The history of Reader's Digest

Reader's Digest - one of the most ubiquitous names in publishing. All of my relatives had them. One person I was introduced to many years ago had all of the Reader's Digest magazines in correct order going back for many years sitting right there in his living room prominently displayed on the bookshelf. In publishing, there is nothing more American than this small sized magazine, with millions of subscribers.

Author Peter Canning knows a lot about that company. He was editor for the magazine for 25 years until he resigned in 1987. So he knows what he's writing about in American Dreamers: the Wallaces and Reader's Digest.

DeWitt and Lila Wallace began the magazine in 1922 in a basement in new York City. They thought people would be willing to subscribe to a reading service that would condense and combine articles from other magazines.

Amazingly, when they approached other well established magazines, they were given permission to use articles free of charge. Ladies' Home Journal, McClure's, Vanity Fair were just a few. They thought of the reprints as free advertising for their own magazines.

The magazine became incredibly popular from the beginning. By the end of 1929, there were 290,000 subscribers, bringing in $900,000 a year. Because the Wallaces wanted to stay on good terms with these other magazines, they voluntarily gave money to the magazines for articles they used.

This type of goodwill was also used to entice and retain good help when they started expanding their business. They gave their employees bonuses. By 1936, there were 32 people working on the editorial staff alone. The pay for his his managing editor in 1934: a whooping $102,467. This was during the depression!

Things changed after the Wallaces left the business. The jacket states it succinctly: "this beloved American institution lost its innocence when corporate lawyers and Wall Street wrested control from the men the founders chose to preserve their business 'in the Wallace mode.'"

This fascinating book, American Dreamers, can be found on the second floor, in the biography section under the Dewey # 070.5 WAL.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007