cards; and records from the offices of public affairs and promotions.

Historical Note

For the majority of Time Inc.'s existence, the company maintained a strict separation of editorial from the publishing and business side of each magazine, colloquially called the separation of "church" (editorial) and "state" (publishing). Publishing and Business Management includes the publisher, general manager, business manager, advertising sales, marketing services, letters, circulation, and public relations. The editorial side reported up to the editor-in-chief and the publishing/business side reported up to the corporate business executive which was the president prior to 1960 and the chief executive officer after. Henry Luce structured Time Inc. this way so that the business side could not (in theory) influence the editorial content of the publications. For example, the advertising sales people could not interfere with a magazine's decision to run an article on the dangers of cigarette smoking, even though it might mean losing millions of dollars in tobacco ads.

In September 1928, Time Inc. cofounder Henry Luce presented cofounder Briton Hadden with an idea for a new magazine. Luce wanted to create a magazine that would cater to the men who ran businesses in the United States. This magazine would offer business men a sophisticated perspective on industrial business and its role in society. To cater to this clientele, the magazine would feature richly illustrated pages as well as high quality editorial content. Hadden was not convinced that Luce's idea would work but agreed to let Parker Lloyd-Smith, a business writer at Time, and some researchers explore Luce's idea. In February 1929, not long after Hadden's sudden death, Luce went to the board of Time Inc. with his idea and proposed the launch of Fortune. At this meeting, Luce presented the board with a description of the magazine's appearance and an outline of its contents. This outline included samples of some articles that had already been written as well as illustrations. A few months after Fortune was proposed, the board agreed to proceed with the idea and the first issue of the magazine was released in February 1930.

Much like with Time, Luce named himself Fortune's editor. One of the first editorial decisions that Luce made was about how financial news would be presented. In other magazines and newspapers with similar content, facts and statistics were present in a straightforward fashion with no embellishment. To change this, Luce decided to hire literary talent instead of business experts or economists. Some of the talent that was recruited overs the years to work on Fortune included James Agee, John Kenneth Galbraith, Ernest Hemingway, Alfred Kazin, Dwight Macdonald, Archibald MacLeish, and Miné Okubo. Because Fortune was taking a more literary approach to its content, there were human interest stories alongside in-depth articles about major businesses and industries. In addition to the change in editorial material, Fortune also changed the approach to the advertisements and images used in the magazine. Instead of the standard black and white images, there was an emphasis on colorful advertisements and striking art, illustrations, and photographs. To make the imagery in the magazine stand out, Fortune recruited well-known artists and photographers. Included among those who have worked for Fortune over the years are Ansel Adams, Constantin Alajálov, John Atherton, Herbert Bayer, Lester Beal, Thomas Benrimo, Joseph Binder, Margaret Bourke-White, A.M. Cassandre, Thomas Maitland Cleland, Miguel Covarrubias, Walker Evans, George Gusti, Fernand Léger, Fred Ludekens, Erik Nitsche, Antonio Petruccelli, Diego Rivera, Ben Shahn, and Charles Sheeler. To receive a copy of this newly released magazine, members of the public needed to become subscribers. Despite there being no focus groups or trial issues to introduce buyers to the product, there were 30,000 subscribers at the time of the magazine's release. The initial copies cost $1 each or $10 for a yearly subscription. At the time, this was a steep price and was meant to act as a barrier so that only the most passionate and well off customers could afford to read it.

Fortune was well received by critics and industry professionals alike. By the end of 1930 and the release of the first eleven issues, the magazine's circulation had increased by 10,000 and was turning a profit for Time Inc. Despite the strong start, Fortune suffered difficulties after the end of World War II and was beginning to become unprofitable. At the same time that the magazine was experiencing financial trouble, members of Fortune's board of editors started to believe that the magazine was suffering from problems on the editorial side as well. Members of the board of editors suggested that the magazine had a lack of cohesion and no new ideas. Upon hearing these doubts, Luce decided to make some changes to the magazine and change its focus. The magazine would provide guidance to those interested in America's political economy. The changes upset the magazine's editors and writers, but renewed the interest of businessmen and helped increase the magazine's circulation.

Despite this somewhat tumultuous beginning, Fortune is still in print as of 2018. Over time the magazine has changed its publication schedule. Originally a monthly publications, the magazine became a bi-weekly publication in 1978 but switched to tri-weekly publication in 2009. While the magazine is primarily published in the United States, the magazine has had international editions as well. Many of these editions are no longer in print. These changes in Fortune's publication schedule coincided with an increase in demand for the magazine. With the growth of the magazine's popularity with the general public, editors and writers from Fortune began to make appearances on radio and television shows to share information found in the latest articles. The magazine also hosted its own short-lived television show Fortune Week which was on CNBC from 1993 to 1994.

Citations:

"About Us: Our History, Our Mission, Our Editorial Standards, and Who We Are." Fortune. July 20, 2018. Accessed November 08, 2018. http://fortune.com/about-us/.

"Background Information - Fortune Magazine in the 1930s." Fortune in the 1930s. Accessed November 08, 2018. http://xroads.virginia.edu/~1930s/print/fortune/background.html.

Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh. The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows (1946-present). New York: Ballantine, 2000. Accessed January 07, 2019.

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

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

Gibbs, Wolcott. "Time . . . Fortune . . . Life . . . Luce." The New Yorker. June 20, 2017. Accessed November 08, 2018. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1936/11/28/time-fortune-life-luce.4

Hooper, Bill. Email to Holly Deakyne, 10 June 2016.

Okrent, Daniel. "How the World Really Works." Fortune. September 19, 2005. Accessed November 08, 2018. http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2005/09/19/8272901/index.htm

Arrangement

This record group is arranged in four series:


Series I. Publisher William Geer Files


Series II. Public Relations Department Files


Series III. Advertising Sales Department Records


Series IV. Fortune Data Bank Publications Fulfillment Files


Series V. Audiovisual

Scope and Contents

The Fortune Publishing and Business Records contain records from offices and staff from the publishing and business side of the magazine, not the editorial side. The staff represented include Publisher William Geer and Public Relations Director Emma Dockendorff. Additionally, there are departmental records from Advertising Sales and Public Relations along with collected audiovisual material relating to Fortune. This record group includes clippings, correspondence, notes, transcripts, drafts, press releases, press kits, photographs, video cassettes, audio cassettes, and open audio reels.

Conditions Governing Access

Open to qualified researchers with the exception of restricted materials. Restricted materials may include contracts and consent forms. Restricted boxes include R42, 2868, 2911-2913, and 2919-2942. Unreformatted audiovisual and digital material in the collection is not accessible. Materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection is owned by the New-York Historical Society. Although the N-YHS owns this collection as physical property, the donor specifically retains all copyright and all other proprietary rights which may exist. The copyright law of the United States governs the making of photocopies and protects unpublished materials as well as published materials. Unpublished materials created before January 1, 1978 cannot be quoted in publication without permission of the copyright holder.

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as Time Inc. Fortune Publishing and Business Records, MS 3009-RG 25, New York Historical Society.

Location of Materials

Materials in this collection are stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Time Inc. 2015.

Related Materials

This finding aid relates to just one record group of the Time Inc. Records. For information about the other record groups and for overall information about the archives, please see the Guide to the Time Inc. Records (MS 3009). 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.

Information about the history of Fortune and additional records from the publishing and business offices can be found in the Time Inc. Subject Files (MS 3009-RG 1) and the Time Inc. Annex Files (MS 3009-RG 39). Records from the editorial offices are in the Time Inc. Fortune Editorial Records (MS 3009-RG 8).

Collection processed by

Samantha Brown and Holly Deakyne

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:47:36 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Description is in English

Processing Information

The Time Inc. Fortune Publishing and Business Records were processed by Samantha Brown in 2018 and 2019. The original folders were retained although some documents were transferred to archival containers in the instances of overcrowding or if no original folders were present. Brown created the inventory and other descriptive notes for the record. Series were created based on the original arrangement of the materials. Within series, materials were arranged in their original order. Files retained their original titles but files with illegible writing or unclear titles were either assigned new titles or had information added to them to clarify the contents.

Holly Deakyne processed the addition of the microfilm in the Advertising Sales Department Records in 2019 and updated the finding aid.

Deakyne processed the Fortune Data Bank Publication Fulfillment Files in 2021 and updated the finding aid.

Repository

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